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I wish you all the best. I had my AVR in 2012 with a SJM mechanical valve. I'm now 70 and still motoring along. I remember the trepidation and apprehension beforehand and empathize with your feelings. This forum was a lifeline and answered all my silly (and not so silly) questions and allayed a...

The surgeon I had recommended SJM so I had one AVR bi-leaf implanted in 2012. Aside from some audible noise when nothing else is competing, it just ticks along. I'm glad I chose it as it requires a pretty low INR warfarin requirement of 1.8 to 2.5 (for me anyway, your requirement may differ). I...

After I was taken off Metropolol I felt a lot better. I was working out at the gym doing squats and so on and felt breathless. A little while after the discontinuation, that was all gone. Double check why you are still taking a drug to limit your heart rate after this length of time and feel...

Congratulations. I agree with the sentiments from Gerrychuck. I too am now home testing and it is quite a relief to be more in charge of the information you get. The warfarin management has not been at all difficult to this point. I started exercising quite intensely and to date it has not...

To help avoid the intestinal discomfort, I found that eating some good quality, low fat yogurt was a great help. Never had an issue with 4 x 250 amoxicillin pre-procedure dosages. Can't hurt to try anyway. Good luck.

I did a Coaguchek home test a few minutes after having blood drawn for a lab test. The results came in showing a .3 difference on the low side which was acceptable to me as I would prefer any discrepancy to favour the low side of the home testing anyway. I also intend to periodically compare the...

My plan is to be as consistent as practical in diet and alcohol consumption, "dose the diet" and try to stay on the high side of my personal target. Being able to use a capillary prick will allow me to easily move to a weekly regimen and hopefully maintain a stable target result. That is the...

When you get a moment, read through this section of anecdotal comments regarding surgery and recovery. I found a lot of great comments that made me realize I was not alone...........and you're not. Best wishes for a speedy recovery. My personal recommendation is to avoid dehydration and drink...

I am testing every two weeks presently with the lab method, but may have increased to weekly if the INR fluctuates out of range. Hard to say just yet. I got lucky with the first two tries and did not waste a strip. I'm just waiting on a lab test report to see how the home unit correlated to the...

Thanks everyone for all the input. Always good to know what is happening in other parts of the two countries. I did take a quick look at eBay and thought about future purchases that way. Today I did end up having to ask the pharmacy to send the strips back and re-order to get a better...

Update on purchasing strips. I think I got a good deal from the pharmacy (good in Canada anyway) I paid $350 for 48 strips and suggested retail was closer to $500 on the distributor's list. I feel that was pretty fair of them. Anyone have any better pricing in Ontario, I'd be interested.

After waiting since my first post for an answer on price (and one friendly reminder) with the local Shoppers I called another local pharmacy that was not listed on the Coaguchek web site. They said they could get it no problem and would deal on the price which was listed as $645 from their...

Hi Sara, Happy New Year. I have had the St. Jude valve implanted and although it is slightly audible, it has no impact at all on my psyche or ability to sleep. Almost comforting to hear it ticking along. Very little noise really and only when there is nothing else to hear. The warfarin therapy...

Hi Jim, Nice to see all went well. If you haven't yet seen it, there is a sticky on one of the forum subjects listing all the things that people were surprised to find out after the surgery. It makes great reading. Best of luck and hope all heals well. Here is a link...

Hi, Thanks for the nice comment. Sorry for the slow response. Not used to anyone replying to my few posts. Anyway, I have reached week 9 post-op and been cleared by the surgeon and cardiologist to return (sensibly) to exercising and weight training. This was a little ahead of schedule I thought...

There is a great study done by the U of SC of a 25 year follow-up of some various mechanical valves. You can Google query to find it easily. Good information, easy to understand and reassuring if you are concerned with valve failures. Of the thousands of patients in the study over 25 years...

This is a great thread. Many interesting comments. I was surprised; 1. When I found out the pericardium is not necessarily (and seldom is) restitched after heart repairs. Just left open. 2. That 1st time gout attacks (very, very painful) can be caused by; trauma from surgery, ASA, diuretics...

Yannis, Investigate the "minimally invasive" procedure thoroughly with your doctors if it is presented to you as an option. It really is not that minimal except for the sternotomy. There are more holes involved although smaller, you are under anesthesia a lot longer which can affect recovery...

Just information. I am currently doing some research and have a call into Roche regarding a purchase of a Coaguchek XS unit and waiting for a return call. While waiting for the call, I bounced around their site and found a 29 page PDF of all the suppliers they have an agreement with in Canada.

Katm After you get over the initial shock of the diagnosis, reality will temper that and you'll feel better about the great benefits of being able to get fixed up. After having some stents done in 2010 due to a heart attack, I was told I had a murmur indicating a possible bicuspid valve. So, I...