Two weeks till surgery

[Bassman]

I have aortic stenosis in my bicuspid valve and was told I need surgery and they are recomending mechanical. My biggest question is how much does this coumatin actually change your life? Is this something I am going to hate?

 

[KristyW]

Bassman,

Your experience with Coumadin depends entirely on how well your Coumadin manager manages it. At first it is a pain because your dosage is constantly changing as you heal and start to eat normally and become more active. I'd say about 3-5 months out, it should be fairly level. Many of us manage our dosage ourselves. I have tests done at my Dr, but I tell him what changes I'll make. He admitted up front that I have more experience with it than he does.

Read the stickies at the top of this forum. There's many, many years of experience in those. You can eat what you want, you can do whatever activities you want (short of full contact sports). The entire reason for this surgery is to have a life, so live it & don't let the doctors and nurses scare you with horror stories.

 

[Bill B]

Hasn't changed mine. I'm very active riding motorcycles, racing cars, working on cars, running, whatever. Once a month I get a blood test. There are people here who have been on warfarin for as long as 45 years. Probably 95+% will say it has not changed anything significant.

 

[RTZdad]

Good luck on your surgery Bassman! My thoughts and prayers will be with you on that day! I'm going with a mechanical valve too (surgery 4/4/12) and I am at peace with taking the warfarin. We can commiserate with each other during our recoveries.

Tom

 

[Bassman]

Thanks, getting the surgery earlier than I had anticipated but at this point I just want it over with.

 

[Jkm7]

Everyone has to make the difficult choice of tissue or mechanical valve and there is no right or wrong.
Often, the choice is age dependent as most persons 60 and over will opt for tissue though certainly not all.

I was in the gray area of just about 'old enough' for all my doctors to agree tissue was a good choice for me but my surgeon told me even with tissue, I would require a 3 month course of coumadin. Fine, I knew in advance.

I had a hard time with it as I was a compliant patient, with competent coumadin manager but my body required a huge dose of coumadin to approach my 2.0 to 3.0 range. My dose was so high and I never got to 2.0 when my surgeon told me to stop. He didn't like me taking so much of the drug though of course, the proper dose for everyone is that amount which keeps that person in their prescribed range.

I could not know in advance my body would react to the drug that way so was extremely grateful I had opted for tissue valve and will not require coumadin unless I develop another condition which would call for it.

The best thing you can do is read, read, read.
There is so much wonderful information on this site and so much you can learn here. By all means, Ask any and all questions that occur to you. We are all happy to help in any way we are able.

Just wanting it over with is so normal. For those of us who had to wait at all, most will agree the wait was the worst part. The wait if very difficult.

 

[Sarah_Louise]

Welcome to the boards
Good look with the op, keep us updated!
Love Sarah xxx

 

[Boston Tiger]

Welcome to the OHS club. Let us know if you have any questions in the next two weeks. We are here to make your stay in the waiting room a bit better.

 

[TheGymGuy]

Hey Bassman, is your surgery on 26th or 27th of March? Either way, good luck and do not worry about Coumadin. Plenty of people here are on it and do quite well. Heck, my surgery is on 3/27 and I am doing all the Coumadin research right now as well as planning a strong return after the surgery.

 

[Bassman]

Its the 28th, BAV and stenosis also, valve will be the sorin valve at St Elizabeths hospital Boston, MA. I have a good feeling about my surgeon and have heard nothing but positive things about him. How long are you planning on being out of work or away from lifting? I was thinking 6 weeks was a good estimate?

 

[Protimenow]

Naaah, not much change. I've been on coumadin for more than twenty years, and aside from paying between 10 and 15 cents a day to keep my INR stable, I haven't noticed much difference in my life. Sure, if you cut yourself, you may bleed a bit longer than a person who isn't taking warfarin does, but unless you get a wound that would be life threatening without coumadin, it's probably not that big a deal. (If you have a head injury, it's not a bad idea to get a head CT, just in case there's a bleed).

