The Effects of Effient

HI!!!!!! We are back. Sadly. Hawaii is BEAUTIFUL. Very beautiful. There is SOMETHING to say about home, but wow. What a vacation. The wedding was BEAUTIFUL. And the week (almost week) was nearly perfect.

So......I can't remember what I've shared with you since I started this blog 3 years ago (3 years? ), but in 2000, I had a huge blood clot in my leg. It went from my groin to my knee. It also broke apart and travelled to my lungs. EEEKKKKK. Anyway, that is over, I survived, and that is that. HOWEVER, you KNOW what they say about flying. And Blood Clots. And since we were on an 8 hour flight to Hawaii from Dallas, I chatted with my Doctor, and even though my current treatment does NOT call for blood thinners (except aspirin), we (ahem....paranoid me) thought it would be good to maybe delve into the world of blood thinners to protect myself on the trip. He put me on Effient because the side effects are less cumbersome than coumadin. It also isn't as restrictive on eating and DRINKING as coumadin is. So, we went for it.

Sheesh.......talk about B R U I S I N G!! Did I ever bruise. Lovely egg sized bruises on my knees and thighs. I am SURE I was totally cute in Hawaii sporting my shorts and bruises. HOWEVER...I didn't CARE. I was in Hawaii!! And even though I wish I didn't have one on my shoulder that showed during the wedding........I guess the alternative would have been worse.

So.....I don't even know where to begin, so I'll begin with the boring Beginning. We went to Kansas City on the 9th and spent the night in a hotel close to the airport. They offered a shuttle, so we could leave our cars parked at the hotel lot. This was NICE considering how much airport parking is.

We grabbed the shuttle around 5:45 am and headed to KCI. We met with the baggage handlers and inspectors, etc right at the curb and headed in to wait. We flew into Dallas/Ft. Worth for a layover of about an hour and a half. In hindsight, it would have been nice to have been more on the ball, so I could have arranged a meet up with a blog friend. However with our short time there, and the fact it was during her work day, it probably wouldn't have been possible.

We got on the BIG plane to Hawaii and settled in for the LOOONNNNGGGGG 8 hour flight. And although complaining is the LAST thing I want to do, suffice it to say that the plane trip was not my favorite part of the vacation. The first 5 hours were fine, but the last 3 or so got a little long.

We landed on Oahu 3:30 their time, which was 8:30 Central time. Which is what I'm accustomed to. The weather was beautiful. Marty arranged for vans to pick us up, and we all got LEI'D by the drivers. It was so fun. I'm guessing by my research of watching 80's tv growing up that everyone back then got leid when they disembarked the plane upon arrival to Hawaii.

However, now, with tourism and commercialism being what it is, you have to ARRANGE and PAY for the pleasure of being lei'd. I was lei'd at baggage claim, as were most of my family. It was by the charming shuttle driver, however, and it was still as exciting as I imagined.
Even IF I am not smiling...it was still awesome!!

So, aside from huge ugly bruises and a really long flight, the trip was one of a lifetime. So, Effient.......you DID NOT ruin my trip with your bruises!


Toodles for now, folks!! Have a lovely Sunday!