Staying the Course -- 01/06/2020

[Superbob]

So after all the holiday parties and an exciting Wild Card weekend of NFL football, it is back to a regular week (work or otherwise) starting with Monday. Stay the Course, guys and gals.

I love it how our corner of vr.org seamlessly transitions from topics like steptrackers to the health of our beloved dawgs and our assorted adventures. BTW, the great yellow lab Dasher, who has been hobbled as though on his last legs, lit out after a rabbit when I Iet him out in the backyard a little while ago. Of course, he was getting after the critter on 3 legs -- the right rear one still being gimpy -- but he seems to have perked up some. The new anti-inflammatory med may be helping some. I pray that is so. If it's no cancer and no serious displacement, the outlook for him brightens, and can concentrate on shedding some weight -- and maybe this old man can give him a walk after walking my walking dawg, Ellie. We'll see.

Comes down to it, we are mostly about heart. "Ya gotta have heart," as Phillies relief pitcher Tug McGraw (father of Tim) said often when the Fightin' Phils were chasing World Series victories.

Going into a full medical week, largely for the Missus and the big dawg, but also I am back to cardiac rehab, and I love being there. If I could live another life, I would be a physical therapist. Seriously. You help people recover via the right kind of exercise and sensible nutrition, etc. Fulfilling work.

Okay, Coursers, what is our topic du jour going to be? You decide. Lead us along this course with the start of a new year.

Oh yeah, I am in another Garmin step challenge, but looks like there are a couple of ringers in it. Third place might be a reasonable goal for me.

Cheers,
Superbob

 

[rich01]

I had TAVR and 2 stents in September and have gained 25 lbs since then (3 months). I think it might be related to Plavix.

For the 1st couple of months, I was hungry all the time and couldn't seem to eat enough to feel satiated. In hindsight, I think the Plavix and aspirin did a job on my stomach lining and I mistook the burning sensation for hunger. I no longer feel hungry all the time, but am really having trouble losing the 25 lbs.

Weight gain is not listed as a side effect of Plavix, but I found several people on the web asking if Plavix causes weight gain, so I suspect it might be a side effect to some.

Does anyone else find that taking an anti-coagulent caused weight gain?

 

[Superbob]

Rich -- My wife was on Plavix for many years following a stroke. Don't think weight gain was a side-effect. However, when she had a life-threatening fall a year ago, with massive bleeding, the docs decided to take her off of Plavix because of her history of falls and vulnerability to bleeding (risk of brain bleeding especially). They put her on 81 mm aspirin instead and she has been fine.

 

[rich01]

SuperBob - I'm hoping after 6 months to convince the doc to let me get off Plavix and take natural anti-coagulants like turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, and garlic.

 

[Protimenow]

Rich01 - I have serious doubts that your doctor will let you take 'natural anticoagulants' because their effects aren't easy to quantify. Will one brand of turmeric have the same effect as a different brand? How much do you have to take?
Without a 'standard' effective dose (and the 'natural' anticoagulants not necessarily being equivalent from batch to batch), I can't imagine any physician going for that kind of thing.

I've been taking warfarin for more than 28 years. It's no big deal. Years ago, I couldn't easily afford coumadin - and asked my doctor if I could use Aspirin instead - he quickly told me not to, and gave me some physician's samples of coumadin.

You really shouldn't stop taking warfarin - fwiw - it's 'natural' - derived from red clover (it was discovered decades ago when farmers castrating their goats (if I recall correctly) had some goats bleed to death - and the cause was red clover that the goats were eating. The Wisconsin Animal Research Foundation (the WARF in Warfarin) found the component that caused anticoagulation and developed the drug).

---

Superbob -- 'You've gotta have heart' was originally a song in 'Guys and Dolls,' in the 1950s. Tug may have appropriated it, because it made sense to him.

 

[Superbob]

Actually, Tug's rallying cry in 1973 was "ya gotta believe." So I misquoted him (though I'm pretty certain in the mists of my memory I recall him invoking "heart." He generated quite a few quotes: https://www.baseball-almanac.com/quotes/quomcg.shtml

Meanwhile, Plavix and Coumadin are not the same medicine. I believe Rich was asking about coming off Plavix. Certainly caution should be exercised in substituting any "natural" supplements for prescribed medicine.

 

[Protimenow]

Yes. It WAS Plavix. I'm still not sure about the 'natural' materials mentioned as being anywhere near bio-equivalent.

 

[Superbob]

My biggest dread going into my aortic aneurysm surgery last September was that I would regain consciousness with the ventilator still intact and with the ICU staff in no hurry to take it out. I just realized tonight -- honest -- that I have no recollection of it coming out. Must have come out while I was still in la-la land. Or maybe they gave me extra juice since this was a longer surgery than the one back in '05 when I DID wake up with the ventilator still in and fretted mightily about when it would ever come out. They were worried about my low oxygen intake back then. Maybe my exercising had improved my oxygen efficiency enough to eliminate that concern this time around. I dunno. I can flatter myself and hope that was the case. Anyway, it was odd just tonight to realize suddenly that I have no recollection of ventilator exit for the '19 go-round. Maybe just a big duh for me.