I strongly suggest getting your own INR meter and doing your own testing. (I don't work for Hemosense or Roche, so I have nothing to gain by making this suggestion). Being able to test for yourself will probably help your anticoagulation managers to evaluate where your INR is without making you go to a clinic or lab for testing. Once your INR is stable, you may even be able to manage your anticoagulation (as many of us on this forum already are).

Good luck with the surgery -- and don't worry about the anticoagulation management -- coumadin shouldn't change your lifeor activities.

 

[TheGymGuy]

Its the 28th, BAV and stenosis also, valve will be the sorin valve at St Elizabeths hospital Boston, MA. I have a good feeling about my surgeon and have heard nothing but positive things about him. How long are you planning on being out of work or away from lifting? I was thinking 6 weeks was a good estimate?

Here is my ideal plan. It is pretty detailed initially, then it gets very general. I plan to stay home for 2-4 weeks. Taking vacation for the first 2, and then depending on how I feel I will work from home several hours per day or extend my vacation. I need to keep my mind sharp and working would provide that, plus an outlet from being stuck at home feeling weak and slow. I will try to walk as much as my body allows me. With hourly lung exercises, walks to the kitchen to get water and light snack and trying to rest in between, and of course as well as posting here, I think my schedule for frist 2 weeks is pretty packed I need to write myself a new diet for post surgery as I will not be able to pack nearly as many calories in and not gain weight. Need to pickup some vitamin K. I plan to have consisten Vitamin K intake. I love green veggies and eat several servings a day, most days. So, if I skip my greens, I will take Vitamin K supplement equal in the amount to greens so that I do not have to adjust Coumadin dosage. Ok, so about 4 weeks in I should be allowed to drive, and this is when I will up my walks outside to several a day, if I am not already doing that. I should be allowed back in the gym by week 8 to do some light stuff. Yes, this will be a 2 month hiatus for me. And, around week 12 when my sternum heals I will start exercising from the very bottom and try to see where my new valve takes me. My rule if thumb is to start very slow and maybe even change up my style to yoga and cross-fit initially. After 6 (optimistic) - 18(realistic) month we should be in pre-surgery state with properly working valves, aneurysm free aorta and a healthy outlook on life.

Man, I should make this into a wish-list post

Vadim

 

[nngbwh]

Welcome about, Bassman. I been on coumadin for 3 years it hasn't changed anything for me.

 

[Protimenow]

Hey, Gym Guy -- you're anticipating that you won't feel better right after surgery, but if you're like many of us, the difference will be obvious. You may feel like doing a lot more activity than you expect to be able to do. Sure, you should take it easy and follow the advice of your surgeon, but you will quite possibly have a lot more energy than you expect -- even though you're recovering from major surgery.

As many others have said-- and as you're already trying to do -- be consistent. (In my case, I wasn't cleared to return to work for 6 weeks, although I probably could have done my job 2-3 weeks post-op)

 

[Bassman]

well its about five days away and Yes I am getting a little nervous to say the least. Thanks for all your support everyone its nice to have this forum for reading and sharing....

 

[Greg~]

Bassman,
Welcome to the site, this is a really great source for support so please ask as many questions as you want. We've all been in the same spot you're in today and felt pretty nervous too. Feeling nervous is normal and as the day gets closer you may feel more or even less nervous - everyone is different.
I did a lot of research onlne about the surgery and fortunately I found this site about two weeks prior to my big day. This site was soooooo helpful for me because I was able to read all of the success stories from real people who had gone through the exact same thing I was about to go through - and came through it with flying colors.
It's also comforting to know that this procedure is performed thousands of times per year around the world, to the point that it's virtually routine. Don't get me wrong, it's a major surgery. But the science and technology behind this procedure is amazing, resulting in stellar success rates. I think the more research you do from this site the more comfortable you'll feel on the 28th.

Please know we'll be praying for you and your surgery team on the 28th and then through post-op as you heal and get stronger. And please keep up posted on your recovery as time permits

 

[TheGymGuy]

Bassman, I was starting to feel nervous yesterday. Of course, my common sense kicked in 12 hours later and I am feeling optimistic again. Hang in there, we will both be recovering from surgery soon enough.