Did they do any blood work -- BNP in particular, also the kidney tests, BUN, creatine and one or two others? Swelling in the extremities can be signs of kidney and/or heart failure, and then with the blood thinners and/or aspirin so many are on, any bleeding at all would be increased. I wasn't familiar with INR, so I searched and from what I am reading, it sounds like a high INR would mean she may have too much coumadin and should have less, not more. Like I said, this is new to me, and I could have it backwards, but I would make some calls and double check. This is from WebMD -- link below: A method of standardizing prothrombin time results, called the international normalized ratio (INR) system, has been developed so the results among labs using different test methods can be understood in the same way. Using the INR system, treatment with blood-thinning medicine (anticoagulant therapy) will be the same. In some labs, only the INR is reported and the PT is not reported. Prothrombin time (PT) and international normalized ratio (INR)1 Prothrombin time (PT): 11-13 seconds International normalized ratio (INR): 0.8-1.1 The warfarin (Coumadin) dose is changed so that the prothrombin time is longer than normal (by about 1.5 to 2.5 times the normal value or INR values 2 to 3). Prothrombin times are also kept at longer times for people with artificial heart valves, because these valves have a high chance of causing clots to form. Abnormal values A longer-than-normal PT can mean a lack of or low level of one or more blood clotting factors (factors I, II, V, VII, or X). It can also mean a lack of vitamin K; liver disease, such as cirrhosis; or that a liver injury has occurred. A longer-than-normal PT can also mean that you have disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), a life-threatening condition in which your body uses up its clotting factors so quickly that the blood cannot clot and bleeding does not stop. A longer-than-normal PT can be caused by treatment with blood-thinning medicines, such as warfarin (Coumadin) or, in rare cases, heparin. What Affects the Test Reasons you may not be able to have the test or why the results may not be helpful include: Taking medicines that can affect the action of blood thinners (such as warfarin) and vitamin K. These include antibiotics, aspirin, cimetidine (Tagamet), barbiturates, birth control pills, hormone therapy (HT), and vitamin K supplements. Having severe diarrhea or vomiting that causes fluid loss and dehydration. This may make the PT time longer. If diarrhea is caused by poor absorption of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals from the intestinal tract (malabsorption syndrome), the PT may be longer because of a lack of vitamin K. Eating foods that have vitamin K, such as broccoli, chickpeas, kale, turnip greens, and soybean products. Drinking a lot of alcohol. Taking some herbal products or natural remedies. Wishing you the best in finding out what is wrong. Here is a link that might be useful: Web MD link

Both of my grandparents stayed at home until they were in their late 80's and then Mama had no choice but to put them into a nursing home. My GF lived about 3 years after and my GM is still living. She turned 100 in Sept. She has very good care and is the favorite in the home. She has a double room and has been lucky for the most part about room-mates but she has had a couple that were a chore to deal with. When they retired they had a substantial amount of savings and their home with a few acres of land. We hired one of the home health aides to come spend the night with them for a few months but were paying out about $300 a week and all she was doing was sleeping there. Anyway now my GM has been in the home for about 13 years and all of her money is gone. She gets $30 a month and goes to the beauty shop in the home once a week and the family pays for her TV and phone and any other things she needs. Her money was building up in her account and they told my sister that we needed to spend some of it because she wasn't allowed to have but a certain amount and she was over the limit. Family members moved into their home for a few years and then when it was vacated we sold it and the money went to the home. We had no problem with that. They've taken good care of her and know they will continue to. The main point is that people save their money for their old age and then when they get their and need it for health care the other family members often think it should be theirs. Yes, we've paid taxes most of our lives but nobody can live on the amount of taxes you pay in for a month. Probably the best solution would be to go back to many years ago where extended families just built onto the family home and the kids stayed after marriage and were there to help care for the elderly family members (great-grandparents) and the grandparents are there to baby sit for the grandchildren. Thus cutting out a lot of expenses. Of course we've gone away from this custom for too many years for most to want to do it. G'nite John-Boy! lol Nancy

