DVT, Xarelto, and Arthrograms (7 Months + 17 Days)

We finally got a piece of the snow that has been afflicting various parts of the nation. As a result, I went sledding with my kids over the weekend and destroyed my back. It was that falling over, I-think-I-might-throw-up-or-faint-or-both type of pain that struck all at once when I was lifting my son up at the park. My husband suggested dropping me off at the ER on the way home, but I resisted, and when we got home, I threw back one of the hydrocodone pills in my stockpile - either from surgery or from my trip to the ER for DVT. I can't quite remember. That was on Sunday. On Monday, we had a snow day, thank God. Even the university was closed, but if it hadn't been, I would have considered canceling class anyway, because I was dyyyyyyyyying. And I never cancel class. At least, in six years of full-time teaching, during which there have been many crises, including my kids being hospitalized for various reasons, I've never canceled class. But it was bad.

I called my husband's doctor* on Sunday night and left a message asking if I could get in to see him on Monday. I have no idea what I thought he could do for me, but I figured considering the state I was in, I had to do... something. Unfortunately, in my pain-induced stupor, I apparently asked them to call me back at my parents' phone number. LOL. (I've done this before; I actually wrote my mom's work number on a letter of recommendation I wrote. After all, I never call myself, so it's the numbers that I call frequently that are stuck in my head.) When they didn't call back on Monday, I just assumed they were closed because of the snow, but apparently they weren't closed, and they did call me back... and they left a message on my parents' answering machine, which my mom informed me of late on Monday when she got back from work and discovered this weird message on her answering machine. Oops. So I'm an idiot. I immediately called back and they told me that I could get in on Tuesday (today), so I took the appointment.

* I guess he is my doctor now, too, I just haven't fully accepted this.

Fortunately, the hydrocodone was a miracle drug, and whatever was up with my back was temporary, because by Monday evening, I was actually feeling much better, which led me to believe that whatever I had did not involve any bones or cartilage moving out of place. Nonetheless, I decided to keep the appointment, because I've been meaning to follow up with this doc regarding my DVT. It's just that I haven't, because... because I'm me, and dealing with my hip is pretty much all I can handle. One medical thing at a time. Though, I have to say that all of this is really giving me a lot of sympathy/empathy for people who have or have family members who have conditions requiring constant attention. Like... I have a fairly flexible job, and so does my husband, yet scheduling appointments and medical procedures is a real challenge between my work schedule and his work schedule and our kids' school and daycare schedules. Ahhhhhh!

Anyway, I saw the doctor today, and based on a few tests, he said he was sure the back issue was just a muscle spasm and not a disc issue, and I actually believed him. He showed me a few stretches to do for my back, and I couldn't do some of them because it hurt my hip. Then I mentioned that I have a history of back problems, and I normally stretch my back religiously. However, I hadn't done so in a while because of my hip issues, and that could be why I'm having back issues. Ugh, I can't win.

And speaking of my hip, I told him I was scheduled to have an arthrogram on March 3rd, and one of the things they had told me was that I needed to stop taking Xarelto five days before the arthrogram (which I don't get, but whatever). At some point during our appointment, he whipped out his cell phone and seemed to be barely listening to me while fiddling with his cell phone, and all the while I was thinking WTF?! But it turned out he was consulting Dr. Google about the whole Xarelto/arthrogram thing, hahaha. So even doctors consult Dr. Google. He then said he thought that it was standard to stop something like Coumadin five days before an arthrogram, but that he didn't feel it should be the same with Xarelto. I told him the woman on the phone just asked me if I was on a blood thinner, and when I said yes, she hadn't asked me which one; she just told me to stop taking it five days before the arthrogram and to consult my doctor about an appropriate 'replacement.' He said he thought it was different for different medications; however, he would 'research' it more and call me back later with a better answer. Honestly, that made me feel good about him. As an educator, my students are constantly asking me questions, and sometimes I don't have a good answer for them. But I'm always willing to admit when I don't know something, and I then research it and answer them later.

At any rate, I have some selfish motives behind wanting to get off Xarelto. A few days ago, I took my last pill from my prescription, and seeing as how I feel like I should be at the end of my Xarelto days, I didn't refill it, because a) I am lazy, and b) I am cheap, and Xarelto is expensive. Which I know is horrible, and makes me one of those terrible and not compliant patients; at the same time, I have reasons to truly believe it is okay for me to stop taking Xarelto without risking dying of pulmonary embolism. One reason is that my orthopedist actually told me I could stop taking it back in October. Granted, I didn't totally believe him, which is why I sought other opinions and continued to take the medication until now. Nonetheless, I have to think that if one medical professional told me it was okay to stop the medication four months ago, then it shouldn't be life-threatening for me to stop it now.

It just seems to me like a good time to come off the Xarelto; as I discussed with the doctor, I'd like to stop taking it before the arthrogram and just never take it again. Ideally, I'd like to keep taking it until I'm sure my DVT has resolved, but I don't want the refill the entire prescription for 3-4 days when I'm really hoping, hoping, hoping I don't need it anymore. And even if I DO, I just don't feel like I'm high enough risk that missing a few days will kill me. (If it does, I will stand corrected, and will be sure to refill the prescription in my afterlife.) In the end, although I didn't exactly tell him I would not be taking Xarelto for a few days, he agreed that at this point I was 'low risk,' considering this incidence of DVT was my first ever, and that there was a definitive cause behind the DVT in the first place (the surgery).

The sort of funny thing is that he asked me about my family history, and whether there was any family history of blood clots or miscarriage or infertility. I told him I was adopted and have no family history, although I had had a miscarriage. Then later it occurred to me that obviously my biological mom was more fertile than she wanted to be, so it was unlikely she had any issues with fertility. LOL.

The end result of all this is that I'm going to get a 'STAT' ultrasound on Friday to (hopefully) confirm that my DVT is no longer an issue, and that I can rest assured that I don't need to take the Xarelto anymore. I'm hoping, hoping, hoping this turns out well, because this is one thing I'd really like off my mind. The more I think about things and let reality set in, the more I feel like there is still something wrong with my hip. While I hope I am wrong in thinking this, I need to prepare for the possibility that I am not. And if that is the case, I just can't be dealing with a freaking blood clot on top of my hip. Jeez. This is something I'd really like off my mind, once and for all.

Here's to the power of positive thinking.