Clotting & Passports

From time to time I like to tear out little bits and pieces from the newspaper and magazines to remind me of something. At any given time my desk is cluttered with these tidbits of knowledge. I even have file folders filled with stuff and I'd love to be able to watch the kids going through that stuff after I'm gone saying "WHAT! Did mom keep everything she ever read!?"..... the answer would be "Yep, pretty much".

The newest torn out goodies are these:

1. Did you know that by December 2006 you'll need a passport to travel ANYWHERE out of the U.S.? That means Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. It's not cheap getting a passport either. I got a passport in July 1999 because I was going to the Bahamas for my best friend's daughter's wedding. It's good for 3 more years. That's not me pictured below, but how would anyone know that? Geez.



2. A recent report in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons offers reasonable guidelines for when to stop taking aspirin before surgery. It is recommended that one discontinues aspirin five days before the surgery and then have the surgery on the sixth day. That's important to know because when I had my recent "scope" I was told to lay off the blood thinners for 72 hours beforehand, but they weren't planning on cutting into me either.

I shudder to think about emergency surgeries and the implications of not stopping asprin therapy in time! Probably not a good idea to get in a traffic accident if you're going to bled either!