cop on coumadin

[heartbreakkid]

recently had heart valve surgery and i am taking coumadin. any other police officers in a similar situation ?. also did you experience any resistence from your dept. about working as a p.o. ?. thank for any feedback.

[sir112]

hope your feeling better. what was the symptoms leading to your heart valve surgery? you might have to submit paper work when you get to your medical phase of the process. good luck and live life to the fullest.

[MORA Ranger]

I had a coworker who got a pulmonary embolism (I think I've got this straight) and will be on coumadin the rest of her life. She was in LE at the time and she really had to fight to keep her job. She went in front of a review board and had a lot of support from her boss so she's still in LE. It wasn't easy though. Good luck.

[DeltaV]

Most officers here who have had heart surgery end up going out on disability. Those who stay only do so after they are examined by a board of physicians and are given the go ahead. The only reason that they aren't forced out is that once a person is hired, you can't force them out just because they had surgery, unless the surgery compromised their ability to safely do the job. It's different with a new applicant though.

If you had heart surgery and are taking coumadin, you flat out would not pass our medical exam. A department doesn't want to run the risk of hiring you then having you go on disability six months into your career because of a pre-existing heart condition.

Personally, I wouldn't take the risk of a LE career if I were you. Being on coumadin and being involved in a serious fight could very well mean that you'd bleed to death internally. It's unfortunate, but there are certain medical conditions out there that will almost certainly bar someone from getting into LE work.

[heartbreakkid]

thanks guys for responding.it's great to hear the different views

[LilyMac]

Hello,

I am not a law enforcement officer, but my mother was on Coumadin. She had been on it for quite some time before she had a heart valve replaced (A prior repair lasted 5 years. She had heart damage caused by rheumatic fever as a child).

One Friday she was playing with a neighbor's little girl when she fell and hit her head, She thought she had a migraine, and even when she called her doctor he told her to take Advil. Monday, she lost consciousness in the tub.
She had a massive brain bleed as revealed by CT scan.

We took her off life support on the following Wednesday.

Coumadin is serious stuff. Police work is serious rough and tumble business. Think of your family as well as your own potential for serious or fatal injury.

Be careful and GET ANY BUMP ON THE HEAD CHECKED OUT!

Don't get complacent.

Good luck.

Lily

I forgot to mention that when I saw her face, she barely had a scratch from her fall.

[heartbreakkid]

lily..thanks for input so sorry aobut your mom

[Nate#2]

I don't know if you all know what coumadin is, but for the uninformed, Coumadin is a blood thinner. I am on it, also

[mcsap]

How about if somsone wants to discuss an OLD topic , they start a NEW thread. This one is from 2005 !!!