Home testing

[Joe]

I have read comments from members regarding having problems with a company selling testing equipment , but no mention who that may be!

Could that company be QAS ???????????????

I have been approved for such equipment by my primary doc as well as QAS,
But have not received said equipment. I even have a problem contacting co.
reps by e-mail or telephone. It makes me wonder if I want to put my life in their Hands.

Please Advise
Joe new member with St. Jude aortic valve since 2001

 

[briansmom]

I do not have my unit yet, but the folks from QAS have been very responsive. the rep even called me today because the doc did not word the prescription correctly. She said that my unit would be in the mail as soon as they got the right scrip.

 

[Ross]

Joe don't flip out on us. I'll give you a number to call and have this all resolved once and for all.

Give Lance Visnich a call at QAS and tell him that I sent you. His number is (800) 298-4515.

Then let me know if he doesn't treat you right..

 

[Karlynn]

Joe, with all due respect, you're not putting your life in their hands. You're just buying a machine from them. It'll be okay.

That's the way to look at it.

I've had both great and disappointing experiences with QAS. I think a lot of it depends on who is handling your case. Getting my INRatio from them was pretty frustrating. Due to employee changes my ball got dropped several times. My insurance company nurse advisor was the one that actually was the most helpful in getting me info! (Who'd a thought? An insurance company being helpful???) But I did get my machine and love it. Ordering supplies is not a problem. You won't have any hoops to jump through.

 

[Joe]

Ross, Thanks! I put a call into Lance yesterday and he got back to me in about 3hrs. I am supposed to call him back Monday to see if it gets shipped out, apparently there has been a shortage of monitors.
My main complaint is the lack of communication, that they have not responded to phone calls or e-mails. i only called a couple of times in two months, not like I had been hounding them. Anyway thanks and hopefully things will work out now as I need the monitor sooner than later.

rachel,thanks for your comment.
Karlynn, I do hope my experiences with the company get better and I can post positive comments.

Thanks to all, JOE

 

[catwoman]

Joe:

I have never had a problem with QAS.

Like with any business, one person who drops the ball or causes a problem gives a bad name to the entire company.

I think I dealt with Lance's brother when I ordered my ProTime 3 cuvettes earlier this year. He was great.

 

[Ross]

Keep me posted. Lance has never failed us yet.

 

[Joe]

I am happy to report that I received my pro time machine yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks to Ross and Hank for telling me to contact Lance @ QAS.
Lance was most helpful in getting my machine on the way and contacted me several times to let me know the progress.
Had my first instruction today but that did not fare well. I could not get enough blood in the cup! Tried twice to no avail. Hopefully it will go better when I try again later today.
Could be that that my coumadin level is very low as I have only been back on it for two days after being on lovenox for a week.Not bleeding so easily.
Did I read somewhere there is a tube you can purchase to help in obtaining blood? I surely was a little nervous and thought it wolud be a piece of cake to do. WRONG AGAIN. Again thanks to all for their help and support. SUGGESTIONS WELCOMED!
Joe in MO.

 

[geebee]

Joe,

I have found there is no connection between my INR and how easily I can get blood for a test.

QAS sells capillary tubes for collecting blood but the amount may not be enough for the Pro-Time since I have heard it takes more blood than the INRatio which is what I have.

Talk to Lance again and ask if they have tubes large enough for the Pro-Time.

Be patient - you will get the hang of it.

 

[EVELYN]

Hi Joe

I'm assuming you got the Protime machine....it definitely uses more blood than the INRatio or the Coaguchek.....Get those capillary refill tubes....very easy to use and you can just put the blood in the cups....good luck with your protime and qas.

Evelyn

 

[Ross]

I had a hard time with the cups too. I had to put my hand under warm/hot water for 20 minutes or more and sometimes slice my finger twice.

 

[Karlynn]

You may want to check with the makers of the ProTime machine. I seem to remember reading that the capillary tubes are not recommended for the ProTime.

