-=> Quoting Patti Jones to Sondra Ball <=-
Hi, Patti,
 PJ> Back in the 60's one really never knows what it was exactly that
 PJ> caused the death of my Uncle.  From my understanding, it was an
 PJ> abcessed tooth that was pulled, and the 'infection' ended up being
 PJ> systemic....hence causing pericarditis, and finally death. 
I just found this three-month old message (I do that occasionally...).
My leadworker's husband had a similar experience two years ago, but,
thankfully, survived.  Mark had some dental work done, I think some
crowns, in early February of that year.  Two weeks later he became quite
ill.  When they called the doctor, the nurse said it was probably some
virus going around; nothing they could do for it.  A few days later,
Nancy got home from work and found that Mark's temperature was 104.  She
got him into the car and went straight to the emergency room.  It took
them about an hour and a half to pinpoint the problem as pericarditis.
Mark was in the hospital for quite a while, and at some point they
installed a tube so they could inject the antibiotics directly into the
pericardium.  When I went back to work at the end of March (I'm seasonal
and off 4 1/2 months in winter), Nancy was still going home at lunch
every day to give Mark his medicine.  Even at that, the infection damaged
a valve in his heart and ate several holes in the wall of his heart, so
he had to have open heart surgery that May to repair the damage.
Luckily, Mark has made a full recovery and, even better, they will be
able to go to Europe next summer--Mark sings with the Diocesan Choir, and
they had to drop out of the concert tour the choir did in France that
summer, but the choir will be doing a tour of Spain next August.
There have been many advances in medicine, but it is sad to think of the
people like your uncle who might have lived if these advances had come
earlier.
Take care,
Robin
--- Blue Wave/DOS v2.20
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