Getting my INR Checked While Traveling Abroad

January 18, 2022

A neighborhood high above Medellin, Colombia

After receiving a mechanical heart valve, I am now dependent on Warfarin for the rest of my life. I wrote about this decision, and what life has been like, in a previous post.

When taking Warfarin, it is essential for me to get blood checks to see my INR level and whether or not I need to adjust my medicine. (Yes that’s right; I adjust my medicine to meet my lifestyle and not the other way around) These blood checks are usually 1-2 months apart, and with my health insurance, I have to get these INR checks done at a hospital. There are at-home devices that check INR, but I am not covered for one, and they are very expensive out of pocket.

So, how would I be able to manage my medicine without access to my hospital?

The view from my apt. Medellin

Until now, my trips out of the country have all been for less than a month, so it has been sufficient for me to get my INR checked before travel and feel good about not getting it again until after I return. This year, however, I decided to step away from my career as a teacher in order to travel and rock climb full time. I have now been in Central and South America for about 7 weeks, so checking my INR abroad became essential. I have been nervous about being able to do extended trips since surgery and have not been able to find anyone who has been through the process of getting INR checks abroad. I was taking a little bit of a chance when I decided to go on this extended trip, but I was excited for the challenge and adventure.

Here is how my blood-work went:

On my first attempt to get my blood draw in Medellin, Colombia, I failed miserably. I showed up to a clinic that I had found on Google maps with nothing more than my ID and a few words in Spanish that I thought would help. I walked into the clinic, asked for blood work for my “relación de normalización internacional,” and explained that I am taking “Warfarina.” The phlebotomist was very confused, asked if I needed a COVID test (probably since I was an American with bad Spanish), and said they cannot do blood work without a doctor’s order… attempt 1 was over pretty quickly.

Luckily, my first attempt was only about 3 weeks into my trip, and my diet had been consistent with my diet at home, so I knew I had time.

After this my first setback, I did a little more research. I found this article explaining what “Pro-time” (a more medical term for having your INR checked) is and its importance, clicked to have it translated to Spanish, and took photos of it on my phone. I learned a few more terms in Spanish (which I’ll list below), talked to my girlfriend’s mom (a native Spanish speaker with a degree in veterinary sciences in Mexico) and went to the clinic that was advertised as a place to get blood work done on Google. It was about two weeks later and I was in Bogota, Colombia. I felt ready.

Getting it done!

This time, things went smoothly. I got checked in, filled out some paperwork, and paid 12,000 Colombian Pesos (about $3 USD). They looked at the article I had photographed and understood right away. I had my blood work completed at the clinic and they emailed me 3 hours later with the results!

I was so happy. This felt like a huge success and a big weight off of my shoulders. At this point, I knew for the first time that getting my INR checked while in a foreign country is possible and actually kinda easy. You just need to know the medical terms in the language where you are and a bit about the medical system. I know that this is just one example from a city in Colombia, but this worked out similarly to what I have witnessed in Mexico. In general, medical services are very cheap in Mexico and Central/South America, and a pharmacist or clinic will often diagnose you in-house and let you pay for the medicine or services you need.

Basically, look up a clinic. I did this with a simple search on Google maps for “análisis de sangre.”Prepare yourself with the correct language for what you need, and pay the small fee. It was that easy! In case you’re in Bogota, here is where I went:

Colgan worked fine for me in Colombia!

If you are going to do this in Spanish, here are some words that helped me:

Análisis de sangre- blood analysis
Warfarina- Warfarin
Anticoagulante- anticoagulant
Ratio international Normalizada- International Normalization Ratio (INR)
Una prueba de tiempo de prothrombin a- Protime

I am no expert on Spanish and I cannot tell you exactly what your experience will be. What I can tell you is I tried, failed, gathered more information, then tried again. Don’t give up your plans for travel if you are bound to INR checks. If it’s your first time trying this, get it done early so you can work out any issues before it comes to the time when you really need it.

If you have questions about this experience, please feel free to reach out to me through email or Instagram. Both of those contacts are in the “contact me” tab on this blog.