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Remind me what kind of valve he got. Trying to figure out why they'd half his dose for 2.9. For every mechanical valve I'm familiar with, that's in range. Even for the On-X, which supposedly can have a lower INR, they keep it a bit higher this close to the surgery.

If RBC is low, H&H will also be low as they're all measurements of essentially the same thing. Hematocrit will be about 3 times Hemoglobin, which is 3 times the RBC. I had a blood transfusion during surgery and my Hemoglobin was still around 6 after surgery. I did have some Iron while in the...

Glad you're home! Are you making sure he gets plenty of iron, preferably through his diet and not pills, as they can cause constipation? I had a single unit transfused during surgery and was still anemic when I left the hospital. Spinach, beef, salmon, beans, almonds, oats, and more will help...

I've had two colonoscopies, both without bridging. The potential for bleeding isn't that great. I drop my INR to around 2 and that's it. I haven't had any polyps, but had biopsies during both without any bleeding issues.

That means that although you're losing blood, it's not enough to make you anemic, which is a good thing, but doesnt mean there's not a problem. Glad to hear you'll be following up with an ENT and hope they find the root cause of the bleed.

That surprises me that they dropped it to a 0.5 range. When I had my surgery in 1998, the range for my St. Jude's mitral was 2-3. Fairly quickly it changed to 2.5-3.5, which is where it remains. I think it was standard practice then to start with a slightly lower range. I prefer to be in the...

Since I had already responded to the original post, part of what he changed, including the name calling, showed in my response. Guess he can't change that! The time limit is pretty long as I noticed a grammatical error in one of my posts a day or two after I'd posted it and was able to correct...

The Warfarin may be causing the bleeding to continue, but they need to identify the source of the bleeding. Is it a sublingual hematoma? They're usually painful and swollen, along with bleeding, and can be serious if not treated. Yes, the PCP is useless and you need a new one, but until then...

My surgery was in 1998 so things have changed and I don't remember all the details. I had 4 chest tubes - two large and two small. The last large one wasn't removed until the day before I left the hospital - Day 5. None of them bothered me. They left my catheter in until I was moved to a...

I wish I'd seen this earlier because I could barely sleep as I was waiting for you to give me permission. Yes, that's sarcasm, a form of humor that is best used and understood by those who are intelligent.

I may be going into the clinic soon as well if they make it any more difficult to get the strips.

Yes I noticed that you removed where you called me sarcastic and unhelpful.

I find you incredibly rude and rather a know it all, but go ahead and call me sarcastic and unhelpful. The machine was called the INRatio, made by Alere, not the Coaguchek INRange, made by Roche. As the article states, it and the strips were recalled in 2014. The strips were actually under a...

You can be assured that I don't need a definition for a word that I use. The machines and test strips were withdrawn from the market after some questionable results. Alere is now Abbott, but this particular machine no longer exists. It's defunct...

The Coumadin Clinic associated with my doctor's office was using a Coaguchek in the late 90s. Unfortunately I had to change doctors when I changed jobs and had to go to LabCorp for all bloodwork. I put up with it for a while, but then bought my first machine, the now defunct Alere INRatio, in...

The first night is tough, but with a normal recovery, it gets significantly better each day. Since he was drowsy, I'm guessing he still had drugs from the surgery in his system so they didn't want to overdose him. They're so hesitant to give pain meds now because of the high number of people...

My point is that they don't usually and shouldn't look at spend to determine benefits. Look at the plan documents to see what's covered. If it's a covered benefit and the doctor says it's medically necessary, they shouldn't deny it. Again, they might approve a rental, but not an outright...

No foods should be limited because of Warfarin. Is there another reason?

Having worked in the industry for over 25 years, mostly on the provider side, but 9 years total on the payer side, that's not really how it works. Valve replacement patients cost pennies compared to transplant patients! Coverage is determined by benefit plan and medical necessity. Last I...

As long as the Vitamin K is consistent, it should be okay. However, why not adjust to her diet without the Vitamin K supplementation? As she continues to recover and gets more active, expect some changes. Because of Pericarditis starting at 8 weeks out and adding Prednisone for 9 months and...