Hi Colleen,<br />
It is my understanding that she will have to take it the rest of her life.<br />
She is evidently not a candidate for any other type of blood thinner. It's<br />
such a shame because she chose the "Onx" (sp?) valve because we were told<br />
that it was showing promise in that after a few years, it would not be<br />
necessary to continue any blood thinner! Since she has had that valve put<br />
in, their clinical trials have stumbled a bit in that the results of<br />
patient subjects going off of their blood thinners were not good.<br />
We, of course, keep up with the latest news because we never know when this<br />
might change with new improvements and/or studies.<br />
Judy<br />