BLOOD MONEY

Disclaimer: The following story is about my personal ordeal. The information is not intended to be used as suggestions or recommendations of investment or any legal interpretations. Please consult your financial advisors or accounting professionals before making decisions to invest.

I broke my left foot on Sunday, December 22, 2003. I forgot the fancy name of the bone that was broken. I do remember how it happened. I was walking out of the bookstore near my home. Somehow my shoe got caught in an opening of a broken moulding that was supposed to hold the carpet to the floor. As my body moved forward, my left foot was held back and I could hear the popping sound of the bone being broken. I could not walk and had to hop to my car with my healthy right foot.

I had to use crutches for a week before I was able to walk using an orthopedic walker. January 16, 2004, during my visit with the orthopedist to check how the bone was healing, I was told because of the restriction on the movement of my leg, I had developed deep-vein thrombosis (DVT), DVT is a fancy medical term for blood clots in deep veins.

I was kept at St. John Hospital overnight for observations and was given injections into the lower abdominal every six hours. The doctor explained to me that the blood clots could break off and travel through the body to block artery in my lung and that could be fatal.

The following weeks, I had to go to a lab for blood test first every other day, then once a week and then once a month. I was on Coumadin (medication for blood thinner) for six months. The blood tests were reported to my physician to adjust the level of Coumadin. If the dosage was too high, I could be bleeding internally or bleed to death from a minor injury.

After the first few blood tests, I noticed that the waiting room was always full. I began reading about the company and found out that there would be more labs open not only in St. Louis but nationwide. The company planned to begin distribution of the new diabetes kits for home usage. The kits were approved by FDA early that year. I purchased 50 shares at $61 per share. A year later, the shares went up to $92. Six months later, the company announced a stock split that resulted in the doubling of my investment to 100 shares. The stocks have been steady at $60 or more per share.

Looking back I realized I could have been dead if the blood clots were not discovered in time. The enduring of not able to walk normally for six months was not very pleasant. The only thing good came out of my broken left foot was strong returns on my investment. And that was my blood money.