Hi Chris,
I am 4 weeks post-op to repair my mitral valve. I adopted a daughter in November 2011 from the Philippines and I was constantly sick from then until ...Read more
Hi Chris,
I am 4 weeks post-op to repair my mitral valve. I adopted a daughter in November 2011 from the Philippines and I was constantly sick from then until Mar 2012.
Bad colds and a couple of fevers. In Apr 2012 I had great difficulty breathing and my Kaiser HMO doc said I needed an echocardiogram right away. Long story short - I needed surgery within 2 or 3 months. The fluid in my lungs was not bad enough to have surgery right away, but I constantly let my cardiologist know about my symptoms (shortness of breath, really loud heart beat, and chest pain).
Before April 2012 I was never diagnosed with a heart murmur. So the diagnosis of severe mitral valve regurgitation was quite a surprise. Were my illnesses a precurser to infective endocarditis. Don\'t know. By the time I met with my primary doctor and cardiologist, I had recovered from my latest fever. But my surgeon recommended I get flu and pneumonia shots sometime soon (now that I\'m post surgery).
Congratulations on your successful 2nd surgery. If we ever need another one, the skills and techniques will only be better in the future. I\'m 49 now and hoping my repair lasts a lifetime...... but you never know!!!
Regards,
Lee Castro (MVR, Aug 13, 2012)
So did you have endocarditis or was it MVR? Interesting that the surgeon made the flu/pneumonia shots recommendation - this has never come up in any conversation with my surgeon or cardiologist.
Glad to see all is going well - hoping you do not need the 2nd round
Hi Chris,
My goodness, you are brave. I am a 46 y.o. woman who had two valves repaired in May; I can\'t imagine having two surgeries within 5 weeks. Good ...Read more
Hi Chris,
My goodness, you are brave. I am a 46 y.o. woman who had two valves repaired in May; I can\'t imagine having two surgeries within 5 weeks. Good for you! Just wondering what your symptoms were that told you your first mitral valve repair failed? Again, congratulations on your recovery; best wishes for the weeks ahead, Kate R
I was having problems breathing on my walk one morning and then later in the day I could not control a cough that began suddenly. Turned out my lungs were filling with fluid. It was very quick and the surgery was done within 24 hours of my symptoms presenting. They took 4 liters of fluid off my chest during surgery.
Glad you are doing so well, my son has an aortic repair this past May and it seems there is still some leakage. He is having another echo late September to ...Read more
Glad you are doing so well, my son has an aortic repair this past May and it seems there is still some leakage. He is having another echo late September to see what, if anything, he will need to do. I will keep you in my prayers. Take good care,
Linda
So did you have endocarditis or was it MVR? Interesting that the surgeon made the flu/pneumo ... Read more
So did you have endocarditis or was it MVR? Interesting that the surgeon made the flu/pneumonia shots recommendation - this has never come up in any conversation with my surgeon or cardiologist.
Glad to see all is going well - hoping you do not need the 2nd round