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Sharlea, I had an angio about a month before surgery and it was completely painless. I was sore for several days when walking but if yours is right before surgery that won't be a problem. :) I think most surgeons want an angiogram done prior to surgery just to make sure there's no blockage in...

Nupur, none of the doctors thought the mouthwash was related, but I'm still suspicious. Seems like anything that softens your gums could increase the possibility of bleeding. Of course even if your gums bled every day the odds of getting IE are probably very small, so no way to really know the...

Smiley, I had quite a lot of dental work in recent years but I hadn't been to a dentist in several months when I got endo last November. I got the same strep viridans that Adrienne had, probably also from a slight gum bleed, probably just from flossing. I had been using ACT Restoring mouthwash...

Laura, I worked out a bunch of hand signals with my wife, but when I awake I just made a handwriting motion and the nurse gave me a pencil and paper to write on. I kept falling back asleep and didn't wake up for good until over 14 hours from when I originally went under, so I was never bothered...

My surgeon put me on Lipitor post-surgery to prevent any "gunk", as his nurse called it, from getting into my annuloplasty ring. My cardio didn't think I needed to continue on it once I switched back to his care about 8 wks post. I talked with the surgeon and he stated evidence for using...

Dee, I hope everything checks out. I've had lots of minor issues with my vision since surgery 3 months back, especially with scotoma problems. Doctors tell me it's all normal. Last week I needed to get my driver's license renewed and started to have the scotoma squigglies blurring my vision...

Star, first of all, welcome to VR. My wife helped take care of me, but really, after the first 24 hours home I was able to do just about everything on my own. Just make sure you carefully arrange everything in your home so you can reach them easily, and have lots of easy-to-cook meals. And I...

Thanks everyone! And I hope you all had a Happy Flag Day! :D

Jax, I would have needed pain medicine too to sleep on my side, but I found sleeping in a recliner to be relatively painfree and I was off the pain meds fairly quickly as a result. It wasn't until about 4 wks, I think, when I could sleep in a bed comfortably.

Jennifer, I asked the surgeon about a week in to switch me back to Toprol XL (50mg once a day) from lopressor (25mg twice a day) and that seemed to help me. My BP was a little lower with the lopressor, but more importantly seemed to jump around more each time I tested it with my monitor. My BP...

Steve, good luck on the repair. I hope you have at least as much luck as I've had in the recovery. I think you will.

Laura, I ended up skipping rehab but it's probably something most people would benefit from. However, if it's that much of a hassle I'd say skip it -- you can get the exercise at home. Just make sure you get your walking in every day and monitor your HR carefully. I wear the chest strap...

There will be lots of good vibes generated on Thursday. Good luck with your surgery, Megan, and let us know how well the recovery is going!

Good luck, Jennifer, and I'll be praying for a successful surgery and a quick recovery. You've had plenty of time to learn all the things that will happen during the recovery, so just relax and enjoy the ride!

Gina, we go every year (we live in Loveland, just north of Cincy). This year, 8 wks after surgery, I'm still debating whether I have the endurance for the walking. It will probably depend on the weather, but I expect the rest of my family will go without me if I can't make it. Make sure you...

I had issues with sleeping up to about 5 wks post-op, but it was as far as I know due to irregular napping messing up my sleep schedule, plus some drowsy effects of my medications. Once I got my sleeping schedule back to normal hours, avoiding long naps, and got off most of my meds, my sleeping...

I had a lot of digestion issues after endocarditis and for awhile after surgery. I don't believe I had any stomach problems with warfarin or lopressor though. You might want to get your blood pressure checked though, because low BP can cause nausea. It could just be mental stress. I really...

I thought I?d make one last update now that I?ve reached 6 weeks post-op. Up until a week ago I ago my status hadn?t changed much since my last update, but this past week I?ve really started to feel good. In fact, the only symptom I still have is continuing neck/shoulder pain, but even that is...

Laura, back/shoulder/neck pain has been bothering me from the first day of surgery but it seems to be getting a little better now 6 weeks out. I'll take a tylenol once in a while, keep my back warm (wear a jacket when I'm walking around), and try to lie down in the recliner when the pain flares...

jax, how can you live that close to Cedar Point and not like rollercoasters? :) Seriously, everyone here goes through what you're dealing with, you're among friends. Welcome. When I discovered in December that I had contacted a strep infection that had damaged my heart and I would need my...