Hello and welcome to MedHelp's forums. We appreciate your question. It sounds like you have been through quite a lot. I think your question should be asked of your surgeon. When was your aortic valve replacement? What were the particulars about your surgery, if any, that you can remember (as in how was it performed). The pneumonia was not post op, was it? Pneumonia can be associated with sepsis (infection of the blood stream) but not necessarily. You sound to have a complicated medical history which will all factor into things. When is your valve replacement surgery?