From Mom's Kitchen to VitaK Tracker: Building a Warfarin Management App with AI

When my mom was prescribed warfarin, I watched her struggle with something that seemed impossibly complex: keeping track of vitamin K in her daily meals. Every doctor's visit brought the same stress about her INR levels, and every meal became a calculation exercise. That's when I realized technology could help solve a very human problem.

The Problem That Started It All

Warfarin patients live in a delicate balance. Too much vitamin K can reduce the medication's effectiveness, while too little can lead to dangerous bleeding risks. My mom was constantly second-guessing her food choices, carrying around printed lists of vitamin K content, and feeling anxious about whether her favorite foods were "safe."

The existing solutions felt inadequate—static PDF charts, complicated spreadsheets, or apps that weren't designed specifically for the unique needs of warfarin patients. I knew there had to be a better way.

Building VitaK Tracker: A Technical Journey

As a developer, I saw this as both a personal mission and an interesting technical challenge. I started building what would become VitaK Tracker, initially just for my mom, using Claude Opus to help research and compile comprehensive vitamin K data.

Working with Claude Opus was like having a research partner who never got tired of digging through nutritional databases. Together, we compiled vitamin K content for thousands of foods, cross-referenced multiple sources, and built what I believe is one of the most comprehensive vitamin K databases available to consumers.

The development process involved both web-based coding sessions and extensive work with Claude Code, Anthropic's command-line tool. This combination allowed me to rapidly prototype features, test different approaches to data visualization, and iterate on the user experience based on my mom's feedback.

The Credit System: Making Complex Simple

One of the breakthroughs came when I developed the "credit system." Instead of forcing users to think in micrograms of vitamin K, VitaK Tracker converts everything into easy-to-understand daily, weekly, and monthly credits. My mom could finally think in terms of "I have 15 credits left today" rather than trying to calculate micrograms in her head.

The visual tracking system shows progress at a glance, with charts and indicators that make it immediately clear whether you're on track or approaching your limits. Safety alerts provide peace of mind without being overwhelming.

What I've Learned (And What I Haven't)

Building VitaK Tracker has been an incredible learning experience, but I want to be completely transparent: I'm not a healthcare professional. While the app is built on solid nutritional data and has been invaluable for my mom, I developed it as a software engineer solving a personal problem, not as a medical professional.

This is both a limitation and an opportunity. The app reflects real patient needs because it was built for a real patient, but I know it could be so much better with proper medical guidance.

Looking for Healthcare Partners

This brings me to why I'm sharing this story. VitaK Tracker works well as a personal project, but I believe it could truly help the warfarin patient community with the right medical expertise behind it.

I'm actively looking to collaborate with:

• Hematologists and cardiologists who work with warfarin patients

• Registered dietitians specializing in anticoagulation therapy

• Clinical researchers interested in digital health tools

• Healthcare institutions that might benefit from improved patient management tools

I'm not looking to medicalize something that shouldn't be, but rather to ensure that what I've built aligns with best practices and could genuinely improve patient outcomes.

The Future of VitaK Tracker

My mom now uses VitaK Tracker daily, and her confidence in managing her diet has improved dramatically. Her INR levels have been more stable, and more importantly, she's less anxious about her food choices.

But this is just the beginning. With the right medical partnerships, I envision features like:

• Integration with INR tracking

• Personalized recommendations based on individual patient needs

• Educational content reviewed by medical professionals

• Potential integration with healthcare provider systems

Technology Serving Real Needs

This project has reinforced my belief that the best technology solutions come from understanding real human problems. My mom needed something simple, reliable, and designed specifically for her situation. VitaK Tracker started as a son trying to help his mom, evolved through collaboration with AI tools, and now has the potential to help many more patients.

The development process—combining human insight, AI assistance, and iterative feedback—represents a new way of building healthcare tools. It's not about replacing medical professionals but about creating better tools they can recommend and patients can trust.

Get Involved

If you're a healthcare professional interested in improving warfarin patient management, or if you're a patient or caregiver with experience in this space, I'd love to hear from you. VitaK Tracker is live at vitaktracker.com, and I'm always looking for feedback and potential collaborations.

Technology should make life easier, not more complicated. For warfarin patients like my mom, managing vitamin K intake is a daily reality. My hope is that VitaK Tracker—with the right medical guidance—can make that reality a little bit easier.

Warren Gates is a software developer and the creator of VitaK Tracker. He can be reached through the contact form on vitaktracker.com for collaboration inquiries or feedback.