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I just wanted to say goodbye and thank you to all on this forum. I looked to this forum during one of the toughest times in my life for information and support during Ryan's battle with endocarditis/valve replacement. The people here are a wonderful support system and full of great information...

Any update on Dawn Marie?

Hi Collen You may want to contact QAS or Philips to get an introduction packet to bring to the doctors with you. It usually has the form the doctor needs to fill out and fax it. We work with Philips at home INR (http://www.inrselftest.com) they have been great and helped me get the right forms...

Also note that if you are taking any antibiotics your culture may not come back positive either. However if you are not feeling better after a couple of days taking antibiotics and it is more than 7-10 days they should repeat it. We were told to it is best to get the culture as soon as your temp...

Unfortunately, when Ryan was in the hospital it was a question of if we were going to surgery but when. However, even when he was on IV antibiotics his blood cultures were negative but the damage was done and the infection was not getting better when viewed on echos and TEE. Also, as others are...

I hope everything is alright. Please let her know we are thinking of her here.

May would be a great time as weather is a little more stable. If you keep the list that would be great. I can help with logistics as we get closer. Ryan is still in the Navy. We are still waiting to hear from the disability board to find out his fate. It should be any day now. We can't tell if...

We would be interested. We are in Southern MD but either Baltimore or DC works for us. Weather is a factor for outside venues as you never know if it will be 80 degrees or 30 and snowing. If Annapolis is an option there is a great park just outside of the old town area that we like to go to. I...

Ryan was in the hospital for over two months so I had time to do research on the net while he was sleeping. I had found several articles on home testing and the benefits to stroke prevention. As Ryan had already had a stroke from his endocarditis I wanted to make sure we did everything to avoid...

Thank you everyone. You have put me at ease and now I am in action mode! My gram and dad are in Barnegat, NJ (1 hr from Philly) I just talked to them and unfortunately the doctor hasn't been in yet with any update but they had suggested she go to Deborah Heart and Lung Center in NJ if she needs...

Hello Everyone, I got a call last night that my grandmother is in the hospital with early stages of CHF. She is 92 years old but very active and in relatively good health. She had trouble breathing this weekend and everyone finally convinced her to go to the ER where they admitted her...

Yes please go to the ER. If it is hot to the touch and getting worse it needs to be checked. I ignored a hot red bump once and was hours from a serious blood infection reaching my heart. Not to scare you but I ignored it because my friends told me I was overreacting to a small bump. Now I would...

Here is the recent article on MP3 headphones not being good for pacemakers and defibrillators http://americanheart.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=543 but as long as the ear buds are 3cm away from the unit you should be fine so I am thinking a bracelet is ok.

An update An update Hi All, I thought I would post an update. We went to the ER on Friday because Ryan's chest pressure was becoming more frequent and and lasting longer. We called his cardio and they told us to go in. (We are military so the hospital ER is not a very busy one so going there...

Thanks everyone for the advice. I do think he might have some type of acid reflux and that the Calcium channel blockers might be causing the fatigue. Unfortunately I am the one who visits this site not the patient and when I tell him he should go see the doctor he thinks I am being neurotic...of...

Hello Everyone, Ryan had his valve replacement over 1.5 years ago. He is still dealing with some PVCs that the doctor says is benign but as it bothers Ryan so much he is taking medicine to try to mitigate the uncomfortable feeling it gives him. He was switched from Atenolol to a calcium channel...

Hi Betsy, I am just reading your posts and wanted to add that Ryan experienced dizziness and nausea when he was home after having a very similar experience to David (endocarditis, valve replacement, IV antibiotics for 8 additional weeks!) His body was just worn out and was not able to do the...

We use Raytel Cardic Services which is now I guess formerly Philips Remote Cardic Services. They have been very good and attentive and helped us with getting the paperwork completed including talking to our clinic who never had anyone on the machine and our PCM so he would sign the request. Not...

Sorry I was on vacation when this was happening so I am just catching up on reading your thread. Ryan had surgery two weeks after he was diagnosed. They wanted to wait but his infection was so bad the antibiotics weren't killing the vegetation and he was in CHF. Luckily we are a year out and he...

This happened to Ryan though unfortunately his went undiagnosed for so long he was rushed to surgery after only a week of antibiotics and had to have a valve replacement. Some quick tips are to make sure he decides on a valve type for replacement prior to surgery for the repair. In Ryan's case...