K
kchristian
Thanks for the great video link on this topic. I want to join the small percentage of self-monitoring individuals and have just emailed my doctor (with Kaiser Permanente) to find out if I can get this covered through them. If not I will do what I need to do to get it on my own. I have complained to both my cardiologist and my primary care doctor about a need for a self-testing device (similar to that for diabetics) to monitor my levels on my own. All they said was that the anticoagulation group does a good job of managing levels and to take my regular (every 3 week) PT/INR tests. Now thanks to this site I found that this technology already exists!
Here is the email I sent:
I would like to move to self monitoring of my anticoagulants. As you know I recently had a 5 hour nose bleed and had to go to ER where I found out that my PT/INR was 4.0 (it was 3.5 just 4 days prior to that). There are several manufacturers available on the market. I have learned that Medicare covers this for mechanical heart valve patients (I am not on Medicare). There are some very informative videos available at http://discoveryhealthcme.discovery.com/anticoagulation/anticoagulation.html if you'd like to check them out (CME credit is available too). The 4 short videos are available under View the Program Online and do not require registration to access. Does Kaiser Permanente offer this to its patients (who qualify)? Since I will probably be taking this therapy for as long as I have this valve managing this level more diligently is of very high importance to me and my family.
Thank you,
Karen Christian
Of course I will post my experiences as I travel down this path.
VW.COM Rocks!
Here is the email I sent:
I would like to move to self monitoring of my anticoagulants. As you know I recently had a 5 hour nose bleed and had to go to ER where I found out that my PT/INR was 4.0 (it was 3.5 just 4 days prior to that). There are several manufacturers available on the market. I have learned that Medicare covers this for mechanical heart valve patients (I am not on Medicare). There are some very informative videos available at http://discoveryhealthcme.discovery.com/anticoagulation/anticoagulation.html if you'd like to check them out (CME credit is available too). The 4 short videos are available under View the Program Online and do not require registration to access. Does Kaiser Permanente offer this to its patients (who qualify)? Since I will probably be taking this therapy for as long as I have this valve managing this level more diligently is of very high importance to me and my family.
Thank you,
Karen Christian
Of course I will post my experiences as I travel down this path.
VW.COM Rocks!