Recent content by tommyboy14

In my own experience, the biggest challenge for me was to get the right amount of blood out of my finger. @pellicle Suggestion to use a rubber band around your finger before you prick it was a game changer for me. I must have wasted 6 or 7 strips before doing that. This company supplies...

Hi Seaton, I will give you my experience with the UK system. I was stuck at 1.8 and 1.9 for weeks on end and they kept increasing my dose by only 1mg a week or so and we were below 2. After a while I took this in my own hands when it came to raising the dose. It seems though that your clinic...

I would look at it from the good news perspective. You only have an aneurysm. They will most likely be able to spare your valve because it is completely normal. However, your aneurysm puts you in the 7% chance dissection a year. So if you take my stat of 30% death at emergency surgery at face...

Hi Johnny, have you had your aortic valve checked? If you have biscupid aortic valve, there is a lot of evidence that the right threshold is below 5cm. More like 4.5cm. Of course you can choose to watch and weight, but the risk of rupture increases exponentially above 5cm. Risk of rupture is...

Brilliant piece of advice as always

This has been a very helpful discussion. I will work on getting a much larger supply. Now if someone could just help me figure out how to trick the meter into accepting expired stripes, I will be in business if the apocalypse comes

We dont know anything about your size. your body size area (BSA) is directly related to your aneurysm risks. Aso you say you progressed to severe, but didnt say whether it is stenosis or regurgitation. Could a valve repair be a solution?

If you dont like warfarin, which is understandable due to your job in the Military, perhaps try the Ozaki procedure. They make an aortic valve out of your heart tissue. There is a doctor at the Cleveland clinic in the US who does this surgery...

@pellicle I can give some more information. These surgeries were done by Sir Magdi Yacoub, who was seen as one of the best surgeons in the world at the time. He is behind many famous surgeries. I remember he transplanted a heart into a young girl, but leaving the old one there, believing it...

And Schwarzeneggers story with his heart issues isnt over yet unfortunately. He Just got a pace maker. Now, he would have probably had three aortic root replacements during his surgeries. One during the original Ross, then in another surgery the next day, then recently when they couldnt do TAVR...

I think given that a) your valve wasnt bicuspid - so your condition is not congenital (meaning you were not born with it) b) Your physicals never detected a heart murmur and you had them annually c) You got sick while on duty How can they disagree with the idea that this happened as part of...

Isnt one of the issues with stocking up though that warfarin tends to 'expire' after two years or so? I think the only way to prep for apocalypse is to yes have a stock one - two years ahead, but also learn how to make the stuff yourself...

I am really sorry to hear your story. I remember there was someone on this board, who had served, like you, and was still doing 100+ pushups in his 60s after his AVR. What I mean to say is that there are many people who are incredible atheletes, but can still have aortic valve issues. Arnold...

Hi @Buck83, sorry to hear about all your issues. Out of interest, what was your initial INR range on the ON-X?

On these survival claims, this is all based on observational studies. But only the healthiest and fittest patients are offered a Ross. These also tend to be patients thst have congenital heart disease, ie not due to lifestyle. to a degree, this patient selection aspect are why the ross results...