John saw Dr. William Ryan at Dallas Presby yesterday. Ryan gave him a 95% chance of being able to repair the mitral valve.
I asked about Plan B, if a repair didn't work out, and Ryan said he'd use a porcine or bovine valve. He seemed surprised when John said he wanted a mechanical. He better understood when we explained about John's dad going through 2 tissue valves within 10-11 years and that was why I chose a mechanical 4 years ago when a repair wouldn't work. I also said I wanted to minimize the possibility of a reop for me. (Dr. Ryan did admit that tissue valves usually need replacing at 12-15 years.)
He said he could use either a St. Jude or Carbomedics valve, if John wanted a mechanical as Plan B. He has put in 1 On-X.
Plan A would be a port-access incision, replacing the ruptured chordae with Gore-Tex. Hospital stay 4-6 days. John could go back to driving @ 2 weeks.
Like all other doctors John has seen, Ryan believes the damage is due to the head-on car accident John had in December 2005. Has operated on others after similar car accidents.
Now we need to thoroughly examine pros and cons of each surgeon and John will need to decide which one to go with. We are looking at early June, after my mom's knee joint replacement (5/22) and between 2 trips I must take.
I asked about Plan B, if a repair didn't work out, and Ryan said he'd use a porcine or bovine valve. He seemed surprised when John said he wanted a mechanical. He better understood when we explained about John's dad going through 2 tissue valves within 10-11 years and that was why I chose a mechanical 4 years ago when a repair wouldn't work. I also said I wanted to minimize the possibility of a reop for me. (Dr. Ryan did admit that tissue valves usually need replacing at 12-15 years.)
He said he could use either a St. Jude or Carbomedics valve, if John wanted a mechanical as Plan B. He has put in 1 On-X.
Plan A would be a port-access incision, replacing the ruptured chordae with Gore-Tex. Hospital stay 4-6 days. John could go back to driving @ 2 weeks.
Like all other doctors John has seen, Ryan believes the damage is due to the head-on car accident John had in December 2005. Has operated on others after similar car accidents.
Now we need to thoroughly examine pros and cons of each surgeon and John will need to decide which one to go with. We are looking at early June, after my mom's knee joint replacement (5/22) and between 2 trips I must take.
