Jim's Guestbook

Hi Jim, glad you survived your surgery and hope you\'re doing well now. You certainly had a mess of complications to deal with! I\'m 33 years old and had my aortic valve replaced in Nov 2011. I went into the ER in severe heart failure, actually passed out in the waiting room of the ER, and woke up 3 days later learning I had endocarditis and a heart valve replaced. It was all quite a shock to say the least. Also had pneumonia, fluid in lungs and surrounding the heart, Afib, and vegetation on the heart. So not the same complications as you, but i certainly had my own to deal with. Endocarditis is such a horrible disease especially when caught in late stages. I been feeling well lately, but unfortunately have been transferred to stanford for a second surgery to remove the vegetation and slight regurtitation i\'ve experienced following the surgery. Jeez as if going thru this once wasn\'t enough. I hope for you at least they took care of everything the first time, and it will be many years before you ever have to go through another surgery!

Dear Jim...uh...I don\'t think you\'re going to find anyone that has had your experience!! Bless your heart (pun intended) you went through the ringer, and as a retired Medical Laboratory Technologist who was supervisor of the microbiology section of the laboratory... I think you are just blessed to be here! Staph aureus is nobody\'s friend! Especially in your heart! I\'m thinking we can all learn from YOU! I can say you have made me feel a little better, I am scheduled to have my aortic valve replaced on March 13th along with possible dilated aorta repair. Wow, you survived all of that...the only way to go from that is up! Thanks for your note, keep us updated on how you feel and once my surgery is done, I probably will turn to YOU for advice! Linda Dixon