I got an 8 am call from the hospital: all my cultures were positive for Staphylococcus aureus. I told my wife, 鈥淗oney, I鈥檓 in big trouble!鈥� and indeed I was. I鈥檇 had a transaortic valve replacement a year before, and as a retired cardiologist, I knew the dire implications of Staphylococcus endocarditis on a prosthetic aortic valve.
My son had taken me to the emergency department the night before with fever (temperature as high as 104 掳F) and chills. It was flu season, and the physician thought I might have influenza or COVID-19 infection. But a physician friend, who knew about my prosthetic aortic valve and my fever and chills, had told my son to be sure they got blood cultures. In my fever-altered mental state, I might not have asked. My friend was so right. He also said I鈥檇 be in the hospital for a month. And he was so right about that, too.