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There is no, “How long will this thing last?”, for you anymore. You’re just a guy with a mechanical valve living a full life. May we all get there. Congrats and cheers!

So what we’re down to is trust nobody but yourself. 😁 Which would include trusting that you’ve chosen to place your trust in the right people. Including this forum.

Are you asking what our INR was as of our most recent test? Or our standard therapeutic range that we aim for? I try to stay within 2.5-3.5. My last test showed 2.9. St. Jude mechanical valve.

You may have missed the joke. That’s my response to that question. “Who wants to know? *wink, wink*”

@BradP , to sum up the general take of many on this forum: It’s a lot easier to replace blood cells than brain cells. On-X had lower bleeding events and higher clotting events in the study that got them approved for a lower therapeutic range. Clotting events lead to pulmonary embolism...

That’s kind of the point though, isn’t it? Walking along the edge of a cliff on path may be safe, but the risk is a lot higher if you stumble vs walking on a path farther from the edge of the cliff.

Pretty sure you read that one correctly. But I also use it a bit for a genuinely funny post that’s clearly written with a humorous intent.

4. “Who’s asking? 😉”

I mean, there’s a chance. 🤷🏼‍♂️ There’s also a chance it’s just a regular cold or flu picked up where sick people gather. Not really the kind of thing for an Internet forum to determine for you. If I had legit reasons to suspect endocarditis, I’d reach out to my Dr or head straight to...

Not everyone has a quality lab in their area. Hearing a lab referred to as a “guru” hits the funny bone. I’ve had some pretty bad labs over the years and I would not call the people there, “guru’s”. The current group I partner with is pretty great. I like them because we talk about...

Took a two week trip recently. We were staying in the mountains. I’ve been rock steady at 6mg daily, so I tested right before we left at 2.6 INR and left the machine at home. Two weeks, no big deal, right? Well, first thing when we got back I tested and was at 5.5 INR. Staying at...

I’ve been on the same 25mg am and pm since my second surgery over 13 years ago. Never noticed anything with it. But I’m a bigger person at 6’4” and a bit over 200lbs. So maybe the dose isn’t much for my size? I still exercise regularly and function just fine. Blood pressure is normal. I...

Glad to see some tissue valvers in the discussion! We can look a little unbalanced around these parts at times. What I’ve gleaned from it is that those of us who actively manage our INR, for better or for worse, do have a daily reminder of our situation so therefore tend to stick around here...

A friend of mine’s husband was told the same by his surgeon back in 2008. He got his mechanical valve a couple years ago. The surgeons are (and have been) telling people what they believe will be available based on the trajectory of current progress. Personally, I think that’s misleading...

By the way, that doesn’t necessarily mean they made the wrong decision the first time. 10 - 15 years relatively worry free without monitoring. Then they’re that much older, less active, and in a place where medication and monitoring fit their lifestyle a whole lot better now than additional...

Brown urine alerted me to an issue some years ago. I was over 10 INR. I wasn’t in a great place in life. I was being monitored by the lab as home monitoring wasn’t a thing yet. So a combination of a messed up diet (I was losing weight, but not in a healthy way) and lack of monitoring led to...

Welcome to the forum, and best wishes as you process all the info and make your decision. Just to play devils advocate. Has either your cardiologist or your surgeon ever been on anticoagulation therapy long term? I would argue they don’t know any more than you do. Many of them have fears...

Summer vacation season. Spent a couple weeks in the National Parks in the Canadian Rockies. Did some hiking, canoeing, rafting, lots of driving. Amazing area. Back to the real world now.

This doesn’t even address the sometimes 80% of the total premium many employers pay on behalf of their employees. But if it isn’t premiums and deductibles then it’s taxes. And as long as everyone wants Cadillac health care with MRI’s on demand, the cost will continue to escalate. That’s the...

I suspect a positive for tissue valvers would be that any OAC would be available vs just warfarin (mechanical valvers). So no monitoring or testing, but much more expensive drugs.