So This Happened...

   I fell several feet off a ladder today. I don't know what hurt worse, the landing on my back, the two by four that kicked me in the stomach or my pride. I was cutting down the neighbors cottonwood tree that is hanging over our fence. For over a year now it has been rubbing across the top of our roof and the siding. About two months ago I told my neighbor that he needed to do something about his tree and that we were worried about roof damage. He said that it was fine with him if we cut down the tree and basically threw it back in to my hands. I had even explained to him that I had some health issues and he seemed very sympathetic. How it ended up that it was up to me to chop his tree down is beyond me. The day I talked to him I was just happy that he was okay with the whole thing, it didn't occur me until a week or two later that he wanted me to take care of the tree myself.
   Yesterday I trimmed some of the branches off the tree so I could rig a line and pull it over with a come-along because it was leaning in the opposite direction. Things didn't go as well as I had planned and it fell a short distance and landed on the corner of the roof. I figured that if Lois tightened the come-along while I pushed up on the tree with a two by four then it would fall quite easily. It did. I just didn't see myself going down with it. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but as near as I can tell the weight of the tree shoved the two by four back at me as I was prying up on it when it cleared the edge of the roof and we all came down. I feel a little sore, but I think fright probably got the best of me.
   Today I had my clinic appointment and the doctor thinks I'm holding up pretty well. He juggled some meds and we spoke about my blood clot. If you recall, I have a blood clot in the portal vein. My question was whether or not the clot would ever break up and leave. He explained to us that it wasn't something they wanted to risk doing right now. Maybe never. The clot is most likely as hard as a cement boulder and they who have to go directly into the site to do anything about it. What usually happens is that blood vessels start forming around it to pump the blood. In the meantime they wanted me on coumadin to help prevent the clot from growing larger and moving into the splenic vein. If the clot moves into the splenic vein then it's game over. They won't transplant. This was some startling news for Lois and I. Something we had never heard before. After the initial shock went away I realized that there was probably no worry at all. They have me on the right medicine and if all goes well I might be transplanted in the next few months anyway.

 Photo by wikipedia commons

   My liver doctor is also the doctor who's did Lois' endoscopy. He talked to her about her CT scan and couldn't understand why everything has been moving so slow. He recommended that we set up an appointment with the doctor who did the surgery and see about getting this taken care of. We stopped on our way out of the hospital and Lois made an appointment for Thursday. Hopefully they will schedule a surgery soon.
   Well, it's late and I should get some sleep. I'm curious how I'll feel in the morning and if I'm going to be licking any wounds. Stay healthy.

New MELD score

   I have been itching a lot and it is starting to drive me crazy. It's right in the middle of my back where I can't quite reach it. If I wasn't already on Enbrel, I would think that it was my psoriasis. Now I am wondering if it could be my bilirubin. I just had my labs done and my MELD score went up from 20 to 22. My bilirubin is a little high at 3.3, the normal range is between 0.2 - 1.3. My creatinine was perfect and my INR was also in average range. I seem to be doing pretty good, but I have been awfully sore lately. I am also grinding my teeth. That bites.
   My score hasn't been this high for nearly a year. After adjusting my coumadin dosage my INR went down and I have maintained an average score of 19 to 20. I really won't be able to tell if this new score is indicative of things to come until my next labs are drawn. One thing I do know is that the higher my score goes, the more real it all feels. Your mind swims with wonder. I have to admit I worry about my kidneys, but so far my numbers are doing well. I pray that they remain healthy through this.
   Well this is it, wishing everyone good health and happiness.

Swell

   Today I had to get an ultrasound of my left leg. In the past week it has swelled up like crazy and it is very sore. I thought that perhaps I had edema that was going crazy and my coordinator put me back on water pills and potassium. The weird thing is that it is just in my left leg.
   My family doctor was worried that maybe I had a blood clot so he sent me to get an ultrasound and labs. The ultrasound turned out to be fine and my labs were off a little, but there was nothing seriously wrong other than my INR was a little low for the coumadin I am taking. My left leg is covered with psoriasis and it could be related to the swelling. We just don't know. Tomorrow I have an appointment with a rheumatologist because I also have psoriatic arthritis that has been causing me to limp in my right knee. We will see how this appointment goes and see if this swelling could have anything to do with my psoriasis. Right now my family physician is a little stumped and if the rheumatologist can't come up with anything, I will schedule an appointment with my liver clinic. In the meantime, it hurts to walk and after working a 12 hour shift it gets enormous. I simply must stop saying, "What next?"
   Thank you all for checking in with me since my last post. I appreciate everybody's support and prayers.