Dialysis in St.George, Utah, and a Couple of Problems

I am taking Coumadin, a blood thinner, if you take it you already know that you must moniter your blood levels, with a test called a PT/INR. A normal reading would be between 2 and 3. I had my PT/INR drawn on Tuesday in St. George at dialysis. I went to dialysis on Thursday morning, and when I showed up I was told by the head nurse that my reading came back 11. Dr. LeCates (my prime nephrologist) was trying to reach me to tell me to go immediately to an ER, as it is lethal, at those numbers you could bleed to death. Another PT/INR was drawn and sent stat to the lab., it came back very normal, as it happened I was given Heparin (usually administered during treatment, to prevent clots) before the first PT/INR was drawn, causing a high reading. I didn't panic because I felt it was a bad reading, however everybody involved was a little worried. Dr. LeCates called me at dialysis that morning laying out a plan if the test came back with high numbers. Up until now on the TRIP OF A LIFETIME my dialysis treatments have gone very smoothly, I just wanted you to know there is a fly in the ointment once in a while. One more little problem, I had a very new nurse stick me Thursday. She did a wonderful job. We discussed my weight gain (2.4. kilos) and decided to take me down and additional .5 to get me under my dry weight, which is what I prefer, but instead I came off the machine 1.2 kilos over. I think she put the numbers in the computer wrong, just another little glitch in the works. Oh well, like Gabriel is fond of saying, all days are not created equal. Of all the things that could go wrong, this is nothing. I did not anticipate any problems on this trip and I don't buy into trouble before I have to, that's how I keep my cheerful disposition. Now onto Las Vegas, that's another blog, stay tuned. Love to all. ♥♥♥