. WOW! What an experience! Especially for someone who has never had a stay in the hospital. I am sure glad to get out of there. It was so hard to rest. No sleep, and people constantly walking in/out. The pain killers worked great, but gave me horrible nausea and nightmares. I stopped taking them on Mon, and the pain is pretty much all gone now. The surgeon said surgery took him longer than expected and I really made him work for his money because my chest was so dense from weightlifting and was also hard to keep open . I have gone twice to the lab to get bloodwork done. The first day my INR was 1.8 on 81mg of aspirin and 1.25 of coumadin, so they increased my coumadin to 2.5. The second lab result was a 3.0 INR. They want me at 2.5-3.5, so I am now taking 2.5mg's twice a wk and 1.25 5 days. I have to get blood work AGAIN on Mon. right before I meet my surgeons nurse. Oh, and my surgeon DID say he was quite impressed with the On-x valve and will begin using them in more of his patients . Everything is well aside from me getting used to the noise of my valves. They are pretty loud. I can actually hear them on ocassion while sitting here at my desk and at night they are even louder. I hope I get used to them soon.
