question: I am 51, 5 11 180lbs and had a double bypass 16 years ago after angio and stent failed. About 2 months ago, I had valve replacement (mechanical). The surgeon also had to repair an aneurism and remove part of a LEAD WIRE left in my ascending aorta from a procedure done 16 years ago! I have had a few related problems since then. I was actually admitted back into the hospital for 8 days because the chest tube was removed prematurely so that they could send me home. Approximately 1000ccs of blood fluid had accumulated in my chest cavity. I was on coumadin so they had to take me off of it, drain the fluid (only 700 of the 1000ccs), and then place me back on coumadin and get my INR back up. I have been recuperating and doing well, but have recently in the last 4 or 5 days been feeling pain around my left lung again and running a low-grade fever from 99 to 101 for about a day or two. JUST TONIGHT, I started noticing that my heart would skip a beat every 5 to 15 seconds or so. I am wondering what could be causing this all of a sudden. Am I okay? And will I live through the night? The on-call doctor I spoke with tonight (McKinstry) was flippant about the whole thing and said I should just go to the office in the morning and get an EKG. He was rude and impatient and did not care. Can you provide me with a little peace of mind and perhaps a little insight as to my condition so that I may be able to sleep tonight?