Keeping my surgical date

[kfay]

Ok, after much thought and conversations (my husband would say too much) I am going to keep my original surgical date of April 10th. I feel comfortable knowing that if something happens I will be in good hands even though my surgeon won't be in town. I spoke to my local cardio about all this (he himself had his mitral replaced at CC so he knows first hand how this goes) and he said there would be more than one surgeon available at the Mayo to take care of me if need be. We also discussed the open chest thing and he said that they do that frequently on infants and young children and that he thought he was just doing that as a precaution for any complications (he didn't think that they would be able to close it in 24-36 hours though). I had to revisit the "are you sure this is necessary" question again. He told me that he recognized that it was a very difficult decision since I feel and look fine. He told me I could decide to not have surgery and I may have several more years feeling the way I do, however, people with my severity of EA do not live a normal life span if they don't have surgery. So, if I even wanted a chance to live another 5 or 10 years or more, I needed to do something. Of course I already knew this, but it just helps hearing it again and knowing that I am absolutely doing what is right. Thanks for all of your support and responses. We will be heading out to the Mayo one week from Monday.

Kim

 

[WayneGM]

It sounds like a good decision. I rarely saw Dr. David (my surgeon) once I was out of ICU. I don't even know if he was there (he does travel a lot to do lectures).

 

[Cooker]

Good for you....wishing you a successful surgery and a smooth recovery.

 

[ctyguy]

glad to hear it, like the others I only saw my surgeon two times post surgery. Both times he was on rounds with his entourage and our conversation was pretty minimal. Your gonna do great !

 

[JAJ99]

Wishing you a successful surgery, smooth recovery, and safe travels.

 

[Jkm7]

Happy you've made your decision and you sound comfortable with it.

Wishing you all the best for a successful surgery and smooth, fast recovery.
I'm barely a month out and already driving and out to dinner with DH and friends and feeling so much better than I expected.

 

[Lynlw]

Hi Kim, I'm glad you came to an answer that you are comfortable with. That's one of the good things about going to such a big center like Mayo, they have alot of good surgeons. Actually you I belive know things work out how they are supposed to when Justinhad his last surgery, since it was his 5th, I was happy his surgeon was going to be around that week, even tho the other CHD surgeon is really good and does alot of the heart transplants and big surgeries at CHOP. Well Justin made it home just fine know problems THEN he was readmitted with an infection 10 days post op AND of course hIS surgeon was out of town, so Thank God it was a place with a few great surgeons and since it it is a teaching hospital, all the residents and fellows that followed him after the first surgery knew him well, so altho I wasn't thrilled his surgeon was in Mi, I knew the 2nd best at CHOP (and Mayo)has the same amount if not more experience in difficult cases than alot of the best surgeons in other places. I hope that made you feel better and didn't sound confusing, or in anyway putting down smaller centers.
I was going to say alot of the kids have their chest open for a while and my Mom is very skinny so when she had her CABG they had to leave her chest open for a couple days, sometimes they close the skin like you said and other times they use a clear film that looks like saran wrap, so you may want to double check with Mayo which they will be using so you and your family won't be shocked if it is the clear film.
Good luck with everything, I'll keep you in my prayers, Lyn
ps Justin will be 20 on the 12th so I think that is a very good week.

 

[Mary]

Kim,
I'm glad you were able to reach a decision that you are comfortable with.
Have a good week, and you'll be in our thoughts and prayers on the 10th.

 

[Phyllis]

I'm sure you are greatly relieved to have made this decision. Our prayers and best wishes will be with you and we look forward to hearing that all went fine.

 

[sknydave]

You will be fine. As you can see above, most people only see their surgeons once during their stay at the hospital. My surgeon came about 5 times during the week, but I'm in the minority.

 

[Susan BAV]

What a relief, huh Kim, to have made peace with the date and everything? As sick as I was I can still relate to the, "Are we sure this is necessary?" doubts and questionings, which I had too. Also, I hardly saw my surgeon post-op but another surgeon from his office popped in every day. Hoping all goes well for you! Best wishes .

 

[kfay]

Thanks to you all for your support. You know, I don't really care about ever seeing my surgeon again after my surgery...I just wanted to know he would be 15 minutes away at 3:00am if something went wrong versus a 10 hour plane ride away. I know they have other very competent surgeons there to handle any issues but there is just something about knowing it was the guy that was already in there fixing it. But, I have made peace with the fact that he won't be around and am ok with it. I really am just ready to get it over with! So we fly out in less than a week and I have so much to get done between now and then that I don't have time to sit around and worry, thank goodness!

Kim