Paul Colavincenzo

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In March of 2009 Paul had an uneventful aortic valve replacement for a congenital bicuspid aortic valve. He made a complete recovery and was perfectly fine until April of 2016. Paul was feeling like he had the flu and it turned out to be life-threatening septic endocarditis which was nearly fatal. He underwent a 12 hour emergency heart surgery at Kettering hospital to remove a severely infected aortic valve. One complication from the illness was a septic embolus to his right popliteal artery. This required multiple surgeries to treat. He was discharged and making a satisfactory recovery, but then his right knee became infected with the same bacteria which infected his heart. He underwent a two stage total knee replacement revision at the Cleveland clinic in July and September of 2017. Less than a month later the knee became infected again and he underwent another two stage revision at Kettering in October and December 2017. He also required extensive plastic surgery reconstruction of his knee. He made slow progress over the last two years, but in September, 2019 he began to have more and more pain in the knee and more and more difficulty walking. It was determined by physicians at The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota that his knee was now infected with a type of fungus, which is extremely difficult to eradicate. So, after much discussion and thought, Paul, in consultation with his doctors, wife, friends, and family, determined that the best course of action is an above the knee amputation.

We leave for the mayo clinic early January 13. Paul will have three days full of pre-operative appointments. His surgery is scheduled for January 17.

We hope this site keeps you informed and answers any questions. We appreciate all the prayers that you can send for Paul, his family, and caregivers.