About Me (In My Own Words)
From 1991-1992, I had endocarditis, I had a preexisting condition where my tricuspid aortic valve was really a bicuspid aortic valve. This is a genetic condition and it makes you more susceptible to infection. I was originally misdiagnosed with gastro-intestinal problems. My symptoms had slowly advanced to a 103oF fever from 1:00p.m – 4:00p.m, I called these my episodes. I eventually started coughing up blood in the mornings and when I worked out also. One day I went to the doctors when I was not feeling well and while I was there I had one of my “episodes”, I told the nurses my concerns of being misdiagnosed with gastro-intestinal problems and thinking that I really had endocarditis. The nurses took a culture which should up negative for any type of bacteria. Thankfully, my blood came back from the labs and the nurses called a doctor right away telling him I was going to die. The doctor called me around ten o’clock at night and told me to go to the emergency room. When I arrived to the emergency room the cultures still came up negative. The doctor and I got talking and he ended up being one of my fellow triathlete’s good friends. The doctor got me into to an echocardiogram and it showed that 80% of my aortic valve was not there. Bacteria had been in my heart this whole time eating it away. I had to be admitted to the hospital and the bacteria had to be killed before my valve could be replaced. I was on a pick line and constant I.V.s for 2 months. Finally, I got my valve replaced on 12/9/92. When the doctors got to my heart, they saw that the bacteria did not only eat away my heart valve but part of my heart. They removed everything that they were able to and gave me a homograph. Unfortunately the homograph was sutured into a part of the aorta that had been infected by the Bactria and the sutures did not take. With this complication, the doctors gave me a 7 year max with my new valve. I was told I would never do triathlons again but I proved them wrong and continued on with my life the way I was living and the activities I was doing before the surgery. Now, 19 years later I have to get my valve replaced again. Three years ago I started feeling not so great. This is because my aortic valve could not function properly anymore and it has affected me as a whole. The last 6 months have been the worst and this is when my doctor said okay it’s time to get this fixed. In Philadelphia, P.A. I found a great doctor that was willing to take my challenge Dr. Joseph E. Bavaria diagnosed me with Aortic Valve Disorder: Mod AS: Mod to Severe Al, Endocarditis of aortic valve, and mixed hyperlipidemia. On 11/21/11 Dr. Bavaria performed an aortic valve root stem replacement. During the surgery it was discovered that I had an aneurism in my aortic valve, the doctor also diagnosed me with cold agglutination of my blood while I was on the table. Because of the cold agglutination the doctor could only replace the aortic valve up to the arch root but not including the arch.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania