J
jbrown413
hi everyone. long time no speak. i am doing fine one year after ascending aorta graft and 13 years after aorta valve replacement. i am writing about my father-in-law. he is 80 years old. at the beginning of december he had his aorta valve replaced with a porcine one at nyu, under the care of a pioneer in less invasive surgery (so he has a much smaller scar.) He had some significant problems immediately, including flat-lining, and needed a pacemaker installed. upon discharge he was doing quite well, walking around the neighborhood, and even considering returning to work (yup, he still works!) then quite suddenly he started feeling quite short of breath. it has progressively gotten worse, and now even a walk from the dining room to the adjacent living room leaves him winded. the docs seem to be at a loss. an echo showed the valve to be functioning fine. ekg is fine. he was dehydrated, and a saline iv helped for a day. since the surgery he has had trouble urinating, and currently has to catherize himself at home. he is going for a cat scan on wed. any ideas? anyone have similar issues in the past? any ideas welcome, and thanks -- joe