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Great post Woodcutter. Looks very similar to mine this year. Your Doc should be very pleased with your management of your INR. I noticed that you, like me, need the full 1.0 spread (2.5-3.5 INR) to be considered "well managed". IMO, the Docs that want their patients to maintain a tight .5...

Welcome to the forum. It sounds as tho you are doing what you need to do:). My advice is to take a deep breath.......Believe it or not, heart surgery has become a fairly common surgery with a very long track record of successful outcomes. I wouldn't worry too much about a long list of...

Are you on Medicare yet? If you are, home testing is covered 80/20.......but you must use one of the remote INR labs. Medicare requires a third-party provider......probably a legal issue.........or a strong lobby in Wash. DC. If you are too young for Medicare (65) you may want to look to E-bay...

My experience is like DebbyA's. I see my Cardio annually and my PCP as needed for other health issues. The only "must do" for mechanical valve patients is: 1. take the warfarin as prescribed 2. test your INR every week or two (home test or INR clinic)

My lead surgeon was still a Surgical Resident at the University of Kentucky Teaching Hospital when he did my surgery. He went on to become a chief of Staff at the Texas Heart Institute. Several years ago I spoke with him by telephone and asked if he still did valve replacements. He...

Welcome to the forum. Open Heart Surgery (OHS) tends to "blow the mind" of most who have been told to have repair or replacement of a heart valve. It has become a relatively common procedure being done at many urban hospitals. I would imagine that a number of hospitals in the San Fran area...

Go for it! You've done what is expected in making an informed decision. Good luck and Godspeed:)

These people were driving us NUTS with 40-50 robo calls a day. I found a landline phone system that has eliminated 99+% of those calls. Vtech Smart Call Blocker VS-112.....purchased from Amazon at +/- $100 with a base unit and two remote phones. Have had it for about two months and it works...

I also have a Humana Advantage plan.......that is "plan specific" to Jefferson County Ky and suits my needs very well. I recently received my 2024 copy of "Medicare and you - 2024". It is the official US medicare handbook that outlines the Medicare services for next year. This handbook also...

A question for MIB: You seem to have a good knowledge of the Medicare Advantage plans. Since she had to have both Part A and Part B in order to get a Medicare Advantage Plan (Part C) would she have to go thru underwriting if she opts out of MC Advabtage in favor of Original MC and a private MC...

I have been on warfarin longer than most (56+ years) I have a very old design aortic mechanical valve. My INR range has been 2.5-3.5 since the INR system was developed in the 1980s........and about 18 seconds PT(1.6 INR) before the INR system. I've never had an uncontrollable bleed that...

You state above "I have no insurance coverage" and then refer to having Humana Medicare. Are you 65 or older? It sounds as tho you may have a Medicare Replacement(?) plan with Humana so I guess you are over 65. Many insurers, along with Humana offer these plans called Medicare "C" (Medicare...

Get it in writing! PS: Your bio states the surgery seems pretty standard......aortic valve and aneurism. I would think a local "in network" Arkansas doctor could perform the surgery.

No.

It's funny how some things change while others remain the same. The "tube removal" is one of only two things I can vividly recall of my surgery many years ago. 1. The "tube removal" was an eye opener for sure. Fortunately, it's over in a flash with little lingering pain. Then, of course, they...

Welcome to the forum.

An old Starr-Edwards "ball-in-cage" mechanical that is no longer in production. It was implanted in 1967 @ age 31.....now 87. It appears that the valve will go all the way.

Jennie, thanks for a great post! You are a true medical authority on OHS. I grabbed the "gold ring" when I went around the valve choice merry-go-round and got the only valve on the market back then. Fortunately for me, it was a mechanical. Your post "dots the eye" regarding valve choice for...

I'd get checked out by your Cardio. I was diagnosed with chronic A-fib 50 years after my surgery so I guess A-fib can happen at any time. Mine is controlled with meds and does not affect my life negatively. I understand that during an A-fib episode the heart "flutters" rather than "beats"...

Welcome to this forum. You have some time before the surgery to review valve choices. The mechanical valve will, most likely, last your lifetime......the tissue valve will probably require some form of procedure when you are around 80. If you are fortunate you may get a TAVR at that...