never TAKE anything for granted...

(not my meds...)


since my hospitalization a couple of weeks ago for a hemorrhage, i have been racking my brain as to what could have gone wrong with my coumadin (blood thinner)!!! for nearly 15 years i have taken the same dosage and have always been able to regulate my meds myself. there have been a couple of times over that period of time that my levels have gone awry. however, one of those times i had been on high-power antibiotics and the other i was given vitamin k (a blood thickener).

i have not been looking forward to all that goes along with getting myself regulated to a new dosage. (it takes time and a lot of trial and error... or it did at least the first time.)

well, last night i was standing in the kitchen pouring my meds into my hand. i'm taking 6 meds right now plus giving myself two lovenox (a blood thinner) shots a day. at one point i looked into my palm to make sure i had everything i was supposed to take. the light hit my coumadin tablets. i stood there for a few seconds in a complete stupor. i pulled my hand closer to my eyes then pulled it farther away in an attempt to focus in on the numbers i was seeing stamped on the two pills.
7 1/2??? 7 1/2???

WTH???

i grabbed the bottle i'd poured the tablets from, "warfarin (generic for coumadin)7.5 mg".
i looked at the date, "4/16/08".
i looked at the count, "60".
i looked back at the tablets in my hand.

i know this means nothing to you; but, it meant everything to me!!!
for nearly 15 years my prescription has always been the same as i've already stated... "5 mg"... i have always taken 1 tablet/2 tablets every other day...

however, since april of this year instead of taking 5mg and 10mg, i have been taking 7.5mg and 15mg... 150% MY DOSAGE!!! somewhere along the way someone had changed my dosage, and i was none the wiser... i took for granted that the medication i was taking was the same as always. but, it wasn't!!! i was overdosing on a very, very dangerous medication and didn't realize it.

RELIEF was definitely the first emotion i felt...

my body hadn't changed. i wasn't going to have to go through all that "trial and error" craziness again. thank goodness!!!

STUPIDITY was the second emotion i felt...

how could i have not noticed the difference in mgs on the bottle for the past 3 months??? why had i not already noticed the DIFFERENT number on the pills???

then FEAR!!! "what if???"...

what if i had bled to death two weeks ago??? what if i hadn't noticed the number and had gone along with the assumption that i was still dealing with 5mg dosage and the same thing occurred again in a couple of weeks but i would not be so lucky the next time???

but, i did catch it!!! RELIEF won out...

followed by GRATEFULNESS...

i called the notorious d to tell her of my realization... after coaching me on how i should handle the situation, she told me she'd prayed earlier in the day that GOD watch out for me since d couldn't... well, HE answered her prayer in a most timely manner... thank you, GOD!!! thank you, d!!!

the moral of the story???

NEVER TAKE ANYTHING FOR GRANTED... EVER!!!
it might mean your life.

love and God's blessings,
dani xx