Marguerite53
Premium Level User
Hello everyone. Well my visit with the surgeon was interesting and educational. Apparently, and this is good news of course, I?m technically at severe with the stenosis but since there is nothing else going on, there really is no hurry for the surgery. Nothing has changed with the rest of my heart ? its working great, no enlargements or malfunctions due to the compensation. So, while I?d be fine to choose a date next week, I can also wait until either my numbers get worse, or my symptoms become more significant?.ie?.months or years?? At the very least?..wait for a convenient time for my family.
The surgeon was searching for a heart cath report. I have not had one. Clearly, since the cardio performs that, and she did not think I was actually ready for the surgeon, she had not ordered one, and I was not aware that he would expect one. Thus we learn about the relationships between the doctors (and she always said she would send me when she thought I was ready). He, in fact, thought this was somewhat of a pre-op visit. I was just wanting to get familiar with a surgeon?s point of view. When this became clear, the meeting really got rolling.
My husband went along (he has never been with me to any cardiologist) and that was a very good thing. He feels much better informed and much more dialed in. The surgeon was very giving of his time and the conversation was easy and the information very useful. I need to THANK YOU ALL for all the advice and intelligent information I?ve gotten here at vr.com which made our conversations that much more valuable today.
I learned afew things. No surprise, he recommends a mechanical valve for me. When I said I?d probably want tissue, he smiled and said, ?good. We?ll have a second date, then!!? (meaning he?ll still be operating when I need my second valve!) (we?re the same age). We talked about the heart-lung machine. My father had a triple by-pass and was very out of it mentally just afterwards. He now suffers from significant short term memory loss, dementia or Altzheimers or Pump Head?..we don?t know. Needles to say, that is a big issue for us. He said less time on the heart lung machine is better. He said that beating heart operations still have the same potential for memory loss problems and are so much more difficult that he won?t try them. He recommended that I stay away from the stentless valves (I don?t need one, some patients may, of course) which require a lot more time on the heart-lung machine. (they are more difficult to sew in since they have no metal framework and are so pliable). He said I would be a candidate for the Ross procedure if I were younger, but the only man here in town who does them is a pediatric surgeon, and again, much longer on the machine. He claims there is no such thing as Pump Head. While it is true that many people suffer memory loss just after the surgery, it is due to other things like embolisms and (well, I don?t speak medical speak so I was lost) they are still trying to provide answers to that because something does happen to a fraction of patients. They just don?t seem to be sure what it is yet. We asked about the warming thing??reports that if you warm up a person after surgery more slowly, there is less potential for damage to the brain. He said that there is a perfect range they seek. Too fast a warming can overheat sensitive nerve endings in the brain, too slow can cause low blood pressure and several problems in the brain related to that. So they have machines which secure the perfect range as they are warming you back up. He also mentioned the less invasive cuts some surgeons are perfecting where they go in under the breast. He doesn?t like them, says they are very painful and do not give a good view of the area to be worked on. He thinks they are almost somewhat of a gimmick (someone in California is big on them).
I?m sorry that my explanations leave something to be desired here! I certainly do not want to ?diss? anyone who is considering or has chosen and is living with any of these things I have commented on. I?m just doing what we do here?.sharing information. Please don?t get going on a valve choice thing. I?m quite ambivalent at this point. I may end up tossing a coin!!
So now I sit down with my husband and we look at the calendar and figure out what to do. I feel very lucky. This man is highly experienced and most of the other top surgeons in our area are part of his group. I?m sure I will interview several others before I set a date. I know I won?t wait too long, I know now that I don?t even have to wait at all if I don?t want to!
I?ll keep you posted! Thanks everyone!
Marguerite
The surgeon was searching for a heart cath report. I have not had one. Clearly, since the cardio performs that, and she did not think I was actually ready for the surgeon, she had not ordered one, and I was not aware that he would expect one. Thus we learn about the relationships between the doctors (and she always said she would send me when she thought I was ready). He, in fact, thought this was somewhat of a pre-op visit. I was just wanting to get familiar with a surgeon?s point of view. When this became clear, the meeting really got rolling.
My husband went along (he has never been with me to any cardiologist) and that was a very good thing. He feels much better informed and much more dialed in. The surgeon was very giving of his time and the conversation was easy and the information very useful. I need to THANK YOU ALL for all the advice and intelligent information I?ve gotten here at vr.com which made our conversations that much more valuable today.
I learned afew things. No surprise, he recommends a mechanical valve for me. When I said I?d probably want tissue, he smiled and said, ?good. We?ll have a second date, then!!? (meaning he?ll still be operating when I need my second valve!) (we?re the same age). We talked about the heart-lung machine. My father had a triple by-pass and was very out of it mentally just afterwards. He now suffers from significant short term memory loss, dementia or Altzheimers or Pump Head?..we don?t know. Needles to say, that is a big issue for us. He said less time on the heart lung machine is better. He said that beating heart operations still have the same potential for memory loss problems and are so much more difficult that he won?t try them. He recommended that I stay away from the stentless valves (I don?t need one, some patients may, of course) which require a lot more time on the heart-lung machine. (they are more difficult to sew in since they have no metal framework and are so pliable). He said I would be a candidate for the Ross procedure if I were younger, but the only man here in town who does them is a pediatric surgeon, and again, much longer on the machine. He claims there is no such thing as Pump Head. While it is true that many people suffer memory loss just after the surgery, it is due to other things like embolisms and (well, I don?t speak medical speak so I was lost) they are still trying to provide answers to that because something does happen to a fraction of patients. They just don?t seem to be sure what it is yet. We asked about the warming thing??reports that if you warm up a person after surgery more slowly, there is less potential for damage to the brain. He said that there is a perfect range they seek. Too fast a warming can overheat sensitive nerve endings in the brain, too slow can cause low blood pressure and several problems in the brain related to that. So they have machines which secure the perfect range as they are warming you back up. He also mentioned the less invasive cuts some surgeons are perfecting where they go in under the breast. He doesn?t like them, says they are very painful and do not give a good view of the area to be worked on. He thinks they are almost somewhat of a gimmick (someone in California is big on them).
I?m sorry that my explanations leave something to be desired here! I certainly do not want to ?diss? anyone who is considering or has chosen and is living with any of these things I have commented on. I?m just doing what we do here?.sharing information. Please don?t get going on a valve choice thing. I?m quite ambivalent at this point. I may end up tossing a coin!!
So now I sit down with my husband and we look at the calendar and figure out what to do. I feel very lucky. This man is highly experienced and most of the other top surgeons in our area are part of his group. I?m sure I will interview several others before I set a date. I know I won?t wait too long, I know now that I don?t even have to wait at all if I don?t want to!
I?ll keep you posted! Thanks everyone!
Marguerite
