What is vitamin K? What does it do? What is it good for?

Until September 1999, I had no idea what Vitamin K was, where it comes from, or what it does.Then, I had a crash course in Vitamin K. I live with the constant question in my mind, "Does this food contain Vitamin K?" Because, you see, if I eat foods that contain Vitamin K, at times, it could actually kill me. But, last Valentine's Day, Vitamin K saved my life.

On September 7, 1999, I went into the hospital to have an outpatient surgery. A simple surgery that thousands of women have everyday in the U.S.A. Long story short, I was hurt in the surgery and the result was a huge, permanent blood clot.

If you have blood clots, most of the time, you are put on a blood thinner to help it dissolve or to keep it from growing. I am the latter since mine has grown 4 times since it started. Coumadin (Warfarin) and Fragmin shots thin blood. It's kinda like eating D-Con that you put out to kill your mice in your home or barn. Remember those brown boxes with those little blue pebbles in them? Well, those pebbles have an agent that thins the blood out in whatever eats them until they bleed to death. So, essentially, what I take everyday to keep my clot from growing is D-Con, just regulated. Another very important way to keep my clot from growing, it to avoid foods that contain Vitamin K.

Vitamin K thickens blood. It also protects the heart. Some of the foods that contain Vitamin K are spinach, collards, turnip greens, kale, mustard greens, lettuce, broccoli, onions (the green tops of them), cabbage, okra, celery, slaw, plums, and prunes are some of them. These are foods that I and anyone who has blood clots avoid. Unless the blood thinner we take makes our blood too thin, then we need to eat them. This has happened to me numerous times since 1999.

When this happens, the doctor sends me home (I have to check my Protime, thickness of my blood, every 48 hours because it's so unstable) after a Vitamin K shot, to sit on the couch. I can't cook, shave, drive, etc because if my blood is too thin, even a simple bump or a small cut could spell disaster. While sitting on the couch, I have to eat foods that contain Vitamin K. My favorite thing to eat during these times is Spinach dip with Hawaiian Bread. And when I say eat it, I mean my husband makes a double batch of it and I eat it until I am almost sick. Vitamin K is essential to keeping me alive at times.

Last Valentine's day, about 5:00 p.m., I begin to hurt in my stomach. I had no idea what it was, but I knew it was severe. The doctors around my town have all sent me to specialists because I have so many complications, due to the botched surgery, they are afraid to deal with me. All of my doctors are 2 hours away and it was after closing time of their offices now. My stomach started to grow before our very eyes. I was hurting on my right side. I thought it was my appendix. But, why would that make my stomach start to look pregnant in a matter of a couple hours? The pain grew worse and worse. It became almost too painful to breathe. We knew not to go to an emergency room because, like I said, I have so many complications that if I go to see a doctor that knows very little of my past, he could make the wrong decisions for me. All of my doctors have warned me not to go to the ER. So, I struggled through the night. My stomach continuing to grow.

By sunrise, we had our bags packed and were headed to Memphis, flashers on and driving fast. When we got to the hospital where my primary doctor works, they took my blood pressure and it was 22 on the bottom. I was admitted immediately. My stomach growing the whole time. They did a number of tests, finding out my appendix was very inflamed. Or what they called 'hot.' They were going to take it out. They thought this was the one answer. But, when they checked my Protime (how thin my blood was), it wouldn't register. They took it 2 more times. Still, it wouldn't register on the hospital's lab equipment. The lab tech told me she had never seen this before.

At this point I looked 9 months pregnant. It was so odd. When they finally realized their machines were right, that it was my blood that was so messed up, they then needed a game plan fast. With my blood pressure being so low, I was in danger. They had to act quick. But, what was going on in my stomach? Why do I hurt like I was and why was my stomach so huge?

Then, the MRI came back. I had a small ovarian cyst on my right ovary, and it had burst. With my blood so thin, I was bleeding out of the cyst. I was literally bleeding to death before their eyes. Now we have a game plan!

They immediately started an IV of, yep you guessed it, Vitamin K. It ran for 20 + hours along with giving me FBPs (frozen blood platelets) In case you have never had FBPs, take this as a warning, it's so cold, it's hot. Thankfully, they had mercy on me and gave me pain meds so I could handle the pain of the cyst rupture along with the FBPs. After about 36 hours, my blood pressure came up and getting the blood raised my blood count. I ended up getting 8 units. I had bled out that much inside my abdomen. Thus, making me look very pregnant. My appendix was just inflamed due to the free blood floating around in there with it. Antibiotics took care of that. So, I still have that organ and I didn't have to have surgery. Had they cut me for surgery, I would have died. I would have bleed out so quickly they could not have saved me.

The IV of Vitamin K saved my life. IT thickened my blood and the cyst stopped bleeding. Vitamin K is a part of my daily life and will be until the day I die. I'm used to it now. It's just part of my life. I'm so thankful that there are Vitamin K shots that I can take here at home. My husband has been trained to give me the Vitamin K shots when my blood is too thin. (I have to take them laying down because they make me faint) and he also gives me Fragmin shots when my blood is too thick. (also taken laying down, this one is given in the stomach)

So, to sum it up, Vitamin K is a huge thing. It has saved my life. It has kept my son's mother here with him a while longer. I thank God for Vitamin K and the doctors who know how to use it.

Vitamin K is good when it comes to anti-aging. It prevents heart disease, osteoporosis and cancer. Like Popeye, it makes you strong. It's a great thing to use, if you can. But please keep in mind, that, like everything else, it should be used with common sense. Over-doing it can be very bad.