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Pretty much agree with above. Cath is super important before surgery. It's to check your "entire railroad" from heart to all vessels in the body cavity as my cardiologist dumbed it down for me. Surgeon said cath gives him an idea of what to expect. He said surgeons don't like surprises...

Hmm. I remember my cardiologist saying an atrium at +4.0cm means its time. My situation was a little like yours. I was told to start looking for surgeons. I had my surgery 4 months later.

I used mine for at least a few weeks after surgery. It is pretty important.

Hello Mercia. I'm currently going through the same thing myself. Talking with my cardiologist, in theory after 6 weeks, there will still be some endocarditis. Hopefully smaller as shown by echo or TEE. It may take up to 2 months before the patient is left with a sterile scar. In my case, the...

Well I'll try to condense this update. My inital PICC line from July was removed on 8/13/14. On 8/17/14, I couldn't walk and my right leg was beyond pain and couldn't walk. My ID doctor admitted me to hospital. TEE showed mitral valve vegetation reduced from 8 mm on 7/29/14 to 5 mm on 8/18/14...

I'm having the same problem posting.

Just an update with my situation. My echo from 7/29 shows that with the rocephin taken for the past 3 1/2 weeks, my vegetation has decreased in size from about 12mm to about 8mm. Also the fuzzy part around the vegetation is gone. Cardiologist is encouraged and I have about 15 days of...

I had been seeing my cardiologist for several years with 6 month echos. It got to the severe regurg stage with some atrium enlargement. Never symptomatic. TEE showed flailing mitral valve. Surgery 4 months later. Also told better to do it sooner than later. Pretty par for the course. Surgery...

Thanks Rick. I don't feel inhibited just a bit more conscious than before.

Hello Randy, Its appears that you may not know you have it. You may not really feel sick either.

Thanks for the responses. I guess I was a bit upset and clearly it could have been worse. I didn't realize how long some of the cases described could go before diagnosis. I am also aware that heart surgery is not a one and done thing. So we pray for the best. :)

Thanks Pellicle. Yes PCP is another name for my internal medicine primary doctor. The bacteria was determined by culture. My dental cleaning regiment is also 2,000 mg amoxicillin 1 hr before. I remember the infectious disease dr saying that generally for a vegation of 1 cm is pretty treatable...

I've just concluded a 6 week period where I would periodically run a low grade of fever (100-101.9) for a period of a few hours which was brought down by a few Advil. During this time, my PCP put me on Levofloxacin for two separate periods, once for 14 days and once for 10 days over this 6 week...

Well I'm still feeling pretty good. Regurg has been holding at mild-moderate for several years now. Due for supine bike stress echo in October. My weight has remained the same. Trying to do all the right things. :cool:

Happy to hear.

Good luck to you. It will be fine.

That's great news. Yes exercise functions will improve gradually so don't get to concerned about distances. Odd you mention temperatures. I had a panic attack in the hospital because I felt so freaking cold. The nurses had to check up on me but nothing to report. Outside it was close to 100...

Good luck. Beat the traffic.

Emory/St. Joseph's not a top hospital? Really? A lot of experts on this board.

Hello Midpack, My situation was similar to yours as well and I was about your age as well. I was having echos twice a year as they watched regurgitation. After about 3 years, it reached severe and then it was time for surgery. Since then I still get anxious whenever I see my cardiologist...