First post-op visit and the report is good.

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corrineinwa

Peter had his first post-op visit with his surgeon this morning and both were promising.

I'm a little surprised by the Dose of Warfarin prescribed (2 mg) which is on the low end of the (wide) normal distribution. That number may very well be correct IF he is a 'slow metabolizer' of warfarin. This varies greatly from person to person.

I asked for dates, dosages and INR numbers.

On 4/11/09 (3 days post-op) he was started on 5mg Warfarin. They tested him on 4/13 and his INR was 2.8 so they skipped the dose that day and started him on 2mg 4/14 (day of discharge).

Today his reading was 2.3 so we'll be sticking with the 2mg and get tested again on Monday.

Saw the surgeon and he sent us to get an EKG (ECG?) - he didn't think Peter was in A.Fib. And that's what the print-out showed - a normal sinus rhythm.

He warned us that the A.Fib could return but he felt this was encouraging.

Dr. Havenstrite was really pleased with Peter's progress. Although I grabbed a wheelchair as our visit required going from one end of Madigan to the other and then back again, Peter managed to strut his stuff for pretty much the whole visit. He was flagging at the end but then so was I.

He'd managed to put 2lb since yesterday morning but we checked him for swelling and couldn't find any so we'll just keep an eye on that.

His newly fitted upper dentures are unwearable - even with denture fixative. He lost 10lb in the week since surgery so I'm not surprised (and he could do with dropping some weight anyway). But I've been creative with his food (glad I never threw out the mini-chopper). We'll get the dentures adjusted next week.

So! We're off to a good start and as each day goes by, I'm beginning to relax a little.

Hugs to you all and thank you so much for being there for us.
 
Great news!

Great news!

I lost a bunch of weight post op too. I finally found my apatite and the weight found me. My dosage had to be adjusted up about that time too. I was told it was because I was eating more and regular meals. A few weeks of eating as NORMAL people do and I was moved to my current level of 27.5 mg a week.
Good luck on the remainder of the recovery.
 
SUPER !

That's an Excellent First Check-up.

Be aware that as his activity increases, his metabolism will also increase which causes INR to go Down, therefore requiring a gradual increase in Coumadin weekly dose (typical increases in the range of 5 to 20% per week ).

His INR should be monitored closely for the first several weeks, at least weekly and it wouldn't hurt to have 2 tests per week (e.g. Monday or Tuesday and Friday).

'AL Capshaw'
 
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