 

[catwoman]

I've never had trouble getting blood for my ProTime 3.

Joe:

Do you have a ProTime 3 or a protime machine (meaning probably an INRatio by Hemosense)?

 

[Karlynn]

Do you have a ProTime 3 or a protime machine (meaning probably an INRatio by Hemosense)?

Since Joe said he has trouble getting enough blood in the cup, I assume he's talking about the ProTime machine.

I didn't ever have problems getting enough blood (it usually took me a few drops). The problem I did have was the blasted air-bubble errors.

I'm wondering if QAS is giving people the ProTimes if they don't request a specific machine, because INRatio seems to be the more popular machine now. I would think that QAS has some sort of obligation to sell some ProTimes.

 

[catwoman]

Karlynn:

Dunno if ITC (or whoever ProTime 3's manufacturer is) has just given the ProTime 3 cuvettes & Tenderlettes a face lift or if there is some significant change ...but my last batch of both looks different, and I have not gotten a bubble error yet, knock on wood.

Seems that a company selling more than one make of a product would ask the customer which one he/she wants. Don't know if there are sales incentives for pushing Brand A vs. Brand B.

When I ordered my ProTime 3, I asked for that by name. (I had called someone with Roche, got the run-around, didn't know that QAS also carried CoaguCheks. As it is, probably a good thing I didn't get a CoaguChek, what with the recall of strips this past year.

 

[Marty]

Nine years ago Lance told me capillary tubes could not get enough blood in the Protime cup; so, I went with Coaguchek. Some people are very good at getting a nice big drop of blood and guiding it on to a strip or in the cup but i was not one of them.

 

[lance]

Soak fingers

Soak fingers

Hi Joe,

I can empathize with your difficulty in obtaining enough blood--been there, done that.

So I immerse the four fingers on the target hand in a mug of hot tap water as warm as is comfortable before making the stick. It works for me--good luck.

 

[Joe]

Thanks to all for your comments and suggestions. Thankfully after warming my fingers on a heating pad for 30 minutes prior and sticking my finger in the middle instesd of the side I was able to fill the cup on two different occassions. The bad news is that my INR was only 1.4 yesterday. Had an appt. already scheduled at my coumadin clinic today , hopefully it will be a little better. ( I have only been back on coumadin for 5 days, but I thought the results would be better) I have ordered one of Al's charts ,for a better understanding of dosing. I also plan to visit a medical supply store today and check out capillary tubes. The QAS nurse did tell me they created air bubbles?

Anyway, I survived my procedure last week and am waiting to begin 42 external radiation treatments! (prostate cancer)

Question, Hopefully Al or others can answer or provide some insight. Will my treatments affect my coumadin therapy?

Thanks again, JOE in MO.

 

[Marty]

A capillary tube can cause an air bubble and even get an error message from the INRatio even though only 15ul is needed to test. The key is to not squirt all the blood, leave a little in the tube and you wont squirt air on the strip. I've had no trouble since I started doing this.

 

[Hank]

Congrats

Congrats

Congratulations on getting your machine Joe. And thanks Lance at QAS for getting it done.

You mentioned that maybe your INR being low would be the cause of not being able to get enough blood. Typically, a low INR would simply cause your finger to bleed for a shorter period of time. If your INR was higher, it would not bleed at a higher rate, it would just bleed for a longer period.

All of the tips that you have been given above are great tips. Just warming, and then keeping your finger below the level of your heart when you bleed into the cup are the best tips I can think of.

When I test, I have 1 ProTime machine, 2 INRatio machines, and 1 cardiochek machine all layed out in front of me. I make one poke with the tenderlett device and that gives me 2 big drops for the protime, 1 drop for each of the INRatios, and 1 drop for the CardioChek.

It is really a tightly rehersed process that my family has down to a science. It gets really tricky since the warm up times and other timings are different on all of the machines.

Great fun though!

Keep us posted on your success, and in no time you will be down to a routine and free from labs forever.