I'd like to hear the experiences of anyone sleeved that is/was on coumadin or warfarin.

My mother is wheelchair bound due to an aortic aneurysm and has watched me reach goal and maintain the past three years. I would love to be able to see her have the surgery, too, but she has autoimmune issues and is currently on coumadin.

Please share your experience, as well as your surgeon's info and any special tests/considerations that you encountered.

My mother is in Texas and I'd consider Dr. Nick Nicolson for her (I considered him for myself in 2010) but am reluctant to start the process or speak to his office until I hear about other experiences first.

~Cheri

Ok, I have NEVER been on Coumadin, but I do know a little about general surgery and Coumadin (it may be different for bariatric sx). Usually the surgeon will want the patient's INR (you might already know about that- it is the blood test done to check the "thinness" of the blood- simply put) in a certain range. USUALLY it is still an elevated, or therapeutic, level- but may not be as high as it normally is on Coumadin. Sometimes patients require vitamin K injections to thicken the blood and bring the INR level down to a number that the surgeon is willing to do sx. Every surgeon had their own range they like.

Hope this helps a little.

It does, thanks. I know that recently when she had another surgery they had to lower her dosage to be able to do the operation. She spent three days in the hospital under care and being monitored before they could slice her.

I hope to hear some experiences that I can share with her before pursuing this as an option.

Thanks again,

~Cheri

High dose aspirin therapy and or plavix also are alternatives to patients who cannot safely maintain their INR (coumadin) levels.

I have been on Coumadin for over 10 years for a blood disorder. I have surgery scheduled for Oct 4. She will need to meet with her hematologist to obtain clearance. They will take her off of her Coumadin approx 2-3 weeks before surgery and will have to take lovinox injections. She may have a longer hospital stay. Hope this helps.

No, but I take Plavix and baby aspirin. Im looking forward to more responses on this topic.

I'm not on either of those but am on a blood thinner--my doctor prescribed Pradaxa so I wouldn't have to have the monthly blood work. When I had oral surgery in the spring, they took me off the Pradaxa for 2 days before and I had to give myself 2 Lovonox shots per day for those days. When I had my sleeve in June, the surgeon said I needed to be off Pradaxa for 10 days! And he didn't think the Lovonox was necessary. That scared me, but my cardiologist had said the surgeon was the one who made the decision about that, so I did what he said and everything turned out fine. I did have a Lovonox injection before my surgery and restarted my Pradaxa the day I got home from the hospital. Hope this helps.

I'm not on either of those but am on a blood thinner--my doctor prescribed Pradaxa so I wouldn't have to have the monthly blood work. When I had oral surgery in the spring' date=' they took me off the Pradaxa for 2 days before and I had to give myself 2 Lovonox shots per day for those days. When I had my sleeve in June, the surgeon said I needed to be off Pradaxa for 10 days! And he didn't think the Lovonox was necessary. That scared me, but my cardiologist had said the surgeon was the one who made the decision about that, so I did what he said and everything turned out fine. I did have a Lovonox injection before my surgery and restarted my Pradaxa the day I got home from the hospital. Hope this helps.[/quote']

Thanks so much for your response. My cardiologist said that he approves being off of meds for 6-10 days but I should take 4plavix at one time after being released from the hospital then resume my regular dosages. I guess the fear of internal bleeding is only dangerous during operation and the day after.