Back on coumadin

When Riley woke up Friday morning, he told Ken that he didn't feel well. We figured it was just Riley not wanting to go school for some reason. Anyway, not long after he got to school, Riley had another incident with a "droopy" eye. His teacher saw it, said he was "unresponsive" and then after a minute he became responsive again, but his left eye was still droopy.

He went to the office and Ken went to pick him up. Ken also saw the droopy eye and when he asked Riley to smile, only half of his face responded. Since this is now the second episode and so many people have seen it (although once Riley was home from school, it seemed to me that he kept squinting his eye to show me how droopy it was), his pediatrician, along with his cardiologist, suspect he may be experiencing TIAs or Transient Ischemic Attacks, or mini-strokes.

As a result, his anticoagulation medication is going to be changed from aspirin back to coumadin. Recall that coumadin requires very close monitoring with daily or several-times-weekly blood tests, which is a real drag for five year olds. Also, Riley is always falling down and cutting open his legs or elbows, so that is also discouraging and concerning. He will start coumadin therapy on Monday.