Thank you for taking the time to look at my petition. Some of you may or may not know me, my names Kerry and i'm 22 years old. I was born with a rare heart condition which still to this day has no name, myself, my doctors and my cardiologist refer to it as congenital heart disease. As a result of being born with this rare heart condition I had to have 2 major open heart surgerys, both performed at the childrens hospital in Birmingham while i was under the age of 2, by someone whoi can only describe as the amazing surgon that saved my life. Unfortunatly one of the down sides to my condition is that I have to take a drug callled Warfarin. Warfarin is an anti coagulant that is used to thin the blood to help prevent blood clots or to help remove blood clots that have already formed. I have been on warfarin since my first operation at the age of 6 months old. If you take or have ever taken warfarin, or any anti coagulant medication, you will know the side effects that come with it. For those of you that have'nt taken warfarin, or anti coagulants,let me tell you about some of the effects that come with it. I suffer from 2 of the most common side effects that come with taking anti coagulants, the first being that I bruise alot and very easily, if you knock your self slightly, you probably get a tiny barley noticeable bruise, if any. If I knock myself slightly? I get a rather big dark blue or purple bruise that is painful to touch and will take at least a week or 2 to dissapear. Sometimes I don't even have to knock myself to get a bruise, I just get one for no reason, and it will still be an angry purple colour and sore to touch. The 2nd most common side effect I get with taking warfarin is that I bleed very easily and I bleed for longer than someone who isn't on warfarin or anti co-agulants. You get a paper cut, you probably barley even notice it. I get a paper cut? I bleed like you would with a normal cut and it takes a few minutes for it to stop. And thats just 2 of a long list of side effects that come with taking anti coagulants. Due to being on warfarin I also have to under go monthly blood tests to see what level my INR is. For those who don't know INR stands for International Normalized Ratio, this determines how long it takes the blood to clot. It has to stay within a certain bracket, and if it doesn't weekly blood tests have to be done until it's back to normal. As well as blood tests people onanti coagualntsusually have to attend regular hospital appointments to under go tests such as ECG's (Electrocardiogram), ultra sounds and exercise tests to make sure the heart is still functioning properly. This is just an insight into what people on warfarin, or any other anti coagulantshave to live with for the rest of their lives. I know people on warfarin, or any type of anti coagulant medication,that are reading this are probably as frustrated as me that thismedication is not available free on the NHS as apparantlythey don't have 'a specified medical condition' I personally don't think it's right that congenital heart disease is not classed as a specified medical condition, and I hope that after reading this you will agree with me. If you do please take just a few minutes of your time to sign my petition to help me with what I think will be a long battle with the NHS to try and get anti co-agulants prescribed free on the NHS. Thank you.

Links