I could almost have avoided buying radish seed this spring, for there were quite a few radishes about an inch high in the fall, volunteering from the radishes that had gone to seed earlier. There are a good deal many more this spring ... and some from the area where the radishes were, the year before. Anyone want some radish seeds? I have a few lettuce plants starting on their own, as well. Last year had quite a few zucchini from the ones that had spoiled that I threw directly on to the garden rather than into compost ... plus some volunteer tomato plants in a part of the garden where they were not planted, as well. I had about 60 some asparagus plants, last year ... but the landlord nicked some when he ran the tiller down the rows, last summer. And this spring when he did the initial tilling, to chew up the residues from last year and let the chewed up pieces start to rot ... he nicked a fair chunk of one row. Plus some died, I think ... so I think that I have only about half as many plants, now. Quite a few more seeds, so will fill in the blank spaces (but will need to mark them, as they'll need to be transplanted later than the originals). I save some of the first run of cold water out of the hot water tap in the bathroom/kitchen to water the cats, as well as flush the toilet. You guys in the sunny south-west should do a lot of that, cause you sure are short of water. They had a note on the radio the other day that they're worried that the rivers in rather dry Alberta are polluted now, and the flow is largely allocated ... ... so if some of you come wanting us to ship some down the trench between the mountains to California, Arizona, etc. ... we may be tellling you to get lost! The glaciers that feed them have been shrinking ... and if (when?) they die, Calgary may be crying big time for water, themselves. Have yourselves a lovely spring, everyone ... it's getting so that one can drop most of the winter clothing sometimes, in the last few days ... sort of a relief, that. ole joyful

Hi to my Smaller Homes friends! I appreciate your support and care more than you can know. I have been working toward a weight loss diet since the first of the year. I need to lose almost 200 lbs. In the past I have done liquid protein diets, both without and with other foods. This time, I am going to use the liquid protein to replace some meals and to use between my smaller meals. I figure that doing weight loss this way is a more sustainable way, and that I will likely need to use the liquid protein for some meals the rest of my life. Falling into the fast-food/drive-through habit is too easy for me, since I am on the road for my job. If I can leave the house with a liquid protein packet making a nice cappucino-like drink in home-brewed coffee, I won't be stopping for breakfast with bacon and white-flour breading. That saves a few hundred calories right there! I am trying to leave some snacking (a few individual Dove chocolates at night, a handful of pretzels, some air-popped popcorn) in my diet so that I learn to eat the way I always revert to - but with moderation, instead. DH is the sodium-sleuth, and since he does most of the shopping, I can eat low sodium if I do not sabotage his efforts! We still get take-out, but mostly Middle Eastern, and I get salads with some meat most of the time. So that is my plan - to establish better habits overall, use liquid protein drinks to keep my nutrition up, and eat fewer calories while avoiding sodium and white carbs. I started PT this week. We started with my ankles because that is where the worst pain is. Stan, my PT Man (a genius!) first studied my walk and added to my orthotics (he made them) to correct my left foot's roll. I am doing strengthening exercises, too. Next is my elbows, then my hand. Once I am done with the PT, I plan to get into that nice warm pool at the community center of a nearby suburb a few days a week to work out in the water. I am walking almost as fast as I used to walk as I cruise through my nursing homes, but get out of breath. No major heart pains since the one I had in my first week back at work. I am working to recognize my patterns of tension, worry, and stress. I drive around doing deep, slow breathing exercises and relaxing my shoulders! My biggest, best, and most time consuming change has been working my sauna into my schedule. I have done 30 to 60 minute sessions before bed, a 40 minute session as soon as I got home for work, and even a short 15 minute session before showering to go to work. It feels SO GOOD! I wake up without stiffness if I use it at night. As a matter of fact, it is warmed up for me now, and I am going to go indulge in a full hour in the baking, far-infrared 130 degree little cabin in our smallest bedroom right now!