I haven't had repeated PEs, but I have clotted three separate times. DVTs in 2005 and 2009. And then multiple, bilateral PEs in 2010. I became a lifer on warfarin after my PEs, although it is more common to become a lifer after two separate clotting events. Honestly, I'm shocked that you've had five clotting events and you're just NOW becoming a lifer. I'm not sure how that happened, but it seems like your later PEs could have been prevented had you become a lifer sooner.

I also have a home tester, which I got after I became a lifer. It is much, much nicer than the arm blood draws. If your insurance will cover a nurse coming in, they might be happy to cover the machine instead, as I would think it would be much cheaper. You should check with them on their durable medical equipment coverage.

Although, actually, what happened with me is that my doctor wrote me a prescription for the machine, the prescription went to CoaguChek, and then they worked with my insurance company to figure out what coverage would be for both the machine and test supplies. I wound up paying nothing out of pocket, beyond my annual deductible.

If you do wind up paying for the machine out of pocket, I think they're around $1000 new, and the test strips and sharps are an additional cost on top of that. You can google CoaguChek and you'll see some options. Another monitor is the INRatio, also, although I haven't used that one.

If you had more than one clotting event, then usually the recommendation is long term warfarin. Definitely talk to your doc about what is planned for you. If he said no he doesn't recommend long term warfarin, get another opinion.

Definitely look into a home checker. I don't use a home checker but a lot of people here do. I would contact your health plan to see what they cover, how much they cover, etc.