Marguerite53
Premium Level User
He is so reassuring, answers all my questions, remembers our past conversations. I?m very impressed and comfortable with his demeanor and knowledge. He is both kind and sharp.
So here?s what went on for this second appointment. We discussed valves, timing, recovery, success statistics. He agreed that the C. Edwards bovine tissue valve (Perimount Magna) was an excellent choice for me and quite frankly admitted that he would probably choose it for himself (despite our matching age of 52). There is that huge must-have second operation down the road, of course. The angiogram/heart cath gave him lots of good information. There is not much visible calcification happening yet, although, of course, he can?t know for sure until he gets in there. I was concerned about that since I?d recently read that the more calcification, the more possibility there is to have damage done as they are working. My aortic root seems to be of good size, so that matching a valve won?t be a problem. Apparently, if one is a small person, there is the chance that they cannot use tissue since they don?t make them smaller than 21. If it?s close, surgeons can adapt the root; during surgery and that only adds on about 15 minutes (I asked). He decided to rummage through my notes and find my measure of 22. Even though the echo he found that number in isn?t perfect science, he felt that that was a number he could work with quite easily. He won?t know until he uses a little metal device once he?s inside, to actually measure and get me the right fit.
My valve is ?very tight?. Last echo was .53. Angio was .8. But. Apparently there are further number manipulations of the angio number, due to my being female, and he said I?m probably .4. Yes. ?very tight?. No heavy lifting or aerobics. Walking (as I do around a track at a less than brisk pace these days) is fine.
He said to set a date within the next 2 months. When I asked him about donating my own blood he said it didn?t matter. However. He said that they will give me back my own blood if it is there to give. Unless I need blood, they will not give me any if I haven?t donated my own. I believe I understood him to say that without your own fresh blood, they know you will likely arise from surgery with anemia. They just let you be anemic. The only problem with that, with being anemic, is that it slows down recovery, but not dramatically enough to warrant using someone else?s blood. Because they want 2 pints, and each pint spaced a week apart, and something about the last pint drawn being 2 weeks prior, I?m going to call today and try to get a 3rd week in April surgery date. Another important consideration was my overall symptom status. Since I am not huffing and puffing with each step and exhibiting dizziness or passing out, donating blood is fine. If my symptoms were more pronounced, he would never let me donate blood.
So, I?m thrilled. The statistics are less than 1% for not making it through surgery alive. We didn?t revisit the stroke numbers. I?m blessedly not going in with any complications. No PH, right side looks great. Nothing but a stenotic aoritic. All arteries ?very? clear (I commented that with a father with triple bypass and CAD, I was very glad not to have it. He asked me how I thought I managed that. I thought it might be all the olive oil, fresh garlic and dark green vegetables we?ve always chosen to consume?..or maybe just our wonderful Northwest salmon! I thought it was cute that he was asking, as if I could help him, almost
).
The valve is almost definitely bicuspid and has stiffened enough to welcome the disease. But the amount of calcium deposit does not appear to be terrible. He?s pretty sure he will be able to tell me why my valve was bicuspid when he sees it. That will be interesting to know and I shall remind him pre-surgery that I want to know.
He uses closing sutures which are inside and dissolve (I mean the surface ones which will show?..of course there are many other ones, deep inside, they vary in nature). His cut is low and only about 6 inches long. (I believe he had some cosmetic surgery training, I read it somewhere). I don?t really care as I just want to be fixed!! But it is good to know, going in.
The office will be opening in a few hours so I?ll be back later today with my date. He smiled and told me to pick a Tuesday. He said all the surgeons in his group agree that it?s their favorite day of their week for this kind of surgery. He seemed confident that I would be able to hold the day; that unexpected emergencies are handled by other surgeons in the group.
Looking good. I?ll be back in a few hours with a date!!
Marguerite
So here?s what went on for this second appointment. We discussed valves, timing, recovery, success statistics. He agreed that the C. Edwards bovine tissue valve (Perimount Magna) was an excellent choice for me and quite frankly admitted that he would probably choose it for himself (despite our matching age of 52). There is that huge must-have second operation down the road, of course. The angiogram/heart cath gave him lots of good information. There is not much visible calcification happening yet, although, of course, he can?t know for sure until he gets in there. I was concerned about that since I?d recently read that the more calcification, the more possibility there is to have damage done as they are working. My aortic root seems to be of good size, so that matching a valve won?t be a problem. Apparently, if one is a small person, there is the chance that they cannot use tissue since they don?t make them smaller than 21. If it?s close, surgeons can adapt the root; during surgery and that only adds on about 15 minutes (I asked). He decided to rummage through my notes and find my measure of 22. Even though the echo he found that number in isn?t perfect science, he felt that that was a number he could work with quite easily. He won?t know until he uses a little metal device once he?s inside, to actually measure and get me the right fit.
My valve is ?very tight?. Last echo was .53. Angio was .8. But. Apparently there are further number manipulations of the angio number, due to my being female, and he said I?m probably .4. Yes. ?very tight?. No heavy lifting or aerobics. Walking (as I do around a track at a less than brisk pace these days) is fine.
He said to set a date within the next 2 months. When I asked him about donating my own blood he said it didn?t matter. However. He said that they will give me back my own blood if it is there to give. Unless I need blood, they will not give me any if I haven?t donated my own. I believe I understood him to say that without your own fresh blood, they know you will likely arise from surgery with anemia. They just let you be anemic. The only problem with that, with being anemic, is that it slows down recovery, but not dramatically enough to warrant using someone else?s blood. Because they want 2 pints, and each pint spaced a week apart, and something about the last pint drawn being 2 weeks prior, I?m going to call today and try to get a 3rd week in April surgery date. Another important consideration was my overall symptom status. Since I am not huffing and puffing with each step and exhibiting dizziness or passing out, donating blood is fine. If my symptoms were more pronounced, he would never let me donate blood.
So, I?m thrilled. The statistics are less than 1% for not making it through surgery alive. We didn?t revisit the stroke numbers. I?m blessedly not going in with any complications. No PH, right side looks great. Nothing but a stenotic aoritic. All arteries ?very? clear (I commented that with a father with triple bypass and CAD, I was very glad not to have it. He asked me how I thought I managed that. I thought it might be all the olive oil, fresh garlic and dark green vegetables we?ve always chosen to consume?..or maybe just our wonderful Northwest salmon! I thought it was cute that he was asking, as if I could help him, almost
). The valve is almost definitely bicuspid and has stiffened enough to welcome the disease. But the amount of calcium deposit does not appear to be terrible. He?s pretty sure he will be able to tell me why my valve was bicuspid when he sees it. That will be interesting to know and I shall remind him pre-surgery that I want to know.
He uses closing sutures which are inside and dissolve (I mean the surface ones which will show?..of course there are many other ones, deep inside, they vary in nature). His cut is low and only about 6 inches long. (I believe he had some cosmetic surgery training, I read it somewhere). I don?t really care as I just want to be fixed!! But it is good to know, going in.
The office will be opening in a few hours so I?ll be back later today with my date. He smiled and told me to pick a Tuesday. He said all the surgeons in his group agree that it?s their favorite day of their week for this kind of surgery. He seemed confident that I would be able to hold the day; that unexpected emergencies are handled by other surgeons in the group.
Looking good. I?ll be back in a few hours with a date!!
Marguerite
