Insurance says yes!

[Gail in Ca]

Yeah, on a whim, I decided to get a new Coaguchek machine to replace my old Protime, that is loosing it's charge really fast. I was wondering what it would cost me.
My doc said no prob, and my insurance approved it, at no cost to me!! I am amazed.
I am now waiting for a trainer nurse to call and bring it to me. I am happily awaiting a new machine. No more refrigerated cuvettes, and less blood.

 

[Protimenow]

It sounds like you're getting an XS (and not an S). My ProTime meter hasn't started to lose (or loose) its (or it's) charge yet, and I have a spare to back it up. Although I now have a ProTime 3, which I am confident I can change the batteries on once they stop holding a charge, I'm getting to like my CoaguChek S (which will not be supported by Roche past next October) more than the ProTime.

If you've been using a ProTime meter, you should have NO problem learning how to use the CoaguChek XS. Aside from making the company delivering the meter feel good (because they sent out a 'trainer nurse'), you should have no problems learning to use this meter. As I understand it, it's almost as simple as inserting the test strip, waiting for the prompt to put blood on the strip, making the incision, and putting the drop of blood on the side of the strip. Compared to ProTime, it's probably easier. (What you may miss about the ProTime is the little blood collection cup on the side of the the Tenderlette that makes it hard to NOT get enough blood for the test).

One thing that your trainer nurse may not know - and that IS different from the ProTime, is that the CoaguChek XS uses the FIRST drop of blood and should get that drop within fifteen seconds of the incision. (With the ProTime, you are supposed to wipe away the first drop). You'll probably also find that the incisions for the CoaguChek XS will probably be practically painless - even more painless than the Tenderlette.

If you've been recording your INRs and Prothrombin times, you will probably also notice that the prothrombin times in your CoaguChek XS tests may be substantially shorter than they were with the ProTime. This is because the thrombin that CoaguChek uses has a different value than the one used by ProTime -- these values WILL be different - and this is why there is an Internationalized Normalized Ratio (the INR), which compensates for the differences between thrombins.

Congratulations on your success with your insurance company. Enjoy your meter.

(Do you still have some ProTime strips and Tenderlettes? I may be interested in them)

 

[Eva]

Great news and great insurance! Enjoy

 

[Bina]

Yeah, on a whim, I decided to get a new Coaguchek machine to replace my old Protime, that is loosing it's charge really fast. I was wondering what it would cost me.
My doc said no prob, and my insurance approved it, at no cost to me!! I am amazed.
I am now waiting for a trainer nurse to call and bring it to me. I am happily awaiting a new machine. No more refrigerated cuvettes, and less blood.

Congrats on your decision and insurance approval.
Of course you will be getting the newest Coaguchek XS which is simple and very accurate. And even if you forget something the trainer tells you, the kit has complete instructions.
Total freedom is coming your way.

 

[Cris N]

Happy news Gail!

Pretty snotty remarks, Protimenow.

 

[Protimenow]

Cris:

I'm in the middle of reading Strictly Speaking by Edwin Newman, whose death was reported last week. It's a book that deals with the damage that's being done to the English Language, as a result of all kind of errors, habits, etc. I've seen the use of 'loose' instead of 'lose', it's (which means it is) instead of its, too (which means also) instead of 'to', and countless other common errors over the years, and sometimes I point them out. I'm sensitive to misuse of words, and to see two mistakes in two words -- perhaps this could have been pointed out more elegantly -- but, personally, if someone catches me in spelling or grammatical mistakes, I appreciate learning about them and try to correct them next time.

Ross was a common offender, and didn't take kindly to having these errors pointed out to him - even privately - as a suggested way to come off more clearly. My goal is to help - not hurt, and perhaps in this case I may have done it a bit less elegantly than I could have.

Gail: If I offended you, I'm sorry.

