A new day, and something new

gadgetman · Mar 31, 2008

Angela,

First, as a former Waldorf (St Charles) Resident and a Retired Air Force, now Civilian Marine, I would like to welcome you to ValveReplacement.com.

Although I hadn?t posted, I followed this thread with interest. I agreed with the others that this Dr. T (for ?Terror?) was way out of line and y?all would be better served by getting as far away from this blowhard as soon as you could.

When I was reading his e-mail something jumped out at me. I was wondering why he brought up the ?major gunshot? comment. I went on your profile and noticed your husband was a police officer. The comment then made some sense but also brought home just how OUT OF LINE this Doctor is. If it had been my wife that received this e-mail about me, I would now be bailing her out of jail for assault. She would have immediately went to Dr. T, barged in to his office (probably towing several nurses and others along), and gave him a strong right cross (as only a Georgia Gal can deliver) while screaming ?HOW DARE YOU".

To me, that is the most blatant abuse of Doctor/Patient relationship I have every witnessed. His whole intention of the e-mail was not just trying to discourage you and your husband from the On-X and the trial but to scare the living bejeebies out of you and thus FORCE you to MAKE your husband change HIS mind. I really can?t believe he had the nerve to put something like that in writing. Wait a minute, after dealing with many military affiliated doctors (both civilian and military) during active duty and after retirement, I can believe something like this. He thinks you are a captive to the VA system and thus do not have any choice in the matter. He is an arrogant SOB and needs to be taken down a notch or two. Unfortunately, he is probably so unreachable that no matter how loud you screamed repercussions would never reach him. Being VA, he is so insulated by the system that he can act that way with virtually no fear of reprisal. You and your husband will be better served by most anyone other than him.

Now to the On-X. Based on what I?ve read here and the experiences of those that have gone before me, if and when it comes my time to have my ?repaired? Mitral valve replaced, I will strongly lean in this direction. I think where On-X has gone wrong is the sometimes ?hard sell? of the potential of ?no coumadin? with this valve. I don?t know if On-X reps are guilty of this or the Surgeon only hears that portion and nothing else. I know that no matter what the trials show, we are probably years and years away from someone actually making an official decision to go coumadin free with the On-X. That being said, I (along with some others here--especially those wearing one now) am impressed by the design.

Good luck on your visit with Dr. Brinster and I hope things work out.

May God Bless,

Danny

AngelaR · Apr 1, 2008

Hi Danny.

Where do you work at? Are you still in the area?

Well first off your wife and I sound very similiar. I'm momma bear when it comes to my family. However, when Dr. T(error) was yelling at me on the phone I forcefully, yet calmly, asked him to not speak to me in that tone or treat me as a child and we fully recognized the magnitude of the situation. And were not making decisions lightly.

What I wanted to say to him would have been obscene and probably would have made me feel better, except that I took the call at work and my Deputy Director was about 3 feet from me. I did fume for awhile but after a few days I was glad I had remained in control of my emotions and not let him under my skin. Plus if I do decide that I want to say something formally to the VA about his behavior no one can say I was irrational and screaming at him.

Plus as a cop's wife you get a thick skin for violence. My husband is the guy on SWAT that breaks the door down and first one in, he's that guy that hears a good call and is racing over to be the first on the scene. He's just that guy, and I know that, he's not going to change and lucky for him I'm not a softy ;-) You kind of just turn the negative thoughts off or you'd go insane everytime you kiss them and send them off to work.

I'm just taking the same approach to this whole OHS. I'm just dealing with what I can control and pushing all the negatives to the side. If they arise then I'll deal with them. I can handle Dr. T(error)....that's easy. ;-)

And things did work out with Dr. Brinster and we are set for surgery on 1 May with the On-X. And now we wait.......

Mike C · Apr 1, 2008

I know I am in the minority but i dont think it was that bad. He makes valid points in his email and i think somehting to be said about being passionate baout making the decision.

he understands coumadin, he may be less risk adverse than some and reason to go with proven commodities.

mike

ALCapshaw2 · Apr 2, 2008

I notice that some surgeons who have not used the On-X valves like to dismiss them as being "too new", which suggests to me that those surgeons haven't kept up with what's happening in the Valve World.

For the record, the On-X Valves were introduced to the World Market in 1996. The FDA approved them for use in the USA in 2001. Approximately 35,000 Aortic Valves and 25,000 Mitral Valves have been sold for a total of around 60,000 Valves and counting according to Catheran Burnett of On-X.

It's not like they came out 'Yesterday' as some like to imply. Maybe there is some confusion because of the more recently approved NO and LOW Anti-Coagulation Studies (which came about because of noticable reductions in Strokes in non-compliant populations, i.e. South Africa, and subsequent smaller European studies).

gadgetman · Apr 2, 2008

AngelaR said:
Where do you work at? Are you still in the area?

Angela,

We moved back South to Georgia when I retired in 1993. I now work at the Marine Corps Base, Albany, GA.

I caught the other thread about y'alls plans. I KNOW you both will be better off with that doctor.

Prayers and good thoughts are coming y'alls way.

May God Bless,

Danny

AngelaR · Apr 2, 2008

Mike C said:
I know I am in the minority but i dont think it was that bad. He makes valid points in his email and i think somehting to be said about being passionate baout making the decision.

he understands coumadin, he may be less risk adverse than some and reason to go with proven commodities.

mike

Mike - his email was AFTER he cooled down. And his e-mail didn't particularly bother me. It was the phone call where he was yelling at me and talking down to me and the words he choose in his heated moment that bothered me the most about this doctor. He does understand coumadin, and good for him. And he is partial to the carbomedic valve as it has 35 years of experience under it's belt. I don't have a problem with that. My problem is that we wanted to explore our options with the On-X valve and he flipped out, was severely unprofessional and then tried to excuse his behavior by saying he was passionate about his patients. This all coming from a man who I had only talked to via email and on the phone and had never even met my husband.

We are much happier with our experience with Dr. Brinster and are patiently waiting for 1 May to get here. I wish Dr. Trachiotis the best, but I personally don't want him as our surgeon.