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Energy Drinks? Energy Drinks? Potential heart issues aside, why drink something that's full of crap that's not good for you? Of course, I have the same reaction about people drinking soda pop. Beer and wine are at least a food group... right? -Philip

Sneezing Sneezing It took about four weeks for me as well. -Philip

Free Falling Free Falling Lots of interesting comments. I've not had the urge to sky dive since the mid-seventies when I was in college. My cardiologist jokingly told after my AVR surgery in 2007 that he really didn't want me playing pro football or doing professional wrestling. He added that...

Costs Costs Costs vary widely as insurance coverages vary. Costs also depend upon how often people test. Costs for lab testing where I lived were around $75.00. Insurance didn't mind paying for weekly testing. My initial cost of my INRatio monitor was around $1,100.00. Insurance didn't cover...

Bleeding Out? Bleeding Out? How do you define tiny tolerances? Opinions probably will vary, but I'm not sure I agree with some of your commentary. I suspect if a coumadin user was in danger of bleeding out, the injury would be pretty significant... something involving that much loss of blood...

Tour? Tour? It didn't take me twelve months to get back to normal activities which had me doing lots of cycling. Recovery timeframes tend to vary among members, but mine was pretty quick. I was cycling again at six weeks and at twelve weeks completed a century ride, which included riding up...

Choices? Choices? The only bad decision one can make when it comes to valve choice is deciding not to get a valve replaced when replacement time rolls around. -Philip

Sleep? Sleep? Since your surgery was a while back (2005), your sleep issues undoubtedly aren't the same as those folks encounter immediately after surgery. There are a lot of things that can cause sleep patterns to change. -Philip

Fan? Fan? I don't think one has to have personal experience with something to be a fan. Part of the personal experience thing could be the fact that we often research things and develop opinions as a result. Personally, I like the research associated with On-X and would've opted to have one...

Rides? Rides? Back in 2007, I asked my surgeon and cardiologist about risks associated with amusement park rides like coasters. Both told me to ride what I wanted. They didn't believe there was any real risk. It wouldn't be a bad idea to check with your doctor. -Philip

Sleeping Sleeping I slept on the sofa for over two months. It was easier to prop myself up on the sofa with pillows to reduce pressure on my chest and keep my chest clear of fluid buildup. When I tried to prop myself up in bed with pillows I would always wake up flat on my back and spend many...

Pt? Pt? If by PT you mean cardiac rehab, I started a program when I was two weeks post-op. My cardiologist told me he usually had his patients wait until they hit the eight week post-op mark, but he wanted to slow me down. I was recovering faster than the norm. I enjoyed doing the program...

Regent? Regent? I originally thought I received a St. Jude Regent, but a quick check indicates my valve is a St. Jude Masters Series. My Masters Series works just fine. On-X valves do have some research backing which indicates that the devices do less damage to red blood cells than other...

Tragic Choice Tragic Choice I hate to admit it, but I seriously considered not having my valve and aorta replaced. We weren't sure we could handle the surgery financially. It's sad to see people make choices which result in tragic consequences. -Philip

Racing Racing I don't currently use a gym or the kind of exercise equipment gyms have. I've never had afib, but I have noticed that my Polar heart monitor goes nuts every now and then. It sometimes jumps into the low 200's range. I think it has something to do with the contacts on the chest...

Options Options Opinions and experiences obviously vary with regards to diet, vitamin K, and INR managment. Others may like the challenge of attempting to "diet the dosage." Personally, I don't like the complexity of dealing with diet to adjust my INR. For me, it's easier to eat what I want...

Eating Eating Eat what you want and adjust your dosage to keep you in range. I've never heard of Luna Bars causing anyone to have a stroke. -Philip

Impact factors Impact factors I've never done the flu shot thing and can't remember the last time I had the flu. This said, I can't imagine why a flu shot would impact INR. With regards to exercise, my INR does fluctuate with exercise. The more exercise I do, the more my metabolic rate speeds...

Banking Blood Banking Blood I think I've got a rare type... it's mine. On a more serious note, the banking blood question was one that I asked my surgeon. He told me not to worry about it as they collect the majority of the blood produced during surgery, filter it and put it right back where...

Insurance Issues Insurance Issues Yeah, I had issues with my insurance company insisting that my test strips needed to be coded like glucose test strips through a pharmacy. Of course, my local pharmacy couldn't do that. I never did win the battle over test strips with my insurance company. I...