Second Surgery 20 Years Later

[pellicle]

Morning

I was just making an easy to grasp mental analogy.

understood. Myself I thin its more like driving on a 4 lane motorway (4 lanes each way) in the quiet time on the road and sitting in lane 3 (not the fast lane); then changing lane without looking or signaling. Most of the time nothing will happen. Maybe someone will blast you with a horn. Rarely you'll be on the news for it.

some people are even luckier

Longest Event-Free Survival without Anticoagulation in a Mechanical Aortic Valve Replacement

Sixty percent of the patients going for valve replacement opt for mechanical valves and the remaining 40% choose bioprosthetics. Mechanical valves are known to have a higher risk of thrombosis; this risk further varies depending on the type of valve, ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Some folks don’t mentalize charts and graphs well.

that's about the kindest words I could choose too.

My day has started well, I hope your Thursday works out well too

 

[Jennie]

Hello all,
I will be 63 yo this year and I had a valve sparing ascending aortic aneurysm repair almost 20 years ago (2 months shy). I am scheduled for open heart surgery on May 26 for aortic valve replacement due to severe aortic stenosis, and yes, I do have a bicuspid aortic valve. I am returning to the same institution that did my initial procedure. In fact, the surgeon I am using sat in on my initial aortic repair so he has already seen under the hood, so to speak.

Just checking in to see how you're doing after your surgery last week. I hope things are going well. Please give us an update when you get home!

Jennie

 

[Survived03]

Just checking in to see how you're doing after your surgery last week. I hope things are going well. Please give us an update when you get home!

Jennie

Doing OK Jennie, thank you. Hitting all the major milestones to recovery. I will update more later once I’m discharged but the main issue right now is getting back to normal sinus rhythm.

 

[tom in MO]

The 2-3 INR range is a general recommendation and not valve specific. It's a good metric since it's conservative and a one-size-fits-all approach that requires no thought by doctors and a consensus range protects against lawsuits.

However, the On-X has a range of 1.5-2 and my St. Jude is 2-2.5. Those ranges are valve specific and were approved by scientific specialists, i.e. expert scientists, statisticians and regulators. The scientific design is vetted before a study begins by multiple tiers of specialists at the manufacturer, often third-party consultants and the regulatory agency. At study completion the numbers are crunched, checked, crunched and checked again by professional statisticians at the manufacturer and at the regulatory authority that approves the INR range (e.g. FDA.) No firm wants to recommend an a INR range that would be dangerous to their patients. That's a good way to quickly ruin a company.

 

[Survived03]

Just a quick check in. I was discharged from the hospital yesterday, so a total of 9 days including the day of surgery and day of discharge. Feeling pretty good. I’m now searching for a good home routine to fall into that includes rest, walking more and managing the meds.

I will check back in later. All the best.

 

[pellicle]

Feeling pretty good.

good to hear it.

Wishing you an uneventful recovery

 

[Protimenow]

I'm glad to hear that you're home and everything went well.

Interesting analogy, but to be fair. the right shoulder is much larger than the left. Moving below 2.0 is much more dangerous than INR of 3, 4, or maybe even 5,

I had a TIA about a decade ago because I trusted a now discontinued meter -- it said 2.6. The hospital said 1.6.

Since then, I've chosen to trust my life to the Coaguchek XS. The CoagSense will also work but I usually stay away from it.
If you get a Coaguchek, be sure it's an XS, Vantus, or InRange -- any others are discontinued and won't work with the XS strips.

As far as self testing is concerned, you can buy a meter and strips without a prescription on eBay. I've even seen meters for as low as $29.95.

There's a trick to making them work, although a phone call to Roche may also work for you.

If you need help running tests or managing your INR, Pellicle can be very helpful.