 

[Gail in Ca]

Yes, I did notice that you commented on my mispelled words. I used to be a great speller and have been helpful to people writing resumes and papers. Now, I will make you feel a bit bad. I have noticed since my subarachnoid hemorrhage that my spelling isn't what it used to be. I often can't spell a word, and then hours later it comes to me in my damaged brain. I thought I got through the bleed without any residual effects, but I was wrong. It was caused by high INR due to a staph infection which gave me endocarditis, then a 3rd OHS.
Now, if you pick apart this reply, I will be upset!

 

[Greg a]

Gail, I declare you to be and grant you an honourary Canadian .... WE SPELL FUNNY so you can now spell honor as honour or color as colour ...... Enjoy your citizenship and damn the spelling

 

[Protimenow]

Yes, Gail. You made me feel like an idiot. I guess I probably deserved it. I've seen so much misspelling and erroneous punctuation - and I'm reading Edwin Newman's books - that I am even more sensitive to such things.

I see a lot of it coming from people who haven't had such injuries, and am probably just hypersensitive to it.

Now -- I may just start another thread in an appropriate section of this forum about what people seem to have 'lost' after OHS. I'm not sure it's true, but I've heard from many people who said that they lost a sense of self, or something, after their surgeries -- but, again, that's for another thread.

 

[olefin]

Gail, sorry to see he's at it again.
He smarted off about one of my post although it wasn't about spelling. (he should see my post before spell check :biggrin2
He was telling me I shouldn't have posted in that thread. I replied, since he was telling me what to do, I told him he should become a paying member. :wink2:
This forum can do without his type posting.

 

[Protimenow]

Dayton: I've contacted Hank about becoming a paying member. And, following your logic, if I was listed as a paying member it would have been okay for me to suggest to you that you should have posted whatever it was that you posted somewhere else?

I've posted a lot of useful information here - like advising people using CoaguChek and InRatio meters that they should use the FIRST drop for an accurate test -- something even the professionals don't seem to know. I've tried to explain how warfarin works (when others didn't or couldn't).

I found what you were referring to, and it was on a thread that is more than a month old. If you go back to the thread, you'll see that I neither TOLD you what to do nor where to post your message. I repeated what others have reported doing in similar situations. I suggested that your experience was interesting enough that it 'probably' should have been on a new thread. I believe you completely misunderstood the message and overreacted to it. There was no attack made - and no attack intended -- and your response to me then and now are unwarranted.

Let me SUGGEST (I'm not telling you what to do) that your attack here was inappropriate (especially when it follows an apology from me). I've seen others on other forums mention that a particular post would have been better if put into another thread or into a new thread - and the people they made the suggestion to didn't respond as if they were insulted or told what to do. I've even seen forum administrators moving posts that didn't belong in one area to a more appropriate area.

THIS response to your attack doesn't belong here, either, but I've been ridiculed for suggesting that private messages are the place to air these things out (which is the right place to do it).

 

[Greg a]

Gail, sorry to see he's at it again.
He smarted off about one of my post although it wasn't about spelling. (he should see my post before spell check :biggrin2
He was telling me I shouldn't have posted in that thread. I replied, since he was telling me what to do, I told him he should become a paying member. :wink2:
This forum can do without his type posting.

][video=google;-840058570850205589]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-840058570850205589#docid=560480175651750433[/video]​

 

[Protimenow]

I'm not going to respond further to this post except to say:
I don't believe I wrote anything that Olefin should have objected to
If you have problems with me, say them to me to my face as a Private Message
I've apologized to Gail, publicly and privately, and I think she's okay with it.
My only goal in joining Valvereplacement.org was to help people, try to see if there's a mindset here that cares about others - even the underinsured - getting anticoagulation management regardless of ability to pay, and to be a positive force here

I do NOT want to hijack this thread with bickering over what some people THINK I said and how they misinterpreted it; and my answering to them that I don't agree. I think I've given a lot more value than one or two posts can undo.

 

[Cris N]

I think I've given a lot more value than one or two posts can undo.

Hmmm. I'll have to think about this one...

 

[Jkm7]

Yah, I've gotten 'my lecture' as well.


Gail, Very happy you are getting your new tester. Congratulations on not having to struggle in order to get the approval. Hope you have many 'perfectly in range' tests with no hassles.