Thanks

Did you have breathing problems?

Awesome.

Good luck Fredd.

well this sucks, sorry to hear fredd <3

I have always had issues with long distance running and getting shortness of breath.

It's OK, I can still lay the pipe.

Pipelayer huh? I thought you wanted to be an attorney

I don't want to be pigeon holed into one career so I'm branching out and learning a little a bit of everything. I can't spam the forum with my pipe laying service, but you can be sure if you PM me you will get an instant quote depending on the size of the job.

Its really not that big of a deal, when they start you on coumadin(warfarin) they start you out on a small dose and then titrate up to therapeutic levels based on your INR, which stands for international normalized ratio. Basically its the rate at which your blood clots, normalized to account for discrepancies based on the lab that drew it. So, they are going to start him out small, and his INR will be whatever it is, and if he is taking aspirin and fish oil, then he will just require smaller doses.

What they are going to tell you, if you do end up being on coumadin, is just to stay on whatever diet and meds you are currently on. Coumadin works by antagonizing vitamin K, so if you instantly eat a ton of foods with vitamin K, or all of a sudden STOP eating any foods with vitamin K, you can have big swings in your INR. The important thing isnt really what you are taking, its that you just dont make any drastic CHANGES in what you are taking or eating.

That being said, it sucks to be on coumadin for the rest of your life, as a 24 year old, if thats really what you have in store. It requires frequent follow-up and bloodwork, like every week/month, for the rest of your life.

Yeah, this. This is one of the big problems with warfarin especially, people take like St Johns Wort or other OTC herbal things thinking they arent really drugs because they arent FDA regulated, but they can have very significant interactions.

Being coumadinized for life isnt the worst thing ever, its not like dialysis or HIV meds or chemo, but it still sucks. Bummer for getting a bum heart man, but at least its fixable and you get to live.

why do they use a needle?

Thank you for your input in this thread. You bring up some valid points about my intake habits and the specific items (multivitamins) that I intake. Part of the reason I started this thread was to get input like this so I could ask my cardiologist questions.

And I don't think it is a bummer having a bad heart, let's be honest, there are many of other afflictions that I am grateful I don't have. I live a fun life that I enjoy and I wouldn't ask for anything different. And IRT weekly/monthly doctor/lab visits, I don't really care about that either as long as I am able to get some insurance.

Please be more specific. The needle is used to sew my skin up afaik, but I'm not sure exactly what your question is referencing.

oh i read the title as open needle Heart Surgery. i was confused y they would use a kinfe of some sort.

I think we all needle little open heart dangeraw

bored while studying bump

how much cooler am I for needing open brain surgery?

bout tree fiddy.

know it's been some time
but there's something on my mind

You see
I haven't been the same since that cold November day.
We said we needed space
but all we found was an empty place

And the only things I learned is that I need you desperately.
So here I am and can you please tell me:

Where do broken hearts go
can they find their way home

Back to the open arms of a love that's waiting there?
And if somebody loves you
won't they always love you?
I look in your eyes and I know that you still care for me.

I've been around enough to know that dreams don't turn to gold

And that there is no easy way
no
you just can't run away.
And what we had was so much more than we ever had before

And no matter how I try
you're always on my mind.
So here I am
ond can you please tell me:

Where do broken hearts go
can they find their way home
. . .

And now that I am here with you I'll never let you go

I look into your eyes
and now I know
now I know:

Where do broken hearts go
can they find their way home
. . .
Where do broken hearts go
can they find their way home
. . .
For me
you still care for me.

I hope this works out for you. When are you supposed to have this done?

Which woman broke your heart?

Thank you, I think.

I actually canceled my last cardiologist appointment because I have been busy with school and life. So, I'm not really sure.

dis is serious thread, i say good luck to op, seriously.

Well it's a congenital heart defect, meaning from birth, so I guess my mother did. Since birth though, there have been a couple that will not be named.

Thanks Bryce.

I may have missed something but what is the repercussions of leaving this untreated? Is this the kind of thing that you could wait for a few years to do with little chance of any negative consequences?

I heard something on the radio this morning about an artificial heart called a Berlin heart. I don't know anything else about it, but if it's an option you might want to check with your doctor b/c Germans make good stuff.