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Anyone else have cavernomas in their brain? Am I the only lucky one in this club? :( So about 3 months ago I started having issues with my vision - similar to a migraine aura but it never went away. Sparkly blind spots were persistent morning noon and night and would pop up randomly in just...

Update: still not completely stable, but my patience is paying off. I've stayed mostly in range this past month except for a recent spike to 5.5... I have direct access via WhatsApp to my cardiologist and after August (Italians still take their vacations very seriously) I'll get set up with an...

Again- thank you all! Today, I was finally able to get set up with a cardiologist who will "accompany" me on this journey 🙌 He reviewed my log, said it looked good. Will bump me to twice weekly blood draws until I'm solidly in range. Gave me his cell number to send him my results each time so...

Thanks for the insight all! Valve is St. Jude in aortic position. Dose is always prescribed daily... I just listed in weekly amounts for clarity and brevity. I'm most concerned about the comment of clots forming in just 10 days leading to stroke. I guess I'm past 10 days at this point, but...

Thank you! I'm an impatient person by nature, so I guess I don't understand what "long term" means in this case. 2 weeks seems like a long time to me, but I'm very new to this. The baby steps are also driving me up the wall because it seems that when I've done the baby steps, my INR stays...

Please help me! I'm really struggling. I'm 3 and a half months post op and I just cannot get my INR under control. Everything was going really well until my doctor took me off amiodarone and I can't seem to get in range anymore. I have St. Jude valve in aortic position and my ideal range...

I am so grateful for this thread!! I am a coumadin newbie and I'm having a really hard time with it. All my life I've never been one for consistency in diet, exercise, alcohol, etc. There are times when all I want to eat are leafy greens and others when I go weeks without. Same with exercise...

Glad I stumbled upon this. I feel the same sensation (popping or thumping - in line with my heart beat) at the very end of deep breaths. Hadn't given it much thought, but just heard from my surgeon. In the age of COVID most post op appointments are being postponed. But after telling him this...

Blogging my way through this surreal moment in history (from Italy). www.thoughtsfromabroad.com

I am certainly no expert on coronavirus. But I've started a blog to share my observations and personal experiences living in locked down Italy. If this helps folks in other countries understand what might happen in the coming days/weeks, feel free to read/share: www.thoughtsfromabroad.com

We're good!! Tighter restrictions were necessary to get people from fear-based panic ("How will this affect ME?") to urgent responsibility towards our most vulnerable citizens and health care workers ("How do my actions affect OTHERS?"). As one of the vulnerable ones, I appreciate this. It is...

Thanks everyone. I've calmed down a bit from my last post. I let my dr know that I'd be signing myself out Monday. This would give my husband time to prepare the house, and I could come home on a day my daughter had school, giving me a few hours in the quiet house to settle in. The dr...

Ok, hive mind. I've had it. All my vitals are good and all my meds are taken by mouth, no more IV. My INR is in range. When I asked the dr (again) to leave, they said they keep folks here standard 15 days. No. I just can't. My mental health is suffering. I've been consulting with my doctor...

Honestly in all this, this is the only silver lining here. Not just COVID 19 but also all the germs my daughter and husband tend to bring home (someone always has a cold in my house). I'd rather avoid risking getting sick so I'm telling myself a few days here won't hurt. Unfortunately one of...

I've done it. I've graduated through all the levels at the hospital and got my discharge papers today. Go me! 🙌 Then I learn they're really transfer papers. I'm going to a rehabilitation center. Ok. Hmm. This is my 2nd operation and I didn't have to do this the first time. I'm young (36) but...

Made it through surgery like a champ. Was out of surgery by about 1pm and it was still afternoon when I got my breathing tube removed. Since then it's just been one tube/IV line after another that's been going. Good riddens. Still a little hard to concentrate but I plan on creating an AVR 1 vs...

Thanks for the encouragement everyone!! :) Welcome to this crazy world, daVinci! Feel free to snoop around my profile and my old posts as it looks like you are going through a very similar situation I went through as well. It's certainly not a fun thing to go through in your mid-20's but...

Cheers to having better functioning hearts soon! So.... as it was explained to me, they might do a mini- sternotomy if possible, but as for other mini-invasive procedures (eg TAVR) my young age and otherwise excellent heart health point towards less long term risk and probability of having to...

Mine lasted 10.5 years - I was 26 when I got my Carpentier Edwards Paramount bovine valve. Going in next week to replace it with a St. Jude.

January 17 I checked myself into the ER with symptoms of early stages of heart failure - learned it was my failing cow valve (which I had gotten in my first AVR in 2009). It is now severely stenotic after years of great check-ups. It really snuck up on me, although I can't say I wasn't in a...