I have posted another item under Pre-Surgery about John's visit yesterday to Dr. Ryan in Dallas. I didn't want to get on my soap box there, but I am here.
I had suspected that Ryan is a tissue man, and sure enough, he is. He said his backup plan, if a repair doesn't work, would be a tissue valve. Was surprised that John would consider a mechanical, mentioned that many people with mechanicals hate them, hate taking Coumadin, yaddayaddayadda. Described the negatives of being on Coumadin.
I told him I had a St. Jude (he asked why my MV wasn't repaired, told him a repair didn't work) and test my INR at home and adjust my dosage and that, for me, being on warfarin hasn't changed my life, that I eat whatever I want & have the same activities as before.
He said the risks of failure with mechanicals are:
pannus overgrowth
clot formation
infection
(He didn't mention bleeding issues.)
I was told that if I keep my INR in range and take antibiotics as needed, I wouldn't have problems with my mechanical. (I doubt that the pannus problem is a big risk.)
When Dr. Ryan said that tissue valves do wear out -- at 12-15 years, I said I'd rather deal with warfarin than going through surgery again, going through several months of total recovery and paying co-pays and deductibles again, when I could have most likely avoided it with a mechanical.
Maybe I am "smarter than the average bear," as a dear friend used to joke, but ... Coumadin management is not rocket science.
Now, I will get off my soapbox.
I had suspected that Ryan is a tissue man, and sure enough, he is. He said his backup plan, if a repair doesn't work, would be a tissue valve. Was surprised that John would consider a mechanical, mentioned that many people with mechanicals hate them, hate taking Coumadin, yaddayaddayadda. Described the negatives of being on Coumadin.
I told him I had a St. Jude (he asked why my MV wasn't repaired, told him a repair didn't work) and test my INR at home and adjust my dosage and that, for me, being on warfarin hasn't changed my life, that I eat whatever I want & have the same activities as before.
He said the risks of failure with mechanicals are:
pannus overgrowth
clot formation
infection
(He didn't mention bleeding issues.)
I was told that if I keep my INR in range and take antibiotics as needed, I wouldn't have problems with my mechanical. (I doubt that the pannus problem is a big risk.)
When Dr. Ryan said that tissue valves do wear out -- at 12-15 years, I said I'd rather deal with warfarin than going through surgery again, going through several months of total recovery and paying co-pays and deductibles again, when I could have most likely avoided it with a mechanical.
Maybe I am "smarter than the average bear," as a dear friend used to joke, but ... Coumadin management is not rocket science.
Now, I will get off my soapbox.