Rammy's Ramblings

We're just trying to help!

We could all come vacation there for a week and act like Cousin Eddy and family!!

I only have two bedrooms, but you all are welcome anytime! I have a couch that is pretty comfortable. Honestly, lately, I havent noticed anything out of the ordinary around here, so Im not sure if he is just leaving me alone, or he is bothering someone else. But this has happened before, where nothing happens for a while, then I start finding splatters on the siding, or my bricks around the flower bed pushed over, nightly, or the flashlight across the street.......I just figure nothing is on tv those nights...........
I have other things to worry about right now, like my Dad. So Im not really concerned. Instead Im using my energy for helping my parents. Thats more important than some idiot.

I totally agree on focusing on your family right now!!

Wehner Homestead said:

I totally agree on focusing on your family right now!!

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Agree!

With my experience in a similar situation, it is always difficult for the one that is left behind....they have a huge hole left in their life and the change is sudden and abrupt....their life will never be the same, but with understanding, strength, and support they can get thru it. There will be many fears to calm and confront, but supporting their decisions is critical, otherwise they feel that they don't count anymore and if ya inject your decisions on them....well, ya are just being a dictator.....so, i wish ya well in that situation and will pray for comfort, understaning, and strength for all in the family. You certainly are not alone in the endeavor....many of us have already been there and are here for ya.....

Update on Dad...Mom took him to his appts this week. He was on Xarelto due to blood clots in his legs but found out he is allergic to it. It was causing him to bruise and bleed everywhere. Got him off that and on something else...cumadin(sp). Got his new dentures finally. Found out he has fluid build up around his heart, but not as much as they first thought from the ultrasound scans.....I think thats what they did....dr is going to have it drained....I dont remember where or who is going to do that......Mom tells me all this but its hard to remember when there is so much going on.
Thank you to everyone who has posted on here with advice, words of comfort, support, or things that has made me laugh. It means alot.

Rammy said:

Update on Dad...Mom took him to his appts this week. He was on Xarelto due to blood clots in his legs but found out he is allergic to it. It was causing him to bruise and bleed everywhere. Got him off that and on something else...cumadin(sp).

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BTDT, with the Xarelto and had similar problems as do many people, tho it is most often not really an allergy. It's a side effect from Xarelto and the other new blood thinners (Eliquis, Pradaxa, Savaysa, Clopedigrel--the last one is usually called plavix. ). You may want to ask your Dad's doctor to expound on his "Xarelto 'allergy' a little more. I've been on 3-4 of those, and am now on coumadin which is the pretty old standby anti-coagulant that goes by name Warfarin.

Counadin comes with it's own set of known problems, your Dad's caretaker needs to be aware of, including not eating a lot of green leafy foods (greens, brussels sprouts, a lot of lettuce, broccoli etc) or anything else high in VitK. VitaminK is a coumadin antagonist..it's also a kind of antidote if his coumadin level gets too high) He will also have to have INR done, at least once/month but more than likely more often. Make sure he understands, that if he misses a daily dose of coumadin, under no circumstances, should he double up on the next dose without first consulting his doctor. He will still have easier bruising, some trouble getting cuts to stop oozing blood and he will heal slower if he does get cut. MAKE SURE,that every doctor and dentist he sees knows he's on a bloodthinner!!

He should also NOT take supplements such as Nattokinase or Serrapeptase without explicit approval of his doctor.
I assume he was put on Xarelto to prevent stroke, as that's the primary reason most people are prescribed it, tho it's also used to prevent blood pooling in the lower extremities.

Most people with any age on them, bleed a little somewhere, every day. Urinary tract, digestive tract, respiratory tract, or gums. We don't notice it because the bleed point quickly clots off, tho a urinalysis may show the minute amts of blood in the urine..pretty common. We never really know it until we go on one the new great working anti-coagulants. They do their job so well, that the bleedpoint doesn't clot off and suddenly, we're peeing red, our nose is bleeding, maybe (in my case) blood droplet in the corner of your eye, bleeding from ear or blood visible in the stools.
(When I was on Xarelto and was explaining my medical history to a new doctor, he actually backed up a bit and asked if I had recently visited Nigeria, The Congo or any of the other West African Ebola countries)

Differnt blood thinners work in different ways. Clopidigrel for instance is an anti-platelet..it prevents the platelets from clumping together. So, in a different way is aspirin.

Depending who you consult, blood thinners a rated in relation to how well they reduce stroke risk.
Aspirin (usually 81mg) reduces the risk about 5-15%.
Clopidigrel, reduces stroke risk about 25-30%
Clopidigrel + aspirin decreases stroke risk about 35-40% at the most.
Coumadin can reduce risk of stroke by 50-60%.
Xarelto can reduce stroke risk by as much as 80%.

You can see why doctors want to prescribe Xarelto, but sometimes the side effects are bad enough to negate the usefulness.

IF, your Dad is prone to have bouts of Arterial Fibrillation, that's another factor to be considered.
I do, which is the primary reason I was put on Xarelto. AF can cause a stroke because the normal, smooth flow of blood thru the heart is disrupted, and eddys fom and pull a clot of pooled blood out of an area called the Left Atrial Appendage. Since I couldn't take Xarelto without waking up with a bloody pillowcase, or peeing dark red, or developing a nose bleed at Christmas dinner, or looking like my hands and forearms looking like I had been beat with a doubled up dogchain, and short of having some nerve ablation done, I opted for this:
https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/pastor-daves-highlights.35647/page-39#post-538522

I will be back on Clopidigril and aspirin hopefully next week, but had been on it with no problems since 2015 (until I developed AFib & they put me on Xarelto last fall)

@greybeard My Mom is a retired lab tech, so she is very familiar with the drugs he is on. She is the one who requested the coumadin instead of the Pradaxa they wanted to put him on. Dad was having nose bleeds, blood in his stool, and he looked like someone beat the crap out of him on his arms and back, and it was starting to show up on his legs. He had a spot on his leg they thought was a spider bite but it was from the Xerelto causing fluid build up. Mom could explain it better.
He was having a problem with his legs swelling up, so he would keep his legs elevated, and he is wearing pressure socks, but found out he had some clots, so thats why they put him on the Xerelto. Mom said the Dr. said the bleeding and bruising was from an allergic reaction, so thats all I know on that.
Mom has also gotten some bandages to put on the worst spots on his back because hes bleeding thru his shirts onto the sheets. We are doing everything to make sure he doesnt fall!
He doesnt has any heart problems other than they found some fluid around his heart they are scheduling to have drained off. Since my Mom is his main caretaker, she is well informed about what he can and cant have. The Dr. said he needed more protien, so she went out and bought all this protien stuff, like bars, stuff you can mix up, I mean, all sorts of stuff for him to eat so he will gain some weight back. He has gained about six more pounds so far.
Im sure she told the dentist about the blood thinners, and the other Dr.s he sees are the one who prescribed the stuff he is on.
Its sounds like you had the same problems with bleeding my Dad had. We are hoping that this new stuff helps. My brother is a nurse, and he told my Mom about not doubling up and other info. I know she is doing her best to make sure he gets what he needs and at the right time. Im thinking about ordering some stuff that @Baymule told me about that helps with bruising to see if it helps heal it up faster.
Thank you for the info. Im going to show my Mom this post.