[at-l] Leiden Factor V???

[daveh at psknet.com (David Hicks)]

I got a couple of messages off-list asking for an up date.  So, thought I'd go 
public.

Still meeting with doctors and waiting for the results of additional test & 
consultations.  Just getting to see some of these "specialist" is a challenge 
in itself.

However, from my latest conversations with my primary care doctor, it looks as 
if I may dodge the blood thinners for whhile.  We'll see.  It is a matter of 
assessing "all" the "risk factors."  As my HBP has been controlled for 30+ 
years and I quite smoking in Dec '03, they are discounting those.  As I have 
had only one "confirmed" DVT, that is being somewhat discounted.  My 
cholesterol is quite good.  And, of course, I said in my original post, oral 
contraceptives and/or pregnancy are not a consideration ;-)}

So, unless something else shows up....

Also, on the up side, my major hiking/trail work partner is a doctor (a 
partner, in same practice as my primary care doctor) and he has told me that 
he would keep hiking and doing trail work.  His bottom line is that even on 
blood thinner, a cut is not likely to kill me -- in the woods, or elsewhere. 
OTOH, if on blood thinner, a blunt trauma causing internal bleeding could do 
me in anywhere.  A fall in my own home, or a car accident are the most likely 
dangers.

As I have long preached, the biggest danger in long distance hiking is 
driving/riding a vehicle to the trailhead.  So, the paradigm hasn't changed, 
only my personal overall odds.  And BTW, I am still driving to the doctors 
office, aren't I?

As one lister said in an off-list message, "I would rather die falling off a 
mountain than off the couch."  Or as I have said, "I would rather die alone on 
a mountain than in a crowded nursing home."

So, at this point I am upbeat -- or just waiting for the next shoe to drop.

See ya at the SORUCK.

Chainsaw