Recent content by ramjet

No No, it was quite clear good buddy, no need to clear things up, but you are indeed still coming up with 22.......:) I guess I just wanted to say again that no matter how hard you look at the "evidence" none of it will directly predict your situation, (and I know you realise this) and there...

Dear Pellicle, Sometimes you add 2 + 2 and come up with 22. I'm not being critical, and in fact quite encouraging I hope. 1. Your infection is nasty, its not something any of us would like, but so far, rfom what you have said, you don't have endocarditis, and may never get endocarditis...I...

Contemporary Cardiac Rehab sessions are now far more than just exercise, they also provide sessions on medications, diet, first aid, wound care, how to read grocery labels (nutrician information) , and best of all, (as far as I am concerned) you actually get to meet other people gioing through...

No worries Leigh, I guess then, in short, every drug has a place, every drug has side effects, and sometimes the concerns of side effects might not be warranted if the drug is used over a much shorter period of time, and if its use can then avoid some other, long term medications...

Dear Leah, I hope your atraial remains "controlled" or, better still that you revert to sinus rhythm, but can I take this opportunity to briefly explain a few things about atrial fibrillation that might help folk understand some of the issues with atrial fibrillation, and please excuse me if...

Hi Duff man and others, I love reading and sharing personal experiences about surgeries and medicatons etc, but to be useful, when discussing your beta blcoker and your experiences, it may also help others to mention why you were prescribed the beta blocker...ie was it just to control your...

I agreee wholeheartedly with Dicko and sunrise, it absolutely is an individual (ie you and your surgeon) choice regarding your valve type etc etc, because circumstances and conditions etc are all somewhat unique, and whilst warfarin for me was a piece of cake for the 3 months i had it, and the...

Dear GSman, Your choice of valve has more to it than just the potential issue of warfarin. As your surgery involves the aorta as well, it might also depend on your exact anatomy and exactly what needs to be repaired or replaced, and it may just be that there is no real choice of valve, it just...

Dear "Jenny the one and only"....you'l be ok, The "duke" is excellent, of that there is no doubt, you don't get to be Chief of Cardiac Surgery and the Johns Hopkins if you are not first rate. In fact you don't get to be a cardiac surgeon if you do not pass rigorous and multiple tests of...

Hi Lucky, Can we explore the chest pains your are experienceing a little bit more if you don't mind, and then it might (and I stress might) be possibel to provide a useful comment or two for you. 1. What are you doing when the chest pains come on (ie doing an activity or just at rest or in...

Hey Ron, A valve and aorta repair at your age is usually best done with a mechanical valve etc, and an angiogram is very important for a few reasons, 1. During open heart surgery you go on bypass, and your coronaary vessel patency needs to be known as your heart will be injected with a solution...

Please be very very careful about quoting Sugiyama's (2007) rat study on warfarin's effects , and Stenova's 1 year long prospective bone density study that can't prove anything regarding long term effects... and abe very carful about reading wikipedia, it can be interesting, but honestly, if you...

"Sure, its not engineering its chemistry with buffering and homeostatic mechanisms ...."...Nah, thats not all. You forgot to add in some witchcraft and sourcery, and just good luck. Let alone all manner of other complex metabilic processes. "Proper training" you say, arghhh, in health care...

A couple of points for you good mate. 1. Dosage changes made today affect INR in about 3 days time, so this makes dosing tricky, as you are often behind the game, trying to project changes and trends, and while a particular dose change is taking effect all manner of things can happen to also...

Hi Mstroik, Just some perspective which might help. A BAV is one of the most common congenital heart defects, (arguably the most common congenital heart condition affecting almost 2% of the population, and often inherited from one of your partents) with many people never knowing about their BAV...