Coaguchek XS on its way!

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Cameron

VR.org Supporter
Supporting Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2008
Messages
155
Location
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Prior to my surgery I dropped off a bunch of information to my own GP about home INR testing. She seemed initially sceptical :( but on returning home I had a voicemail from her saying she was on board and that we would work it out once I got home:). I was just at her office today for my first post op visit and she gave me a prescription for a Coaguchek XS home monitor and strips. We are still not 100% sure that my wife's insurance will cover the full expense, but it is worth it to me to go ahead anyway. Just going to the lab today for an INR sample was a pain. The machine is CAD$500 and the strips are CAD$8/each. Our local London Drugs is getting it for me and it will be ready this Wednesday when I go to get it and get the short demo required.
My GP wants to get a few matching readings form the lab and from the machine so that she can trust the results but then things should be good. Once we get comfortable I will be working on her for self dosing :D!!
Cameron
 
Cameron said:
Prior to my surgery I dropped off a bunch of information to my own GP about home INR testing. She seemed initially sceptical :( but on returning home I had a voicemail from her saying she was on board and that we would work it out once I got home:). I was just at her office today for my first post op visit and she gave me a prescription for a Coaguchek XS home monitor and strips. We are still not 100% sure that my wife's insurance will cover the full expense, but it is worth it to me to go ahead anyway. Just going to the lab today for an INR sample was a pain. The machine is CAD$500 and the strips are CAD$8/each. Our local London Drugs is getting it for me and it will be ready this Wednesday when I go to get it and get the short demo required.
My GP wants to get a few matching readings form the lab and from the machine so that she can trust the results but then things should be good. Once we get comfortable I will be working on her for self dosing :D!!
Cameron
Click to expand...


Cameron, your not going to get matching readings! They may be very close, but they are not going to match or if they do, your extremely lucky. It's like comparing apples to oranges. They are not the same, use different reagents etc. Any doctor requesting it to match does not understand how it works. If she/he challenges the accuracy, challenge her to do two back to back tests from her lab and come up with the same result each time. ;)

Other then that, congratulations!
 
Cameron, this is so very cool. I paid the same price for my machine and strips.
Hubby's insurance covers 80% of the strips, and the machine I had to include on my Income Tax medical expenses for partial coverage.
I have only once tested at the lab to compare to my machine and it was almost identical. :)
You will love it.
 
Way to go cameron,you will luv your machine.

netmiff it,s 1015 here pm and freddie get a new doc soon

your doc is way behind tell her i said :D:eek:

zipper2 (DEB)
 
Cameron, glad to learn you are on-board for home testing. You'll love it.

Ross, my XS has results have been identical to the lab this last little while. I've noticed the XS results are mostly the same as the lab (more often than the S). One test on the XS showed a .2 variance with the lab (test taken hours apart). These slight variances probably give rise the the POC being less accurate in the eyes of some doctors.

My XS is more than two years old, works perfectly but I'm considering buying a second machine in case there is a price increase.
 
lance said:
Cameron, glad to learn you are on-board for home testing. You'll love it.

Ross, my XS has results have been identical to the lab this last little while. I've noticed the XS results are mostly the same as the lab (more often than the S). One test on the XS showed a .2 variance with the lab (test taken hours apart). These slight variances probably give rise the the POC being less accurate in the eyes of some doctors.

My XS is more than two years old, works perfectly but I'm considering buying a second machine in case there is a price increase.
Click to expand...

I'm just trying to emphasis to Cameron that there are varations and the results are not likely going to match the lab. Even if the lab does two of their own tests, back to back, they aren't going to come up with the same number. I do not want to give his Doctor a reason for denying the use of a home testing unit because he/she doesn't know any better. My PCP is the same darn way. When he started his comments on accuracy with me, I asked him why the Cardiologists clinic used a finger stick tester? Then to further challenge him, I asked him to have his lab do the 2 back to back tests and tell me that they got the same result twice. He didn't accept the challenge. He's never made any more negative comments about home test unit accuracy either.

I know when I was in the ER with my gum bleed after all my extractions, I tested before leaving the house because I knew damn well that Doctor was going to try and blame it on Coumadin. I tested 1.6 before leaving the house and the hospital lab got 1.6 also. It wasn't the starting Coumadin back up that caused the bleeding, it was Lovenox.
 
Ross said:
If she/he challenges the accuracy, challenge her to do two back to back tests from her lab and come up with the same result each time. ;)
Click to expand...

I can hear you Ross!
I spent 32 years in the petrochemical industry. Our labs were not much different than medical labs. Sometimes we would sent test samples from the same product but labeled different and get different results! :rolleyes:

Cameron, that sounds great!

I should be getting my monitor this week. Medicare picks up the tab. My Cardiologist wasn't familiar with home testing but faxed the completed form in the day I gave it to him.
 
great machine

great machine

i have had my coaguchek for almost one year, it is great, easy to use and painless!

i am sure you will love yours
 
I am trying to arrange for a coaguchek machine right now. Every week since I have gone for testing (since Jan 21) it becomes a mess with a couple of tries, maybe some bleeding and finally one of those butterfly needles does the trick. Ugh!

My family doctor didn't know much about it, so I emailed Roche Diagnostics and had a phone call back from them the same day. They sent me half a dozen brochures and I am giving a few to my doctor, and sending one to my insurance too to see if it's covered. I also got the name of a pharmacy that will dispense the machine and train me.
My husband is diabetic and has been home-testing his blood for years -- I can't believe it is so difficult to get to get one of these INR machines prescribed!
 
Dale,
As you will see on another of my threads in this forum, testing for INR is a bit different and, in my humble opinion, a bit more difficult than testing for sugar - I do both. For INR you seem to need quite a big blood drop that is not as easy to get as for the sugar test. Also, there are time limits etc. I am just getting comfortable with the machine now - be prepared to waste a few test strips at the beginning as you refine your technique - practising with water drops is all well and good, but it doesn't really prepare you for the real thing. Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of home testing, but I think it is fair to say it is NOT as easy as testing your sugar.
Cameron
 
Yes, the INR machine is a much more elaborate and specific piece of medical testing equipment.
I never had a wasted test strip until this year; once when I was rushing and bumped the strip with my finger causing an error code, and another time my drop of blood was too small and it got sucked back up onto my finger. I was staring at it saying: "No, no, stop that".
The machine is deaf.....
 
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