The time is counting down and the questions are racking up. Only 30 more days until I should be coming off the warfarin. 21/03/2017.

My last INR check was 02/02/2017 and was fine as they have been for a couple of months now so my next one is 02/03/2017 which also happens to be my birthday. Fingers crossed for some good news. The nurse said that as I’ve been going only for the 4 week checks and it will likely be my last one before finishing (I assume I go for a check on the day I finish?) that they will discuss the end of my treatment then so I’m trying desperately to figure out all the questions I need to ask.

I’m on a brown pill and a blue one at the moment. Maths and medication together!

Will I get any kind of checks? From what I’ve seen reading around on forums in the UK we tend not to get any kind of scans or tests to make sure the clot is gone or hardened enough to be ‘safe’. In the US it seems to be that some people do get some tests but that may depend how much they are paying and whether they think to ask for them or not. I have read that after 3 months most clots have either dissolved by themselves or hardened into the vein wall so after my 6 months of treatment it should be ok but you never know.

To be honest my main concerns are more around finding out why I got this clot. My GP said the haematologist had finally been in touch with her and told her to contact them nearer the time of my treatment finishing as they can’t do any genetic tests whilst I’m on warfarin. I’m hoping I can get an appointment and the tests in quite quickly as I’d love to know if there was a cause. I’m not sure what my preferred outcome is though; no cause and just have to be on lookout for the symptoms due to being more likely to clot again now I’ve had one or find that there was a valid reason for it to happen but maybe end up on warfarin for life.

Being a Discworld fan if I end up on warfarin for life I’m definitely getting one of these dried frog pill boxes from the Discworld Emporium!

It would be nice to be able to eat broccoli again, curse it being high in vitamin k! Then again it’s a nice excuse once a month to have fish and chips the night before my INR check. Definitely no leafy greens that might skew my readings in that…