82 year old father has had heart & kidney

[fedofficer95 O]

problems? My father is 82 and has had alot of heart cathedars,open heart surgery with bypass, and stents over the last 15 years. Recently he has had 2 stents and before that, aballon to check where the stents were to be, Had a TIA left side stroke in his arm, and the feeling in his arm came back only after a few days. We recently found he had aterial fibrillation and they ran a stress test and he had no more blockages THANKS GOD. My dad never has chest pain and hasn't for months. His has had bad levels in his kidneys fromall the past dyes used in his procedures. His ankles stay swollen and it is a concern to us that he may be having something going on we, or the doctors aren't aware of. They sent himhome this timeon coumidan, 5 mg a day. Can you tellme possible what this sounds like? His heart doctor of 15 years says these is no reason for alarm for his swollen ankles. Please helpme and my family.

[Henk]

If his kidneys are affected he should see a kidney specialist. It is all right for his heart specialist to say all is right but it is not his body. Your father may well have to drink a gallon of water a day as I have to. But I am not qualified to make a diagnosis. Insist on seeing a kidney specialist.

[JNS]

The man is 82 years old. All the things going on with his heart, no wonder he is swelling. You shouldn't be to concerned unless he gains more than 5 pounds in a couple days. If you notice he is having increased shortness of breath or he has to sleep sitting up in a chair. He needs to be checking his weight at the same time everyday in the same clothing or naked. If he has any of these symptoms, he needs to see his doctor right away. Good Luck.

[GetDark]

One thing to watch out for is congestive heart failure, which can cause retention of fluids, taxes the kidneys and can cause swelling of the ankles. It can also cause shortness of breath.The TIA was MOST LIKELY caused by the atrial fibrillation. With afib, the chambers of the heart contract so quickly that not all the blood is pumped out. So blood can pull in those chambers until such time that a normal heart rhythm is restored (generally by meds or on it's own, either one) those clots are pumped out into the circulatory system where they can caues TIAs or strokes. That's why the doc put him on a blood thinner and the blood thinner will keep that from happening again. But you may want him checked for congestive heart failure. I'm not sure exactly what tests are used for that but I'd say it's a combo of symptoms, Echocardiogram and EKG (two different tests). Blockages and atrial fibrillation are unrelated even though they can occur at the same times. AFib is considered paroxsysmal most of the time meaning there is not real 'cause' for it other than an abnormal electrical firing of the impulses that control the heart. If you don't trust your doctors, you may want to do an internet search for specialists in your area. There are sites that rate doctors now on performance on down and you may find a more thourogh doc.