Making progress

[Randy & Robyn]

Hi everyone,

For the past few weeks I have been busy getting dental work out of the way since I don't need or want that to worry about after the surgery. It was five years since my last dental visit and I was shocked to learn I needed seven fillings, one crown, all four wisdom teeth extracted and two gum tissue grafts. Ouch!

Everything has been taken care of with the exception of the last gum graft. They told me if I had been on coumadin I would have needed to discontinue it a week before the procedure so I am very glad I have the time to get this done now.

I also have two consultations with surgeons scheduled. One is with a Dr. Kenneth Wolnak at Mercy Hospital in Janesville, Wisconsin. Has anyone heard of him? I chose him because he utilitzes the On-X valve, which I strongly believe in. Plus the hospital is only an hour and a half away from home. I am a bit concerned because it is considered a low volume hospital and he has only implanted this valve six times. I am aware that the more of these procedures are performed at a specific hospital, the safer the surgery becomes, statistically speaking.

My second surgical consultation is with Dr. Kenton Zehr at Mayo whose reputation, I am sure, precedes him at this forum. I have been told aortic valve repair is an option for me and am going to discuss that with him. He suggested a St. Jude Regent as my second option but I might ask for a tissue valve as the backup plan and hope for at least 10 years.

My greatest concern is whether I would be increasing my risk of complications by choosing the Janesville hospital as opposed to Mayo which rivals Cleveland Clinic in their success rates.

At this point I am thankfully still able to keep my wits about me and make rational decisions concerning my options. I fear that will change quickly once a date is set. I will probably go in kicking and screaming.

Randy

 

[Karlynn]

Everything has been taken care of with the exception of the last gum graft. They told me if I had been on coumadin I would have needed to discontinue it a week before the procedure so I am very glad I have the time to get this done now.

I'm hoping Al sees this and weighs in. My daughter had periodontal surgery during semester break. She had a pretty large graft done and I don't recall there being much bleeding what so ever. If it were me, and I'm on Coumadin, I would question discontinuing Coumadin at all, let alone for a week.

I'm beginning to think we need a post card we can send to these doctors with our new catch phrase "Blood cells are much easier to replace than brain cells."

Randy, the above was just a question I had on the doctor's comment. But it's probably of interest to you since it appears that you are going with a mechanical as your first choice for replacement. With that out of the way. I'm glad to hear you are proceeding forward and getting your "stuff" together before the surgery.

Continued best wished as you forge ahead.

 

[Phyllis]

Just my opinion, Randy, but I would go with Mayo without a doubt. The more they do, the better!!!

 

[Randy & Robyn]

Just my opinion, Randy, but I would go with Mayo without a doubt. The more they do, the better!!!

That is my intuition, too.

 

[Ross]

Hospitals aren't so much the concern as is how many valves the surgeon has done in the past. If you've got a kick butt surgeon, the crapiest of hospitals are fine.

With all this great information of taking people off coumadin unnecessarily, I'm suprised that we aren't reading about stroke outs all the time. These people really need to get it together. It's totally absurd what goes on.