Eric's Journal

Ended up in the hospital the last two nights. I'm 5 weeks post op and was doing so well with everything. Started cardiac rehab last week which felt good. Really starting to feel some normalcy returning. Went to the ER Monday with severe body aches and fever. Originally attributed the body aches to overdoing it last weekend. Finally talked some sense in to myself that these were not normal symptoms. Prior to surgery would have never gone to a doctor for this, but that fear of endocarditis is real! My white blood cell count was up along with a few other markers and fever was 102. So, admission it would be with full endocarditis workup. This thanks to the Cleveland Clinic after hours support for guiding my local hospital ER doc. The local cardiologist group didn't seem too concerned. Good reminder why I decided to go to CC. Fast forward a couple of days and luckily most of the lab values are coming back to normal. Had a little scare with the echo. They thought there was vegetation on the valve indicative of endocarditis and they graded my newly repaired aortic valve as moderate regurgitation. It was mild after the repair. This freaked me out on many levels. They did a TEE (fun times) and it showed no vegetation and mild regurgitation. So, good news is they are saying no endocarditis. Still no idea what's going on but I'm actually ok with that knowing that valve seems ok. I assumed there would be bumps in the road, but it's still disappointing. I should be discharged tomorrow if all goes well. Just have to get back on that horse and work even harder toward a healthy recovery. I wish you all the best in your recovery and those with future surgeries!

Hi everyone. Thanks so much for your messages, prayers, and well wishes! I had OHS on Monday, July 3rd, Dr Svensson at Cleveland Clinic, to repair my bicuspid aortic valve. The repair was successful which means no replacement at this time which I was so hoping for. I got discharged this afternoon. That meant only 4 nights in hospital! All went well. I will post a full update in the near future. Todays the first day I've fealt I could focus on a screen, so taking baby steps.