I had my follow up appointment with Dr. Raghavan today (my PCP). I feel confident that she is a great doctor and truly wants what is best for me. She seems more than willing to work with Dr. Olson as well as the other specialists here in Lexington. I feel good about her taking the lead with my care here.
When she entered the room, she let me know she spent the previous night updating herself with my case and was very concerned about me. She reviewed her plan for stabilizing my coumadin level and explained the complications specific to my health conditions. Her hope is that eventually I'll be able to reduce the INR testing to bi-weekly, but she said for now it will likely need to be every three days.
When I asked her about getting back to work, she was very hesitant. She had me walk around the office on a pulse ox machine. My O2 dropped to 91% & my HR spiked. She said this combined with my weak system, and unstable coumadin level & nutrition just made it too dangerous for me to return to work yet. She said I need to stay out all next week too and return to her on Friday for more tests. She explained that if I even catch something as simple as a cold now, my body simply won't be capable of fighting it at all. I have to admit, I was crushed. I really feel better and stronger. I'm ready for things to get back to normal.
In the end, she let me know she would be calling Dr. Olson again to talk more in depth about her plan for me. She also told me that my focus for the next ten days is to be on nutrition. She said she wants me to let her worry about everything else medical and me to focus on trying to eat and rest so my body will begin to rebuild strength.
So, here I am, back home in Lexington, completely bummed. I almost feel farther from friends and family now than I did in the hospital. I'm so happy to be home, but I just want things to get back to normal. It's like it is just out of my reach and there is nothing I can do. I'm so tired of having no control over this frustrating body of mine.
