def METHOD_NAME(self):
    # Assumes that items have already been checked for consistency,
    # self.__items stores a list of tuples with index 1 being the value
    if not self.__items[0][1] == "":
        max_value = self.__items[0][1]
        for item in self.__items:
            max_value = max(max_value, item[1])
    else:
        max_value = str(len(self.__items) - 1)
    return max_value