Hi Dianna, I've been on blood thinners since 07'. I'm a T10 para, 29 years post injury. I've had two blood clots, both in my right leg. The first one happened when I was still in bed, about 2-weeks after my injury, it broke loose and ended up in my lung--I got lucky, blood clots can easily kill you when they break loose and end up in the lungs or heart. Back then I was on blood thinners for 6-months then off them for 20+ years.
Then in 07' I fell out of my chair and broke my femur--a week after the fracture my knee swelled up, turned red, got hot. Turned out it was another blood clot. I spoke with a hematologist and he explained in my situation, SCI with a history of blood clots it is safer to stay on blood thinners. Bottom line for me--standard INR (blood thickness) is 1.0, with blood thinners I shoot for 2.0--just enough to help keep clots at bay. I have had small cuts shaving and the like and they don't seem to bleed any more than usual. To me it is no big deal--the main thing is to get my blood checked every 2-weeks to make sure the range is around 2.0. The clincher for me was when a friend was on blood thinners and decided to go off of them, 3 months later the friend had a major stroke--word is because of a blood clot. The person was a "supercrip" para, now has difficulty with speech is a para and hemiplegic. Hope this "survey of one" helps. Bob V On May 9, 2014, at 10:05 AM, [email protected] wrote: > Is anyone on blood thinners? When I was in the hospital they found a clot in > my leg. Dave found it strange that 'we quads' weren't all on them. I really > don't like the #1 side effect of bleeding to death. I really don't like them. > Dianna
