Rheumatic Fever 46 yrs ago

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patchycat

I had Rheumatic Fever 46 yrs ago and when I got out of Children's Hospital they all stood at the door and gave me a standing ovation and sent me to another place to recuperate. When I was finished there just in time for the 11 plus exam I got another standing ovation. It was great except no one would sit next to me or touch the things I had touched. So when we moved I made sure that my heart problem was never talked about.
I got my new mitral valve 6 years ago and I'm on warfarin an ace inhibitor and a beta blocker and Lipitor. Life gets better by the day and the feelings and the challenges that I deal with are great.:):):) Its good to be alive.Thank you to all the Dr's and Nurses and everyone who has helped me so far.
I give blood to the person at the end of my street about once a month for my INR and I go to the cardiac clinic every 2 years now.
 
Welcome!

Your story is similar to mine. I had RF almost 33 years ago and valve replacement almost 11 years ago. At the time of RF, I was in the hospital for a month and missed about 3 months of ninth grade (middle of October through the Christmas Break). When I returned, I found that the rumors had been flying, including that I'd had leukemia and died and that I was pregnant and left town to have a baby! Not sure where that last one came from since I was in a new school, quite shy, and had yet to have a date!
 
To those whom have had RF, I am sure there are quite a few here. Is one always very, very sick with it? Or would one have, perhap a mild case. I was told by my doctor that I had it as a child. Therefore the mechanical mitral valve.

My brother swears I never had it, or me being that sick. My mother is no longer here to ask. I of course do not remember a whole lot before I was 4.

Thanks
 
Robbyn said:
To those whom have had RF, I am sure there are quite a few here. Is one always very, very sick with it? Or would one have, perhap a mild case. I was told by my doctor that I had it as a child. Therefore the mechanical mitral valve.

My brother swears I never had it, or me being that sick. My mother is no longer here to ask. I of course do not remember a whole lot before I was 4.

Thanks
Click to expand...

When I came down with Rheumatic Fever in 1972, I was so sick & weaken by the illness that I spent 3 months in total bed rest. I remember our family doctor or his nurse, would come out to our farm house to administer the bi-weekly penicillin injections to me. (At that time, some doctors still made home visits to some of their sickest patients, can you believe that!!??)

Needless to say, the RH totally damaged both my aortic & mitral valves & three years later, I had to have a double-valve replacement. And, the RH came about due to a strep throat infection that I neglected to get prompt treatment for!
 
njean said:
When I came down with Rheumatic Fever in 1972, I was so sick & weaken by the illness that I spent 3 months in total bed rest. I remember our family doctor or his nurse, would come out to our farm house to administer the bi-weekly penicillin injections to me. (At that time, some doctors still made home visits to some of their sickest patients, can you believe that!!??)

Needless to say, the RH totally damaged both my aortic & mitral valves & three years later, I had to have a double-valve replacement. And, the RH came about due to a strep throat infection that I neglected to get prompt treatment for!
Click to expand...

and NO, it wasn'd Doc from the Marshal Dillion western!!! LOL! :p
 
Robbyn said:
To those whom have had RF.....Is one always very, very sick with it?
Click to expand...

my doctors think i had undiagnosed RF at one time, and somehow that
led to endocarditis and vegetations. i was very, very sick with something.

i'd always had severe allergies, mostly to dust and pollen and mold. from 6-12
years i had 'strep throat' every fall. so would miss quite a bit of school,
first grade report card shows 33 days missed. and not even pregnant!!

the first year or two was strep throat for sure. after that didn't bother going
in for an examination, since parents 'knew' what it was. at eight had tonsils
removed, and started allergy shots. moved away from virginia and the
allergies have pretty much disappeared.
 
As I mentioned, I was in the hospital for a month and missed 3 months of school. I lost 25 pounds prior to being admitted, when I only weighed 98 to begin with at age 14. I had painful swollen joints, a rash over much of my body, shaking hands that lasted for years, uncontrollable jerky movements (Sydenham chorea), severe headaches caused by fluid behind my eyes (papilledema), frequent nosebleeds, and of course a tremendous heart murmur. I think doctors are quick to say you must have had rheumatic fever. That's what they told my brother until they got inside and figured out he had BAV.
 
Joe had rheumatic fever as a teenager. He spent a year in the hospital. Penicillin was just starting to be used. But he was not one of those lucky ones. He was given sulpha drugs instead. He developed a murmur and joint problems. He was very ill.

30 or so years later he had an aortic replacement, and then in a few years, a mitral.

His also came from a strep throat that was not taken care of.
 
Robbyn said:
To those whom have had RF, I am sure there are quite a few here. Is one always very, very sick with it? Or would one have, perhap a mild case. I was told by my doctor that I had it as a child. Therefore the mechanical mitral valve.

My brother swears I never had it, or me being that sick. My mother is no longer here to ask. I of course do not remember a whole lot before I was 4.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Sometimes it goes under the radar or is misdiagnosed. I believe I can pinpoint when I had it in 1962 although it was never diagnosed at that time. Mild cases still cause great damage.
 
Well thanks for the replies, and I will report that is possible to have had RF and not be diagnosed. It's a mute point and long after the fact, but my brother always thinks he is right. :)
 
Reumatic fever 46 years ago

Reumatic fever 46 years ago

Hello Patchycat, welcome to this great forum neighbour. I also had RF 46 years ago, and was in the Royal Melbourne Hospital for 3 weeks in 1964.
I was sent home to rest for 3 months with a jar of penicillin tablets and a warning that at 30yrs old I would need Valve replacement, I was 15 at the time. Well I had double valve replacement almost 2 years ago at 57 yeras old.
Life is good and every day is a bonus. I went into my operation well informed from all the wondreful people on this site. I wish you good health.
 
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