[lisa_spyder]

Hopefully this will not be the case...my Dad had endocarditis. It affected the main aeortic valve and that was replaced with a specially grown pig valve. Yes he had to continue to see his cardiologist and was on anti-rejection drugs etc...but the whole procedure was successful. There are also mechanical valves that can be used for replacements, but Dad's cardio surgeon was not in favour as they don't last as long nor are they the best option for active people apparently (I don't remember all the reasons now as it was years ago).

Now, here's the SCARY part...Dad contracted endocarditis through an abcess on a tooth...delayed going to the dentist too long as he was always too busy...the bacteria entered the blood stream and went to the heart, damaging the muscle etc. The worst part was that endocarditis is not easy to diagnose. The experts need to step in here; but from what I remember it takes a long time to show in the blood cultures taken. It took a few weeks to know what was wrong; in the interim they were testing for leukaemia etc...only when the cultures were left long enough did the bacteria show and by that stage his heart muscle was damaged. Simple explanation I know, but that's how I remember it...

His heart was still as strong as ever when he died...bloody bowel cancer got him instead...