For
those unaware coumadin/warfarin is a blood thinner to prevent blood
clots. As many people will tell you it was used as a form of rat poison.
The following is from wikipedia.com : The use of warfarin itself
as a rat poison is now declining, because many rat populations have
developed resistance to it, and poisons of considerably greater potency
are now available. (For more information go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warfarin ) but that's not what this is about!

In
my "7 Decades" series I will be talking more about what happened to me
over the 1999-2000 New Year's weekend when I had a congestive heart
attack. At the same time it was found that I had Atrial Fibrillation and
at that time I was prescribed warfarin and I have been taking it for 13
years. There is one what I call awful side effect and that is the easy
bruising of your skin and as I got older the thinner my skin got and I
would have 'black and blue' marks all over my body but mainly on my
arms. If I was not careful I would bump into a door or door frame, once
even getting scratched by a hibiscus bush, and I would bleed. Once you
start bleeding it is as if it will never stop. The smallest scratch can
take weeks to heal.

There
was one time due to a mixed message that for about a week I was taking
too big a dose and I landed in the hospital bleeding out of all orifices
of my body which can be very frightening and was but seemed to have
been fixed very easily. One thing a p[person has to be very careful of
is taking in too much of Vitamin K in the forms of many green vegetables
especially salads.

In
any case all of the bruising can be pretty ugly but I don't try to hide
it as it really doesn't bother me. This past weekend in the throes of
passion (that sounds so much better than what really happened!) my
friend grabbed my arm and a patch of skin came off. Though it is best to
leave it exposed to air I really didn't want blood all over the place
which happened to a certain extent anyway. After 2 days the flow of
blood was starting to congeal and going to the theatre I would be
wearing a long sleeved shirt and a jacket so it couldn't been seen. As a
precaution I did put a non-stick pad and tape over the skin.

I
do not recall when or where it happened. I don't remember bumping into
anything but when I came back from the restroom during intermission and
sat down I felt my sleeve above the wrist wet. Yes, the bandage was
soaked and now my shirt sleeve was absorbing the blood and soon the
inside of my jacket sleeve was getting damp. I really was afraid to
applaud as I thought that would make it worse. I guess between the
bandage, the shirt and the jacket sleeve it eventually stopped and I was
okay until I got home. Taking the shirt and jacket off I immediately
washed both with cold water, got some paper towels and pressed down on
the wound and it, once again, stopped bleeding.

As
I said though it doesn't bother me I will be wearing a long sleeved
shirt tomorrow when we go out for lunch at the Outback I feel it might
gross out other people who will see it while they are eating--and I hate
wearing long sleeved shirts during the day. Oh yes, as a precaution I
will put another pad over it 'just in case'.

The
moral of this blog is that if you know someone who takes blood thinners
be careful during the heat of passion unless you want them to curse you
for a few days each time they look at a rememberance of you!

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Hey
'kids' these are one of the things 'they' don't tell you about
happening as you get older and is another reason to stop/don't start
smoking and watch your food intake. It is part of the price I am paying
for what I did during my youth but if truth be known (I did NOT say
this!) I did have a lot of fun so what is taking a little rat poison????