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I haven't been on here in ages, but this community was (and still is!) very special to me when I went through AVR. I still pop by occasionally and look for info, or read some threads. Anyways, I saw this article today and thought I would share....amazing what they are doing with valves...

Damn. I woke up this morning and realize I forgot to take my warfarin. What's even more bizarre, I even tested last night (INR = 2.1 so it's lower) then got sidetracked and completely forgot to take it!!....and now I get I a plane for an all day flight. What would you do? Pop some pills this...

A couple days ago we had a tragic event occur in our office where I work. A woman (around age 50) had what turned out to be a fatal stoke. Found unconscious, (probably had been so for about 10 min), rushed to emergency, remained in a coma for 1 week in ICU, and very sadly passed away the other...

I have had a pretty stable INR between 2-3 since my surgery nearly 2 years ago. I only go (slightly) out of range a few times a year - but not by much and not for long. Well, I just went on a trip overseas for 3 weeks and sure saw how quickly it can change. I've been a bit light on exercise...

Tore meniscus in my knee (again)...hurts like crazy. I know that acetaminophen based drugs like Advil do not play nicely with warfarin/INR. So, I bought a topical anti-inflammatory cream/ointment for my knee to help reduce the pain and hopefully speed up the healing (a gel called Voltaren). I...

How time flies! I'm 1 year post op today (AVR) and feeling great. It was a rough year at times - the recovery, followed by a serious concussion due to blacking out/falling from Metoprolol side effects, a really bad flu + antibiotics, etc. But the scar is pretty faded, the aches are long gone...

I know there's a bunch of stuff on the internet on heart rate monitors, but I was interested to find out if anyone here is using any devices or applications that they really love for monitoring your heart rate during aerobic exercise. I was interested to hear of any experiences that this group...

Hey all, I currently take 8.75 mg of Warfarin daily to maintain an INR range of 2-3. A few months back I started taking my Omega 3's again (had not taken them since surgery). I take 1 tab 2x daily - 1,414mg each - so about 2,800mg daily of fish oils. I have always taken these pre surgery, so my...

Hey everyone, I am about 9.5 mo. post op. and have noticed that my chest is cracking a bit more than it used to earlier on. Without fail, every day, it cracks probably 4-5 times (kind of like a knuckle cracking feeling/sound, but a bit less pronounced in terms of the noise). It doesn't hurt, I...

Not sure if many people here sign up to the web health chats that Cleveland Clinic regularly hosts, but they usually have alot of good topics and archives available afterwards that you can peruse. There is one on "Aortic Disease and Treatment" on June 9. I attended a few of these pre surgery...

I just started home testing with the Coaguchek XS and see a number of places out there (on the internet) that sell the strips for much less than you may pay from a local pharmacy (they seem to run about $8-$9 per strip at a few places I checked in Vancouver, but are about $5 usd per strip on...

Hi, I just had an echo done this week and my Ejection Fraction was sitting at 55%. Pre surgery (last year) it was measured 2x over a 6 month period at 60% EF. Here are the #'s: Jan/13 - 60% (pre op) June/13 - 60% (pre op) Nov/13 - 55% (post op) Nov/13 - 55% (post op/different hospital) Feb/14...

Hi, Not sure if you saw my thread under "Post Surgery" ("Blacked out, hit my head and concussed...can't wait to get off Metoprolol/Coversyl"), but I had a head injury and was in and out of the hospital a couple times this week with my share of issues. Anyways, the doctors had me stop my warfarin...

2 steps forward and 1 nasty step backwards in my recovery... Last night I woke up around 2:30am and got up to go see my son as he was crying. I started to walk down our hallway and completely blacked out, fell over (on hardwood), hit my head and ended up being taken to the hospital in an...

I am 3 months post op and feeling great. However, there's a flu type sickness floating around my neck of the woods these days (like alot of places I imagine). High fever, fatigue, stomach aches, nausea, etc. My young son picked something up and was 103 degrees F last night and was still over 100...

I am 8 weeks post op and was blown away when they showed me the results of my echo this week and told me that my left ventricle dropped from 66mm to 57mm in exactly 1 month (LVd measurement). My LV has been moderately dilated' at least since I was first diagnosed 11 mo. ago, and is now 'normal'...

Hey all, I have seen mixed feedback on cardiac rehab programs here and what value can be gained out of it. I got the sense many people don't bother with it and do their own exercising etc. Just thought I would share my experience - I LOVE it so far. What a huge value add...I would have been...

Hey all, My scar is 10" long and is healing up pretty well for the most part I think. I get some pain around one of the drain tube holes still though, especially if I turn/twist at all. My question is this: the top 3" of my scar is quite raised. Its like a ridge that sticks up and runs along...

Hello all, I'm roughly 1 month since my surgery (27 days, but who's counting?). I just had an echo and an app't with my cardiologist and had a few questions. My echo was generally ok (no regurg and the On-X valve is seated very well, flow to the valve is normal and it's working great! All other...

Hi, Has anyone come across a really good comprehensive list of foods and their Vitamin K content? I have Googled this fairly extensively and found partial lists of the top foods that are highest and lowest in vitamin K. But I have not found a single list that covers a really wide range of...