Anyone else have ventilator angst?

 

[Debster]

My mom has been on Plavix for years...but in the last couple of years he reduced her dose to 3 days a week....

 

[rich01]

I know at one time a doctor told me I had to take it for 6 months and another time said 1 year. The thing is I had 2 stents and then 2 weeks later TAVR, and I don't know if they told me this in response to the stents or TAVR or both.

I plan on doing my research and then talking to doc when I have my next appointment.

 

[LoveMyBraveHeart]

I remember all 3 times Mathias woke up from his surgeries. The first, he woke up combative and they had to sedate him again because he was throwing punches and ripping lines off of himself. Funny now, but scared the nurses then. Mathias is not a small guy, and can really pack a wallop if necessary. I honestly think it's because his nurses were male...absolutely nothing against male nurses, he really liked them once he came to. I think he just woke up hurting around a bunch of dudes and kind of flipped his lid!

The second, he woke up rather peacefully and they were able to take him off the ventilator almost immediately. We were so thankful for that!

The third time, he was in shock when he went into the OR, so his oxygen levels were already low going into surgery. He woke up around 3 pm and had the ventilator in until 8 pm because his oxygen was stubborn about staying where it should be. (It was almost the whole time he was in the hospital that time around. Lower 90s.) He elected to stay coherent (as coherent as he could be, at least) while the tube was in. So we communicated on a whiteboard with drawings and writing notes. It was as fun as it could be given the situation! I had to tell him a couple times to stop trying to pull the breathing tube out himself or they would have to sedate him again. He kept writing that he felt fine, why did he need this stupid tube? So I would tell him he felt fine because of the tube, and he would settle. Then we would have the whole conversation again about 5 minutes later.

Thinking back on all these experiences...it reminds me how much I love him. Like butterflies and rainbows kind of giddy love. It sounds so cheesy, I know. We've been together quite awhile, but this last year of medical issues has made our love and appreciation for each other grow significantly. I am so excited for our wedding in February. Anyone else have that feeling after this type of situation?

 

[Superbob]

"Butterflies and rainbows" and "giddy love" -- I love it! What a beautiful wedding is coming up in February and a wonderful marriage thereafter! So glad you are part of our merry band of Coursers, LMBH!

I am like Mathias in one way at least -- I intensely disliked that ventilator being in me when I was awake to the world and ready to rock and roll (sorta)....But my feelings were softened somewhat when I thought, well that danged tube kept me breathing! And evidently you got that point across to Mathias too.

I love the love story you two have. It is inspiring, like butterflies and rainbows. Blessings!

 

[LoveMyBraveHeart]

"Butterflies and rainbows" and "giddy love" -- I love it! What a beautiful wedding is coming up in February and a wonderful marriage thereafter! So glad you are part of our merry band of Coursers, LMBH!

Thank you for your kind words and for welcoming me into the group like you all have. I feel a bit out of place at times since I have not experienced OHS for myself, but everyone's information and insight has made me, I believe, a better, more informed caretaker. What a blessing it is to have a site like this. I appreciate you all so very much.
Much love!

 

[Superbob]

I got tired of my repeated phone calls to the INR clinician down here in SC not being returned or any of my questions about going off Coumadin answered, so I reached out to the nurse practitioner at UNC/Chapel Hill where I had my surgery and got this reply promptly: You are done with Coudamin. It was for an arm clot and was for only 3 months. Hallelujah!

Okay, I am not a warfarin basher. I respect the wisdom of those of you have used it for many years and assure everyone that it is no big deal, no major disturber of life styles. No reason to dispute that. However, to a person who did not have to take it after his first OHS 15 years ago, it is has been a, well, honestly, nuisance to be on it since my mid-September surgery. That's nearly four months, and could have been off after three, except for the strange insistence at the local clinic that I should stay on it at least until I finish cardiac rehab. What we do in CR is NOT strenuous --not to brag, but it's a breeze compared to what we did in our exercise class in the years before surgery. (A class to which I look forward to returning now very soon!)

So tonight I am taking those words -- you are done with Coumadin -- to heart and going cold turkey (which is how some of you said was the way to exit -- and which I have confirmed with online authorities). I pressed for answers because part of an old dental bridge fell out of my mouth the other day -- the good news is that my dentist says he can reattach it; however, to protect the heart, we have to follow the usual protocol of taking four 500MG Amoxicillin an hour before the procedure. On my own -- no help from the local clinic -- I found from reputable medical sources that using warfarin together with amoxicillin (and certain other antibiotics) carries a significant risk of nasty side-effects, such as bleeding. I don't need to sweat that out. I am done with it. Onward.