Artrial Fibrulation

[flhusker]

Back in June my husband developed a severe case of pneumonia.  By the time we got him to the hospital he was experiencing AFIB along with the pneumonia.  He was admitted to the hospital and remained there for 10 days.  His heart is back in sinus rythmn and has been for several weeks.  The doctors have him on Walfarin and tell us he needs to keep taking them; however, we are wondering why.  Why exactly is the likelihood of him falling back into AFIB for no reason at all.

My husband is a 72 year old man and healthy.  Due to the above events he has stopped smoking using nicotine patches.

The cost of the Walfarin combined with having to go to the doctor every week for the blood clotting tests is really becoming very expensive for us as we are on a fixed income.

Any information you can give me would be appreciated.  We are seriously thinking about stopping the Walfarin and just using low dosage asprin to prevent clotting.

[Jerry_NJ]

I don't know what my cardiologist charges for testing my blood, but it is more.  As for the co-pay, I'm not sure what you mean.  Are you not using Medicare?  That may pay only 80%  of the greatly reduced charge under Part B.  So, I assume if I had my cardiologist do the blood test it wouldn't cost $40.  Anyway, get your cardiologist to issue you a prescription (work order) to do the blood test on an ongoing basis and arrange to have the blood tests done at your county or other public hospital, this should result in no cost to you.  

My wife and I were in Ft Myers FL the month of March 2011 and she was still under chemo treatment, and had a IV port installed to facilitate that. blood chemo interconnect.  She had trouble with the port and had to go to ER (the hospital in Ft Myers on US 40 - Cleveland) this resulted in establishing a contact with a general surgeon, via the hospital, as well as the chemo center.  The chemo was set up my our NJ ecologist before we traveled to FL.  She had a surgical procedure twice and a couple of office visits with the surgeon's office as well as at leat two chemo sessions (I now forget the exact number).

The point of my story, we got lots of treatment in Florida and Medicare cover almost all of the costs.  I'm sure we had some Part B payments for the surgeon, but nothing significant from the hospital or surgical center (we used both) so my experience says the cost/interface is the same in Florida and NJ, as it should be.  My ProTime cost me nothing at the Hunterdon Medical center, and I go to a remote lab office and almost never have to wait, in and out in 5 minutes.

[flhusker]

It's not the cost of the Walfarin itself that is cost prohibative as we get it at Wal-Mart.  It's the blood tests every week.  We are charged a $40.00 co-pay every time we go and it is getting to the point that we cannot afford it.  That's $160.00 a month and really takes a bite out of our SS income and budget.  

We live in Central Florida and have yet to find someplace to get the tests where it does not cost us a co-pay.

[Jerry_NJ]

Once a person experiences AFib  he is established as someone at risk of going back into AFib.  One big (the biggest, not sure) concern about AFib is clot formation and possible stroke.  

I don't understand the cost issue.  Warfarin at Walmart (and most everywhere else) is less than $5 a month, and I get my blood "ProTime" tests done at the hospital and that is completely covered by Medicare, cost me Zero  

AFib is more a problem for seniors (what isn't) than for younger people.  Thus a young person, say under 40, may take only an aspirin a day, no warfarin and not blood tests.

I am in permanent AFib, so that is a given in my case, I am 73, another "strike" against me, but when my AFib was controlled I still took warfarin (this goes back to about the age of 55)  because of concern that the AFib would return, and it did.  My AFib symptoms are minimal and when in normal sinus rhythm I could have slipped in and out of AFib and not have even noticed it.  When I went back to permanent AFib, I did/do notice it...mostly less physical endurance  I ran for exercise up to age 67, when in AFib I could not run.