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Fixed my inbox. Sorry about that.

That's a bit higher than I expected. If you are anywhere above 2.0 on Friday, be happy. I would expect it to be close.

Even if you think you may not need the surgery right away, I would arrange for a surgical consult ASAP, whether it's the Cleveland Clinic, local surgeon and/or a surgeon in Dallas or Houston.. The surgeon(s) will offer his/her opinion about whether you need surgery and how to proceed.

Hoping for the best. Hang in there.

Some of his symptoms (chest pain) are likely from his underlying cardivascular issues. Although propranalol and metoprolol can cause faitigue and a variety of other side effects, that also could be from his underlying condition. All this needs to be gone over with his doctors. You mention...

It's most interesting to see how rapidly you moved along or were moved along. No one else has ever reported anything like that here, as far as I can recall. So, your story is so, so different from most. However, your experience with pain is far more like most. I had the strangest experience...

Yes, that explains a lot of what you mentioned in previous threads about him being incapacitated. When it resolves or is drained, he should improve noticeably. Good luck!

Yes, if they aren't telling you much, they should.

Second what Larry said. Renal failure complicates things and only the doctors involved can make the assessment of risk/benefit from AVR.

An amazing story. You weren't even there 3 days. Less than 2-1/2. Mind boggling.

Hi Vadim: I'm glad you mentioned the things that are bothering you. Let me reflect on some of them. High heart rate and pounding heartbeat: My heart rate was in the 90's post-op and drove me nuts. Pre-op my resting rate was 60. Part of the rate increase was from the surgical trauma, but...

You know the heart and lungs are intimately connected by a "virutal" space between the membranes that surround them, the pericardium and the pluera, as well as by the fact that when the heart beats, blood surges through the lungs. This is why when you breathe in, which is accomplished by your...

Yes, checking in 2-3 days is probably going to do nothing more than verify that your INR isn't moving very quickly. In 2-3 days you can generally figure you are about 1/2 way to where a dosage change will eventually take you. Initially a 2-3 day check makes some sense to pick up unusually...

Yes, give it lots of time and effort. You should get progressively better, but it's really up to you. I JUST started to run again. I was a sub 3 hour marathon runner 25 years ago. I can't run 100 yards now, but I have 30 extra pounds (er, maybe 35) to work off before I will be back to my...

I agree about the EF. Mine was 65% a year pre-op, 55% immediately pre-op, 39% 3 days post-op (a little unexpectedly low) and was back to 55% 1 year post-op and is 60% now.

My EF was a bit worse than yours post-op and I had 10 lbs of extra fluid. The fluid was removed with the help of Lasix over the first couple of weeks. And my EF improved along with my exercise tolerance over the first 3-6 months. Cold intolerance is fairly common, but developing cold...

Arg! Do they know why you became temporarily jaundiced?

I would focus on finding a surgeon and reviewing your options with him/her. You should be able to get a tissue valve, graft and no longterm warfarin, but there are a lot of choices to be made there and you want a surgeon who has experience with whatever you choose. I wouldn't waste any time...

Your ability to walk 2 miles at 5 days post-op is huge. You may be having other issues, but you are so far ahead of schedule on physical recovery, it is amazing.

I would make up the missed dose 100%. The most important thing is your average weekly dose. In other words, warfarin's main anticoagulant effects are so slow, you could just as well take twice your daily dose on an every other day schedule and end up with the same INR. If you only take an...