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Travelling around the world with a CoaguChek self-test
system is easy! There - that's the main point I wanted to make. Making the
break from clinic controlled coagulant management is the hard part - but it is
well worth the effort.
I am 23 and travelled through South Africa, Australia and
New Zealand with my girlfriend. I was away for around seven months. I
self-tested and self-dosed the whole time. It was so successful that I am
continuing to control my own coagulant, even though I have now returned
home.
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In 1988, while on a skiing trip, I was hit very hard on my
calf by a swinging chair lift. The next day I travelled home, sitting in a car
for 12 hours. A week later I developed a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in my left
leg. After an operation to remove the clot from my groin I was able to become
fully mobile again and, much to the surprise of my surgeon, my left leg
returned to its normal size fairly quickly with no swelling, not even in the
ankle. I was able to return to my very active lifestyle: cycling, swimming,
sailing, and keeping fit in a gym. I was on warfarin for six months. I always
wear a strong support stocking, which at first was full length, but later I was
able to use a knee length one. Despite using a stocking, I have developed
varicose veins in my calf but they are not painful.
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Five years of self-management
John has kindly provided us with graphs of his records. You
can see them by clicking the links in his article.
After major surgery, it is obviously important to recover
from the surgery itself. However, for many people it is just as important for
to be able to pick up and continue life as close as possible to what it was
before and for many people this is possible apart from one exception - oral
anticoagulant treatment.
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I had been planning this trip for a very long time, so it
was with great excitement that I handed in my notice at work and announced my
six-month travel itinerary to Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Laos.
On my way to the Thai Embassy to pick up my visa, I had to
turn back with a very painful leg - this was diagnosed as an extensive deep
vein thrombosis. There followed a two-year period when I could go nowhere and
was very limited in what I could do. I was constantly in and out of the
warfarin clinic getting my blood checked. At one of my visits someone mentioned
a monitoring machine, so I investigated it immediately and needed no convincing
of its worth. About two months later, with my machine in my backpack, I headed
off to South East Asia on a long overdue trip!
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Self Monitoring Experiences
