Been 3 years

[sweetmarie]

A bit late but it's been 3 years on January 24th, metallic BAV. All's good on coumadin.

 

[neil]

hey brill news

 

[tom in MO]

Great goin sweetmarie.

 

[Greg~]

Congratulations and here's to many, many, many, more!

 

[sweetmarie]

Forgive me for this sort of long post,

Wow, been away from this forum way too long. Well it's now been 8 years since the OHS and the St-Jude mechanical valve. I feel great. Still no regret going with the mechanical valve. Being bilingual, can never remember it it's IRN, NRI, INR, etc. Anyway, lately I've had some variations in my result. Had to use Inohep for a few days till my test got up above 2.0. Not sure why, I must admit that I've been drinking a bit less wine, apparently that can be a factor. Not shy to talk about it, I like my wine with dinner.
So if that's the case, it's possible I may have to increase my daily dose from 4mg X 7 days to perhaps 4mg X 5 and 6mg X2. per week. No problem with that. I think coumadin is probably better for me that the extra wine, lol. Still not sure about that though, lol.
On another note, my Coaguchek XS meter, which I bought back in july 2011 has been acting up lately. Today I phoned Roche Canada and they told me the unit is only warrantied for 2 years. I paid over $600 with the taxes out of my pocket for this machine. It just wouldn't stay on. Long story short, I took it apart and was able to get it going again, I had nothing to lose as they don't repair these things.

I should get to the point with this post. Since I've had this machine, I've had a hard time getting enough blood out of my finger, spoiled quite a few strips over the years and they're not cheap. I've only used the yellow colored lancets so far, can anyone tell me what color is the next larger so I can get a bigger drop of blood out of my finger. I believe the yellow ones are 30 gauge.

PS: Just found out today while speaking to the Roche employee that the Quebec govt health insurance are now reimbursing for the test strips since 2017, darn, I did not keep my receipt from two weeks ago.

 

[Warrick]

sweetmarie I use the yellow lancets also, and had similar problems with not enough blood,
when its quite cold here I find a useful trick is running your hands under warm water and drying before testing improves things no end, another thing is tipping the meter up so the strips up for me seems to make the blood travel down along the strip better with a smaller drop,

small things you may have tried already but could help as I know its annoying when its a wasted strip,

pellicle has a rubber band method with a youtube clip I think

 

[pellicle]

Hi

sweetmarie

pellicle has a rubber band method with a youtube clip I think

I do have that, but if your hands are "cold as ice" (ask someone for a reference) it means there is very little peripheral blood supply. So if that's the case you'll need to get the blood there (and have your hands looking pink not pale). Like Warrick says, warm water is good. I find (in winter) that just after I've had a shower in the bathroom is good.

The vidoe is here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDzDAEtVt7o

be sure to follow the procedures in the manual about times between lancing and application (about 15 seconds)

Let me know if you have problems with that video. But watch it a few times and perhaps even lance a finger and observe blood without using a strop just to ensure you have a technique that works ... its cheaper

also, lance the side not the pad (because it'll prevent the inevitable nerve damage that occurs)

You may find my blog post handy too (it also has the video in it)
http://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2014/09/managing-my-inr.html

Best Wishes

 

[sweetmarie]

Thanks to all. I sort of forgot about the warm water trick, haven't used the unit for awhile until now because of my recent variations. However, the elastic band method has not been to effective for me but I will try pricking the side of the finger and not so much the pad.

None of you mentioned any other colors/sizes of lancets? I thought I read somewhere about different gauges of lancets but I tried looking and can't find any info. I'll be calling back Roche Canada today and ask about that. I'll post my findings.
thanks again, and yes, it's damn cold and tons of snow where we live. Can't wait for June.
PS: I did watch the pellicle video, tks. Wow, I wish my blood could flow like that, well not a hemorrhage, lol.

 

[sweetmarie]

Ok, I realize that these posts are probably not in the proper section but I'll end this conversation with this post. I spoke to a Roche rep about the lancets, she said they have no other size lancets other than the yellow ones I'm using. So I guess I'll just have try the methods listed and do some trials.

Now, the testing strips are NOT covered by our Quebec provincial health care (RAMQ) UNLESS you are part of the Regime, which I'm not because I am covered under my company health insurance until I'm 65 (five years to go). I'm retired but I have no choice to stay with my company insurance plan until I"m 65 years old. And my company insurance DO NOT cover the strips, thank god we have a clinic that does INR testing, and never more than half an hour from door to door.
Tks for all your patience.

 

[pellicle]

Ok, I realize that these posts are probably not in the proper section

I doubt that bothers anyone ...

To answer your other question, I use the yellow coloured inserts in my softClix (which came with my Coaguchek XS) and seem to have a lifetime supply. I set my depth to a notch under 4 as depth does matter too. Make sure you wrap down the finger (trapping and concentrating blood) and make sure you lance soon after wrapping (timing in seconds available watching that video). If you use your phone to do audio recording you'll get exact timing off that when playing back (speak out aloud what you are doing).

I sometimes do the washing up (no, I don't use a dishwasher) first and then that gets the blood going. But first thing in the morning getting out of bed is a bad time for getting blood.

Best Wishes

 

[sweetmarie]

Post moved to home coagulation section