On-x aortic valve replacement

[Don07958]

Good evening folks,

New here ( age 47), hope everyone well.

I am due to have aortic valve replaced (OHS) this coming Thursday due to severe stenosis.

Never been on warfarin before etc.

Any advice or tips etc would be much appreciated :O)

 

[tommyboy14]

My advice:

1) Your docs are the pros follow their advice in and out of hospital

2) Take your recovery one step at a time

3) The drugs that you will get in hospital can take a very long time to leave your system. You will hopefully get better eventually.

4) Dont stress about things that you cant control.

5) But do take control of your anticoagulation and INR in the first weeks after surgery.
- Order a Coagucheck machine
- Self-test weekly
- If you feel comfortable enough, self-manage eventually.
- some doctors and clinics dont like Patients to self-manage warfarin. But there are many international studies which show that this leads to much better outcomes.

By executing 5, you can avoid the majority of problems associated with warfarin mismanagement.

I wish you the best of luck for your surgery.

 

[Don07958]

My advice:

1) Your docs are the pros follow their advice in and out of hospital

2) Take your recovery one step at a time

3) The drugs that you will get in hospital can take a very long time to leave your system. You will hopefully get better eventually.

4) Dont stress about things that you cant control.

5) But do take control of your anticoagulation and INR in the first weeks after surgery.
- Order a Coagucheck machine
- Self-test weekly
- If you feel comfortable enough, self-manage eventually.
- some doctors and clinics dont like Patients to self-manage warfarin. But there are many international studies which show that this leads to much better outcomes.

By executing 5, you can avoid the majority of problems associated with warfarin mismanagement.

I wish you the best of luck for your surgery.

Hello,

Thank you for advice in simple terms, much appreciated.
Reference point 5, I will be ordering a home test machine so can check om INR levels etc from home.
Initially will have to go clinic but for sure will be investing in a coaguchek machine.

 

[pellicle]

Hi and welcome

Any advice or tips etc would be much appreciated :O)

sure what Tommy said is about spot on.

Further rather than write a ton and as, I've already written a ton on my blog I'll point you there.

First and foremost I'll suggest that you don't just read this post once, but due to its scope consider it a reference

https://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2014/09/managing-my-inr.html
Quoting from the opening of that (selectively):

I wanted to say that managing my INR myself is incredibly simple and takes me about 5 minutes per week. Learning to use an INR monitoring machine is dead simple (a quick video provided) and (almost) any idiot can do it. If you buy strips online they cost so little that if you are an able bodied person you just couldn't consider doing it any other way.​

you won't need this bit because being in the UK you may well get them for free.

By using the Coaguchek XS I have been essentially free to travel as I wish (moved from Australia for a year in Finland, traveled to the UK and other places) and more or less unbound in any way by being on anticoagulants.​

​

As a bonus its been really cheap, with tests costing me less than $6 per test.​

​

In this post my main focus is on those of us who are on anti-coagulants for the fact that we have a mechanical heart valve. As I understand it there are quite a few out there who simply do not monitor their INR after their heart valve replacement, and perhaps bumble along with a fixed dose and no idea if its good or bad.​

​

So my Valve Brothers and Sisters if you are still reading its all good news. I encourage you to go to eBay and buy a Coaguchek XS (or simmilar) get online for strips and look after your health, for your self by yourself!​

​

In a nut shell what I do is:​

1. sample my blood to determine my INR
2. write that down (spread sheet, but book works)
3. determine if its been over time falling or rising (a graph on a SS really helps)
4. make a small adjustment to my dose if needed to correct for my INR falling or rising (usually adjustment isn't needed and its better to leave it alone, more later)

That's it ... compared to a diabetic, life on warfarin is really simple.​

Next I'm going to link to the "aggregation" of all my warfarin related posts. Take your time, read through as you need to, and I'm going to say that all your warfarin related questions are answered in that lot.

https://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/search/label/INR
However do feel free to hit us up here with questions because sometimes its just easier to ask.

Lastly good luck with the surgery and when you're in recovery hit me up for help in teaching you my INR management method. Of course you will and should follow your Dr's advice (although you won't be getting much advice from the Dr) but if nothing else approaching my method in your early days will have the following benefits

1. you'll start good documentation habits at the beginning
2. you can start to see how it all works
3. as you progress in it you'll see why their decisions were wrong and in time you'll make better decisions on any dose adjustments (which are required from time to time).

