In oct 2010 i had my second PE. the Doctor said it was caused by irritation from the filter itself and the filter is malpositioned and is not stopping any clots. I had been off of coumadin and on plavix due to a hemorrhagic plural effusion last January and a long history of severe coumadin induced chronic anemia and inr's all over the place. So oct poop hit the fan and i had what the doctor called a life ending load of pulmonary clots due to the lack of filter protection and plavix not being the best choice for blood thinner. so the decision was made to put me on long term lovonox a slowly reintroduce coumadin and after it was declared stable for a long time pull the lovanox. haha best laid plans never work. in five weeks of course my inr has been all over the place. it hasn't help that i have been in icu with pneumonia, severe tachycardia abnormal EKG"S which will see cardiologist tomorrow. yeast infection, add to that today's drama of kidney infection and bladder infection and off the charts pain. the bruising on my stomach looks like i have been in a boxing match since the coumadin was introduced. when i go to bed at night if i sleep on my arms i wake up and they are black and blue with little red hemorrhages all over them. so the hematologist got a good look at me at my worst today, infection and all. i said do you seriously think i want to put my trust in the coumadin to protect me knowing we already see signs of what happened last time. i would feel safer on lovonox for life than to keep trying coumadin and run the risk of a life ending PE the does the job next time. so now i have to take all my inr results to the military hematologist and hope he agrees and then the medication will be covered for life by the veterans administration. when the doctor read off my inr's for the last five weeks i just looked at him and said this is to scary for me. especially knowing how often i have been sick and how all that affects the coumadin levels. i am not happy about shots for life. but i want life. i am hoping the military has the option of dispensing the medication in vials instead and the smaller syringes, instead of prefilled syringes. because my belly looks really scary. the hemotomas under the skin feel like hard peanut butter the size of a fist. like last night i did the injection all is fine no bleeding, no rubbing, or pain. this morning bruise the size of a fist and a half plus a huge lump. can't figure it out. hope as the caumadin leaves the system and that will slow down really fast.

is anyone else on lovonox for life? how are you handling it? do you bruise that much? do you feel more protected?
i know considering how bad my levels were and started right out being this time i feel a whole lot safer. just wish it didn't have to be injections