13 February 2007

the verdict

well, the wife got her angiogram read by the pulmonologist.
everything is fully resolved!

however, she will remain on Coumadin for another 2 weeks (to make the treatment a full 6 months), just to be safe, then she'll have ultrasounds performed on her legs (to ensure that no clots are hanging out there, either) and if everything is clean we have a decision to make:
the doctor said she can either remain on Coumadin for life (which brings with it a 1% chance of bleeding to death) or she stop taking it (which brings about a 5% of a second clotting event). those percentages are pretty much even, so we really don't know what to do. the doctor, even, couldn't tell us. he said her case is unique in that she had no risk factors, and she was so young, so they'll have to play it by ear.

i think we're going to experiment with taking her off of Coumadin for a few weeks, get some genetic testing done to rule out those rare but serious disorders, then see how it goes.
i suppose the really good news about all of this is that the treatment worked and those massive clots in her lungs (she saw both angiograms -- the first one from 6 months ago and the one from yesterday -- and she said it was shocking how large the clots in her lungs were) are gone.

9 comments:

christopher cunningham said...

WOO HOO!

great news...tell the wife we're very relieved for you guys.

1% vs 5%?

I say draw out on the motherfucking clots...;)

kav said...

Congrats brother!

That's fucking great... I'm happy for the both of you...

Now this can just be another tally on the wall memory soon, and nothing more... really man, this is great!

kav said...

oh, and I just clicked the link from a couple posts down... I bet you'd give ANYTHING to know what this:

"Oui, justin est tout bon tout en restant très simple"

means...

BMcG said...

j

More than delighted for you both – I know there are still a few decisions to be made but I hope this is a done deal and you can start to move back toward a little normality, whatever that is for anyone.

best to yous.

j.b said...

thanks guys...we've got some decisions to make, but they're not that bad.

you're right Chris...i'll take 5 to 1 odds anyday...lay the money on it and let it roll...but 5 out of 100 vs. 1 out of 100 is pretty much negligible...we'll see what stopping the Coumadin for a bit does.

Kav, it looks like they're having a big French discussion about me and my poetry..and i have NO CLUE what they are saying, but i don't like the word Simple being in there...that sucks...anyone here speaka le French?

kav said...

"très simple"

I think that's French for 'really tall'.

j.b said...

hmmm.
i don't know much at all about French, but i never would've guessed that "tres simple" meant "really tall".

makes sense though, because I AM really tall.

i actually babelfished the whole thing so i could understand it. Eric had some really nice things to say, so did the others. and there's even a picture of the little chapbook (which i STILL haven't received yet...and they haven't shown up back in Belgium, either!)

so, Kav, how does one say "very simple" in French?

kav said...

tres gigantic

Luis said...

jb:

just read the positive news,
hope things continue to look
brighter...

tres simple
is the name of a graffiti
spraying local gang of
tall, gangly thugs
who scrawl poetry on
alley walls in french