i'm new to this forum, and i wasn't aware of the bio/mechanical bias really. i guess i can understand it in my own way. some people -- myself included, have strong feelings about their past surgeries and want to spare others the pain of going through multiple surgeries if they think someone is taking open heart surgery as a "light decision." i remember once on another forum i was in, someone came into the heart patient forum pretty much acting as if she really wanted open heart surgery despite having no actual problems (she had mild regurgitation) and calling it a "pain in the butt," "money saving" surgery. pretty much all the people who had gone through the surgery dogpiled her for treating it like that. so i think maybe the reaction comes from wanting to impress on someone that multiple surgeries isn't a cakewalk and unless they have a great reason for it, they should treat that decision with respect as it comes with pain, burdening families and a small chance of facing your mortality.
all the same, it's a personal decision and i was very relieved that my surgeon and cardiologist allowed me to make that decision without expressing any of their own opinion.
i guess that was the very longwinded approach to saying... i see that by nature, cardiac patients have a lot of emotional investment. but at the same time, it's a personal decision and we should strive to treat it impersonally and just give people the facts. but i know it's hard. but in the end, personal autonomy is a great thing!
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