Question:
Has anyone on anticoagulation therapy had the RNY and did it go well?

09/14 08:52 PM I have been reading this board for months now and have really enjoyed it. I am going to have the surgery soon. Still don't have a date yet. I started all the processes back in April. It should be in the next 6 weeks though. Last year I had to have my mitral valve replaced so I have to take Coumidin or Warfarin every day. The surgeon was really concerned about the risks and wanted me to know how serious it could be. Has anyone on here had the surgery while on blood thinners? I am going to have laproscopic RNY. My cardiologist thinks it will be okay. Thanks in advance for any responses. -- SUSIE CLARK    — SUSIE C. (posted on September 15, 2002)

September 15, 2002
Susie - I have been on Coumadin since late January when I was hospitalized for blood clots in both lungs. My PCP had me stop my Coumadin 5 days prior to my surgery and I had no problems whatsoever. I think it was about 1-2 weeks after the surgery that I restarted the Coumadin. Your PCP may want to do weekly Protime tests for a while afterwards because the weight loss seems to play around with your Protimes. I had missed a couple of Coumadin doses like two weeks in a row (post-op brain fuzzies *G*) and my INR (clotting ratio) was 3.1, so they ended up reducing my doses even though I hadn't taken all of my prescribed doses...JR (open RNY 7/17 -74 lbs)
   — John Rushton

September 15, 2002
I have been on coumadin since I had my second DVT several years back. My surgeon required me to see a vascular surgeon and have a Greenfield filter put in place prior to my RNY. Also, she took me off coumadin, and I had to give myself Lovanox injections 2x per dayy for 2 weeks prior to my RNY. After surgery, I had to do Lovenox injections 2x per day until my coumadin built back up to theraputic levels. A word of caution... weight loss will seriously mess with your old dosage of coumadin. I tested 2 weeks after I had hit theraputic range, and my protime had gone all the way to 4.9. Needless to say, my PCP freaked. We have been playing with the dosage ever since. It seems that the amount I need now is somewhere around 4mg per day, where I was taking 7mg per day for years and consistently had a protime of around 2.5. Anyways, hope this answers some of your questions. Btw... my surgery went picture perfect. Zero complications, vomiting, dumping, etc... -58 pounds since July 10th, 2002.
   — Greg P.