Hi. I am 8 months post AVR with a 29mm OnX valve. First 2 months was inr 2.5-3.0 and now they have cleared me to 1.5-2.0. I am also nervous at anything under 2.0. I do not want a stroke and that seems to be cutting it a little close. They have a note in my chart that I wish to be kept around 2.0.
I'd still target 2.5 (2 ~ 3)
Agreed.
With St Jude in mitral position and SORIN in aortic position my INR range is 2.5 - 3.5. When I went for MOHS surgery, surgeon told me to arrive with INR as close to 2.0 as I could get and he was comfortable doing the surgery without bridging with Lovenox. So I think 2.0 at least on a temporary basis is pretty safe and it provides the surgeon with a lower risk of uncontrolled bleeding.
I've been monitoring my INR and doing my own dose administration for about 12 years now. If I may quote my old boss on the topic of experience: Some people have a years experience in a job, others have a weeks experience 52 times.
average | 2.6 |
std dev | 0.4 |
max | 3.3 |
min | 1.8 |
over event | 2 |
under event | 1 |
inRange % | 94.2 |
wow ... that's a wild ride
This is great info to know and thank you for sharing it with us. I use the Health app daily, to track my steps. I was unaware that it can be opened without a password. I'm going to input my info regarding my prosthetic valve and that I am on ACT. I do hope that more first responders receive training to encourage them to check this app on patients.
You are not alone. There are many other members here that have shared the same feeling, when they are staring down the barrel of their 2nd or 3rd OHS surgery, having received a tissue valve at a young age. Sorry that you have to face this a third time. Sadly, this is driven overwhelmingly by fear, misinformation, and very good, targeted marketing by certain valve companies, for whom the tissue valve business is very big $. Mechanical valves cost a lot less and are typically one and done, so marketing budgets are comparatively small and sometimes nonexistent. The vast majority of patients do not have the benefit of a forum like this, where they can hear stories like yours to help them decide if they want to get multiple surgeries, so instead they get peppered and influenced with messages claiming " Don't worry, the next one will just go through your leg and not be OHS."
Let's hope this one is your last and that you live to a ripe old age and that your mechanical valve outlives you.
People know that the Hippocratic Oath sates, “Above all, do no harm.” It takes a lot of life lessons to realize that it doesn’t say, “Always do what’s in the best interest of your patient.”You are not alone. There are many other members here that have shared the same feeling, when they are staring down the barrel of their 2nd or 3rd OHS surgery, having received a tissue valve at a young age. Sorry that you have to face this a third time. Sadly, this is driven overwhelmingly by fear, misinformation, and very good, targeted marketing by certain valve companies, for whom the tissue valve business is very big $. Mechanical valves cost a lot less and are typically one and done, so marketing budgets are comparatively small and sometimes nonexistent. The vast majority of patients do not have the benefit of a forum like this, where they can hear stories like yours to help them decide if they want to get multiple surgeries, so instead they get peppered and influenced with messages claiming " Don't worry, the next one will just go through your leg and not be OHS."
Wishing you the very best of luck in your third procedure.
I don't think there's an equivalent for Android.
I know my tests have been all over. They have been testing me 2 times a month. I was high, now I'm in a period of lower does. 5mg a day seemed to be the sweet spot. Now I'm 3.75, and 5mg . I really want to buy my own home tester.
A point I make on my blog
so this means that over 80% of valves sold to 'consumers' in the USA are of the type that will need replacement. In fact its quite probable that some of the valves sold in 2011 were for replacement. Since its quite rare to replace a mechanical valve selling more tissue valves gives greater possibility for then selling another tissue valve. Repeat business is good for business.The Health App is where you input your data (in the Summary tab). A user retrieves the data on the Lock screen (Enter Passcode screen). Instead of entering a passcode, you tap Emergency in lower left, then Medical ID. If using FaceID, you hardly ever see the Lock screen because the phone unlocks by scanning your face. But even with FaceID turned ON, an unauthorized user will be presented with the Lock screen.
Yes, I guess it's not built-in but requires an App. Here's another one. https://www.jointcommission.org/-/m...rge/android-app---medical-id-instructions.pdf
Yes. Here's the page from my INR log book from 2018 where I was experimenting with daily INR measurements. There are some large movements on a daily basis. Take a look at the last two entries on the page. From noon on May 23rd to noon on May 24th I managed to get my INR down by 1.5 points. Now realize that with the high numbers like 4.0 and above, the CoaguChek machine is not very accurate but still this is a huge change in one day. The notes say I took 427 mcg of vitamin K that day to knock it down.
personally I'd recommend sticking with INR, because PT isn't "normalised" and INR actually tells you more (and is more useful for other calculations).
I didn't know that (it's not a thing in Australia), but I love that statement. It's gone straight to the pool room.
Amen to this. My Starr-Edwards "ball-in-cage" aortic valve was the first successful valve on the market, having been designed and built by Dr. Albert Starr and an engineer Lowell Edwards. Out of that small company grew a dominant company that bears Lowell Edwards's name. That company produced my valve until 2007 when they jumped into the tissue valve market and left the mechanical valve market. After all, why market something that really can last a lifetime and reduces your base of future business? Where is the Hippocratic Oath?
