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I spent Wednesday night in the hospital because my Dr. called me at 9pm with the message that my blood tests came back positive for an aggressive form of staph endocarditis and that I needed to get to the emergency room immediately. To make a long story short, the test results were the result of...

The only other person even close to my age who I've actually met with a similiar condition to mine unexpectedly died last night, apparently of heart failure. I was not close with this individual, but she was kind enough to take me out to lunch prior to my surgery and answer questions, etc...

I'm still confused about the issue of alcohol and Coumadin. People who post about this are regularly told that moderate consumption of alcohol is okay on Coumadin. Yet, when you go to the Coumadin website, it clearly states one should not drink alcohol while on this drug. In fact, it is one of...

For the past eight weeks, I've gotten several sore throats with fatigue but no fever. This isn't too unusual as I have allergies but, because of my fear of infection, I've taken a total of 3 rounds of antibiotics and the sore throat goes away for awhile and then comes back. I met with my...

I bit down on a piece of candy and broke a piece off one of my molars today. It was already cracked due to a big filling, so the piece was just a thin area of enamel that had been covering about a quarter of the tooth, all above the gum. It didn't bleed and it doesn't really hurt much. I called...

It is frequently mentioned in discussing valve options that many people with a biological valve end up on Coumadin anyway because of a-fib. This is obviously scary for me (talk about the worst of both worlds!) and I was wondering how often this happens. I don't know how to set up one of those...

I've been taking 25 mg Toprol since my surgery and my blood pressure is regularly reading 80/50. Should I be worried about this? I'm not dizzy, light headed or overly tired, but occasionally get a little grey around the edges of my vision. Thanks, Kate

I have a dentist appointment on Monday, exactly 8 weeks after my aortic valve replacement and I'm really afraid to go. It's only a cleaning and I have my antibiotic to take, but somehow it feels like my heart is still vulnerable from the work recently done and that I'm risking endocarditis. I'm...

I just got back from what was to be my last check-up - I'm feeling pretty good, getting stronger everyday, the pain is almost all gone, etc. Unfortunately, my blood work showed abnormal liver function which my cardiologist thinks may be do to all the Tylenol and Darvocet I took (I never went...

I had my surgery 31/2 weeks ago and everything has gone pretty well so far, but today was really difficult. My cardiologist wants me to get off the Darvocet (and I want to get off it too as the constipation side effect sucks!) but I tried today with the 600mg of Motrin he recommended and it just...

I had my surgery on the 12th and, aside from a quick, same-day trip back to the OR to stop bleeding, everything went very well. I came home on Friday and am feeling pretty good - sleeping okay, pain manageable, walking for five minutes w/o SOB, eating, etc. Here is my question - every once in a...

My valve replacement / aortic aneurysm fix has been scheduled for September 12th at the Cleveland Clinic. I am so appreciative of all the information and encouragement offered on this site. I feel like it really helped me to have the courage to push my cardiologist for a surgical referral...

Hi! I'm a new member with aortic stenosis and a 4.7cm aorta. My Dr. wants to wait for surgery, which is basically good, but I'm afraid of even the rare chance of dissection or rupture because I live in a very small town that doesn't have a cardiologist and the closest hospital capable of...