Having an GA and operation whilst on warfarin

[irene75359]

Some of you may remember I said my daughter is on warfarin for life because of a blood clot in her coronary artery. She developed an internal abscess that antibiotics weren't touching and her GP told her to go to A&E at the crack of dawn to be seen urgently. They were so alarmed at her infection levels she was kept in and operated on the next day. Her INR was 2.4 the morning of the op and the surgeon was quite happy with that and there were no complications. Huge relief all round, and interesting that when her medical history was examined, they erred on the side of safety and kept her on her regular dose.

She is home and out of pain, thank goodness!

[Hidden]

Hi Irene,

That's great news ..... big success all round and hopefully will be an inspiration to those on Warfarin who are perhaps intimidated by all the hearsay that accompanies Warfarin and the INR testing process. I would have thought an INR of 2.4 was a bit on the high side for GA surgery. Mind you it depends on so many things/factors, when I had knee replacement surgery I had to get my INR down to ZERO, surgery was about 3 hours. Yet when I had a cortisone injection into my right shoulder my GP was happy with an INR of 1.7.

What is her normal dose of Warfarin. Mine alternates 5 mg one day - 4 mg next day and at one point during the week it 2 days of 4 mg ........... generally my results are all nice 'n steady but sometimes for no apparent reason it all chucks a wobbly and goes up to 3.3 or higher. Have to say though, I'd much rather be on Warfarin than these newer fangled DOAC's. Warfarin has never stopped me doing anything a non Warfarin person does.

So glad for you guys.

John

[irene75359 in reply to Hidden]

She was taken off Apixaban and put on warfarin and aspirin as the clot had increased in size. At the moment she is on 6-7mg across the week but it has been a struggle stabilising her INR. I thought it must have gone sky-high with the level of infection but maybe they gave her vitamin K to bring it down. Anyway all is well, thank you!

[Hidden in reply to irene75359]

Hi Irene,

That's very good to know and I hope it stays that way for your daughter. Do you self test her INR with her own Coaguchek XS device and test strips at home, or has it been so serious that it's all been done by the experts? in a hospital setting.

I must say that my INR de-stabilises every so often without rhyme or reason, so, even after 13 years on this stuff I just test myself at home with my device and test strips then phone the results to my Surgery INR clinic and they tell me what to do next. Usually, they rearrange my dose over the forthcoming week depending on the calender dates we are talking about. My INR theraputic range is between 2.0 and 3.0 but this can be varied by the medicos depending on the healthcare issue they are dealing with.

Anyway, I hope things continue to go well for your daughter.

John

[irene75359 in reply to Hidden]

She has only just got a Coaguchek and the team treating her are quite happy with that, and will prescribe the testing strips. It was a journey to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital before and as the mother of two small boys, it took up a lot of her time. She is fine now, thank you.

[Hidden in reply to irene75359]

Hi Irene,

That's soooooo good. Given her domestic situation with the little guys she will find it such a relief to be able to test herself .... for me it gives me a sense of freedom, back in the pre CoVid days when I travelled to Australia for holidays with my family I used to take it with me and use it regardless as to whether I was due for a test or not.

John

[Jalia]

Good to hear Irene ! What a relief for you all.

[BobD Volunteer]

Glad she is fine now. When I had a minor op a few years ago they were fine provided my INR was less than 3 on the morning of the op.

[jeanjeannie50]

That must have been a hard time for you all Irene. I'm pleased to hear your daughter is out of pain now. Hope she stays well now.

Jean