Sheila, what a blessing. I just lost a friend this winter to a brain aneurysm. She was fine one moment and then not fine. Exactly a year ago another friend of mine had an aneurysm fixed near his heart (aortic aneurysm I think). It was an amazing feat. I'm still amazed that they found it and could fix it. Just tonight they were telling me me that they celebrated his one year "life day". The CT scans are fun, aren't they? Just tonight (with a different friend), we were discussing the "you will feel a little warm" side effect of the CT contrast. :) Still, I'd take a CT over an MRI any day of the week. I'm glad your diagnosis is so positive. :) Lisa

Well, well, well. Here was I today putting in my brugs on the first hot day we've had for eons. Wouldn't you know it, I must have wiped my right eye. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me, thinking maybe I had a heat stroke or something, but then I remembered this posting by davidlee. I went indoors and immediately drank a lot of water, and had a lukewarm bath after first scrubbing my hands and arms well. One eye had the pupil almost entirely dilated, while the other was normally small, considering it is so bright outside. Three hours later, it is still in this state, and I am wondering how I am to read my speach which I am supposed to give tonight at 7:30. I guess I will have to wing it. A new respect, indeed. Brug lovers ( myself included) take heed. Wash well after touching them

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

Hi Granlan, thanks for the good wishes. I was asleep and someone decided to come up stairs and I got woken. So who knows when I can fall asleep. Yes, I do make my own pie dough. I try to keep a big batch made up and frozen in my freezer and then roll it out, sometimes I have it rolled out and ready to add fillings and that is what I had today. I don't think I would have felt up to rolling out pie dough. Youngest daughter Amber and I rode into town, she needed to run an errand and I sat in the truck with the dogs. We went to a store that had nice garden and flower plants. I didn't get out but she did and we talked back and fourth on our cell phones and I am not sure now what I did buy. I know I got tomato plants and pepper plants, different kinds. She got some for her garden too. She took them all back to their house and will bring them back when we plant. The plants were nice sized, 4 pack for $1.15. One of our sons in law came today and re tilled our garden spot that we haven't planted yet. It worked up really nice. He made the rounds and tilled Amber's as well as our second oldest, Terri's plus ours. he was busy. He likes doing that though. He has a nice John Deere. My husband ate a fourth of a pie tonight, unless he went back after more. I tell my kids I only like two kinds of pie, hot and cold. I only ate one piece. I try not to eat many sweets. I hope everyone else has kept well. Sue