Best Wishes

 

[Don07958]

Hi and welcome


sure what Tommy said is about spot on.

Further rather than write a ton and as, I've already written a ton on my blog I'll point you there.

First and foremost I'll suggest that you don't just read this post once, but due to its scope consider it a reference

https://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2014/09/managing-my-inr.html
Quoting from the opening of that (selectively):

I wanted to say that managing my INR myself is incredibly simple and takes me about 5 minutes per week. Learning to use an INR monitoring machine is dead simple (a quick video provided) and (almost) any idiot can do it. If you buy strips online they cost so little that if you are an able bodied person you just couldn't consider doing it any other way.​

you won't need this bit because being in the UK you may well get them for free.

By using the Coaguchek XS I have been essentially free to travel as I wish (moved from Australia for a year in Finland, traveled to the UK and other places) and more or less unbound in any way by being on anticoagulants.​

​

As a bonus its been really cheap, with tests costing me less than $6 per test.​

​

In this post my main focus is on those of us who are on anti-coagulants for the fact that we have a mechanical heart valve. As I understand it there are quite a few out there who simply do not monitor their INR after their heart valve replacement, and perhaps bumble along with a fixed dose and no idea if its good or bad.​

​

So my Valve Brothers and Sisters if you are still reading its all good news. I encourage you to go to eBay and buy a Coaguchek XS (or simmilar) get online for strips and look after your health, for your self by yourself!​

​

In a nut shell what I do is:​

1. sample my blood to determine my INR
2. write that down (spread sheet, but book works)
3. determine if its been over time falling or rising (a graph on a SS really helps)
4. make a small adjustment to my dose if needed to correct for my INR falling or rising (usually adjustment isn't needed and its better to leave it alone, more later)

That's it ... compared to a diabetic, life on warfarin is really simple.​

Next I'm going to link to the "aggregation" of all my warfarin related posts. Take your time, read through as you need to, and I'm going to say that all your warfarin related questions are answered in that lot.

https://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/search/label/INR
However do feel free to hit us up here with questions because sometimes its just easier to ask.

Lastly good luck with the surgery and when you're in recovery hit me up for help in teaching you my INR management method. Of course you will and should follow your Dr's advice (although you won't be getting much advice from the Dr) but if nothing else approaching my method in your early days will have the following benefits

1. you'll start good documentation habits at the beginning
2. you can start to see how it all works
3. as you progress in it you'll see why their decisions were wrong and in time you'll make better decisions on any dose adjustments (which are required from time to time).

Best Wishes

Hello and many thanks for the warm welcome.

Wow a lot of information here, which i will go over now.

Totally new to me so guiding the blind here lol, yes most differently will send you a message soon as surgery complete. Any guidance on INR management will be welcome as you guys have been managing INR levels for a while now.

Always good to tap into knowledge of folks with experience.

 

[pellicle]

Hi

Wow a lot of information here, which i will go over now.

you're welcome, take your time, don't rush it; you've got years ;-)

Any guidance on INR management will be welcome as you guys have been managing INR levels for a while now.

it varies because:

• some people just get managed
• some people don't even self test (or manage)
• those of us who do fully self manage (aka self test and self administer) are fewer

I'm the latter group not least because I'm a wild colonial boy, and (perhaps) by necessity I do a lot of things for myself.

https://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2013/10/colonial-boy-sensor-cleaning.html
Job done.

Total cost was around 2 bucks ... which was the icecream ... which I ate to get the stick.

win win

 

[Don07958]

Hi

you're welcome, take your time, don't rush it; you've got years ;-)


it varies because:

• some people just get managed
• some people don't even self test (or manage)
• those of us who do fully self manage (aka self test and self administer) are fewer

I'm the latter group not least because I'm a wild colonial boy, and (perhaps) by necessity I do a lot of things for myself.

https://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2013/10/colonial-boy-sensor-cleaning.html
Job done.

Total cost was around 2 bucks ... which was the icecream ... which I ate to get the stick.

win win

You would just get stick for 2 bucks here in uk so good deal with ice cream, double bubble.

Going to clinic for INR would just be a pain for myself (long term), also plan to travel more in future so being able to manage my own Inr levels is imperative.

Yeah sure is a well constructed guide and thus far very in depth reference Inr levels etc