Finally back on my tri bike

Welcome back! Don't worry about the times, just be glad to be doing it!!

being the mech valve and on coumadin i'd assume.... how much has your doc told you that mountain biking would be the end of you?

mine put the fear of 1,000 deaths in me stating a fall in the rocky hills would end me due to the thinned blood. i still do it anyways but curious if yours had a different opinion or what.

btw, happy 4 months

He did not say anything about what biking I could not do, but I did tell him I will take my wife with me, so I assumed he thought she would act as a handbrake.
Dont know what your INR is my mine hovers about 2.4 up to 2.6.

I dont see any reason of preventing you from biking being on anti coagulants. The doctor may just just be warning you of having accidents. If you are biking in a controlled situation i dont see that as a problem. A person watching TV the whole day is more in danger to himself developing DVTs and eventually could lead to PE. Biking is even better for you because your mobile. I even believe jogging comfortably could help alot.

Edited by strykergt 2013-08-04 3:21 AM

I just did not realize there were so many people out there with mechanical valves ticking madly while we are doing the triathlon thingy.
I have been a competitive athlete for the past 10 years and I enjoy the sport madly but I think now the emphasis will be more on the enjoy part and not so much on the competitive part. Still is is very difficult for me not to chase when there is another person ahead. Old habits die hard. Just had a look at some of the home INR testing units..I will have to bend my docs ear about one of those. BTW the problem with my valve was that I tore the strings that attach to the valves.They tried to fix them but alas that was not to be. Plan B was the mechanical valve

Congrats on the new valve, stable heart rhythm, & return to tri biking!!!!!

BTW- There's an active international forum related to cardiac athletes-

http://www.cardiacathletes.org.uk/forums/forum.php

Great to hear your back in he saddle

For the first while mine was floating between 1.3 - 1.8ish, which my cardiologist didn't seem "urgent" to alter and just kept gradually increasing my coumadin intake. However, I had a follow up visit with my surgeon at 5 months doing an ultrasound and they quickly made me an inpatient within a few minutes stating there was a block, possible infection or something forming on my valve with high potential the valve would stop functioning at anytime. possible caused by me having such low INR for too long... so they did the hooah ultrasound where they knock you out and stick some camera down your throat....

..needless to say, in the end it was nothing more than a shadow on the first ultrasound so i was fine. However, while there they told me having such a low INR on average could actually cause a block and i should always ensure it's at least 3.0.

so now i keep mine normally at 3.5ish after they scared the life out of me in fear of it being too low and i just dont care if i bruise a little easy.

My doc was pretty cool about INR. Between 2 and 3 was his recommendation. Been back for a few scans and so far all is clear and in good working condition. He told me the valve will last until I am 95 but I am sure something else will break down before 95. I dont think I want to get that old.

This part of my life now reminds me very much if training for my first IM, you have a big goal, cant do in one leap so as my coach used to tell me "be the ant that ate the elephant, little bits at a time and before you know it, you ate the elephant.