softball and coumadin?

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S

sajopack

Hi fellow athletic types!
For all my medical stuff and valve choice issues I'm facing, I posted on the valve choice forum....but I thought maybe i could get some info on sports and coumadin on this forum. After having the Ross procedure six years ago, I've been back to softball 3 nights a week May-October and tennis, biking etc. Now, it seems I'm having my "new" aorta and aortic root replaced on january 5th. I'm leaning toward a st.jude valve and have to have the dacron ascending tube. I will still have the homograft from the ross on the pulmonary valve. So...Coumadin will be a part of my future.
Can a person play softball (men's league, aggressive...am the pitcher, we slide into bases etc.) on Coumadin? Would wearing protective gear for the head, shins etc. be enough and play less aggressively-pinch runners etc? I have gotten some good bruises in the past...so with coumadin, of course I'm concerned. I could stop playing and put my attention toward tennis. My wife will worry like crazy if I play softball the way i've always played it. What do you think?
 
You don't stop living life just because you take Coumadin. As long as you protect your noggin from a line drive into it, there is no reason whatsoever that you cannot play softball and be just as crazy as usual.
 
I think you can be very active including softball. I agree that we shouldn't let Coumadin control our lives, but I'm in the camp that is willing to take some precautions and accept some limitations to keep it fun.

I resumed softball at age 45 after 20 years of being out of shape. My lack of speed relegated me to the infield and even did some pitching. Post AVR surgery (and coumadin) I started wearing shin guards. Even though it was a "C" (or "D") league, the ball still comes off the bat pretty fast. I was not comfortable largely due to slower reflexes, but never have taken one on the shin guards (or the head).

Still,I worry about the risk of getting a hard liner in the head. That takes some of the fun out of it. So, after dropping 40 lbs and getting some "legs", I feel much better in the outfield (sans shin guards) Another concern is wearing eyeglasses, so I'm no investigating contact lenses. I suppose if I ever pitch again, I'll wear a helmet.

I wear baseball pants and slide into bases. It's hot here in Dallas, but again, the long pants give me more comfort and license to play a little harder.

PLAY BALL!​
 
I'm sorry, but coumadin or no coumadin, I really don't think a line drive to the head while standing on the pitchers mound is good for ANYONE!


I've taken those to the crotch before and MAN do they smart, one to the header wouldn't be much better...


Oh gawd, that rhymed, whoops.


Keep the INR in range and go be active. The more active you can be, the better it is for your heart anyways.

You might consider some additional padding in certain places. Wearing a batting helmet while pitching probably isn't neccesary but there are Little League programs that make that manditory along with chest protection for the heart after a few kids took line drives at exactly the right moment to stop their hearts, nearly fatal all the time.


Caution doesn't mean stop, just means being a little more vigilent. If a bruise doesn't start to go away after a day or two or you bruise way too easily then lay off and check your protimes. Beyond that, have fun.
 
I guess you all are saying we will injure ourselves before the blood thinner does?

I guess you all are saying we will injure ourselves before the blood thinner does?

Harpoon that was very funny - if you read the messages it does sound like we all will injure ourselves before the blood thinner does any damage

but I am thinking "sajopak" was thinking the same way I was when I asked about limitations -you hear that you can't do things that will cause bruising etc. on blood thinners. I guess this is a common misperception.

I, too, thought softball/baseball with my son (who was just adopted and named Aaron Henry by the way) might be out of the question. You have no idea how nice it is to hear what all of you "old men" are doing out there.

I won't be joining you in the marathon running - but will catch up with you just as soon as I can. Currently Tai Chi is about all I can handle.

By the way - where are all the women on this particular forum?
 
Sajopack, we must be kindred spirits. I'm a 40 year-old softball-holic! ;)

I had my AVR surgery in August '03. I missed my fall league that season but was back on the field last spring. I played a full summer/fall and tournament season. I play RCF field and like you, play a competitve B and C level league.

I have a mechanical valve and had the same concerns over coumadin that you do. The first major change I made was to wear long pants all the time. I used to wear shorts with sliding shorts underneath, however I wanted to reduce the amount of knee and shin cherries I usually got each year. As a result, I only had a couple of slight cuts and a few bruises due to some hard slides on dry infields.

The only action I restricted was I did not perform any head-first slides or dives in the outfield. I was more concerned over injuring my breastbone. My surgery was minimally invasive, however I was hesitent.

Because you're a pitcher, I hope you retreat as far off the mound as possible after every pitch. Some of the more junior pitchers I have played against stay to close to the batter and we have "buzzed the tower" on them a few times. Add a high-core ball and the new super double wall bats and it's a recipe for disaster.

Good luck with your upcoming surgery. I hope all goes well and maybe will bump into each other someday on the field.
 
Hello,

I missed 1 summer season do2 AVR, was miserable. I too moved to the infield, first base, because i don't have the legs for the outfield like I used to. I've taken a few in the thigh, welted as expected. Took a throw to the foot, broke a toe....
Absolutely no effects that a none warfarin addict would have.
Arm strength is not what it used to be, but that's on me.
I don't slide anymore, but that's on me, don't need those raspberries anymore!

carbo
 
Post 9 days and counting.

Ross, Les.

I think the doctors are guilty of perpetrating the fears of coumadin. On my first visit to Dr. McGiffin he talked about the different choices between mechanical or bio valves. The shorter life of the bio seemed to be balanaced with the requirement to take blood thinners "for life" with mechanical valves. I might have to make MAJOR life style changes with the blood thinners. I told him I had found a site that indicated coumadin was not the "end of all life as we know it" and his reply was that you can't always believe what you read on the internet. His opinion would be major life style changes on blood thinners. I think with the "sue happy" society that we live in now, they tend to lean on the conserative side when it comes to blood thinners.
 
gadgetman said:
Post 9 days and counting.

Ross, Les.

I think the doctors are guilty of perpetrating the fears of coumadin. On my first visit to Dr. McGiffin he talked about the different choices between mechanical or bio valves. The shorter life of the bio seemed to be balanaced with the requirement to take blood thinners "for life" with mechanical valves. I might have to make MAJOR life style changes with the blood thinners. I told him I had found a site that indicated coumadin was not the "end of all life as we know it" and his reply was that you can't always believe what you read on the internet. His opinion would be major life style changes on blood thinners. I think with the "sue happy" society that we live in now, they tend to lean on the conserative side when it comes to blood thinners.
Click to expand...

Judge for yourself what is best for your based on advise and professional recommendations. I had a clinic nurse tell me to only use an electric razor from now on. What a bunch of #*!*!. I still use a regular razor (3-blade razor from Gillette) and have still managed to cut myself now and then. Yeah, I did bleed for a little longer, however it stopped with the ol' Toilet Paper technique I had always used.
 
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