7:30 AM - I receive good news! My INR index is at 1.7!
This is great. It's reached a level where I can manage the anticoagulants by myself, at home.
I will be injecting myself, in the stomach, with Lovenox twice per day for the next three days. During these same days I will continue my Coumadin, but at a lower dose: 6 mg. The goal is to not get past the 3, since that can lead to excessive bleeding while shaving or brushing my teeth, and to glide into an area between 2 and 3 of the INR.
My nurse comes to my room and has me sign the release paper work and gives me the prescription for the Lovenox and Coumadin.
I'M GOING HOME!
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Some notes about my first extended hospital stay:
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- Although the hospital is much more noisier at night than I ever expected, I feel well-rested and ready to go! The staff did everything possible to ensure that I was comfortable and well taken care of.
- The hospital is very organized and has streamlined a lot of processes. For example, they know the exact dosages and how long it takes to tune the INR for someone in my condition; ie. not a severe, but moderate PE. I was very impressed how they nailed it when they told me it would take between 2-3 days for me to be OK to leave. They lived up to the billing.
- The nursing staff, on average is good to excellent. The younger nurses don't show the same level of interest in the patient that the older nurses show. The older nurses had a deeper understanding of my problem and were able to fill in some holes by answering questions when doctors weren't around.
- Overall, a satisfactory hospital experience.
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