Agnes Nocia, a 56 year old woman, retired early after open heart surgery to replace 2 valves in her heart. Agnes had rheumatic fever as a child and was always told that she had a heart murmur. Her rheumatic valvular heart disease worsened over the years and after Agnes presented to hospital with CHF it was decided to replace her aortic and mitral valves. The flu ran through Agnes' family. Agnes got it as well, however her symptoms seemed to drag on longer and instead of feeling better with time she seemed not to be improving.At breakfast, as her family was readying themselves for school or work, Agnes suddenly felt different. Her husband, who was finishing his coffee, suddenly placed his arms around her and called to his children for help. Agnes remembers the ambulance attendants lifting her to the stretcher and taking her to the hospital