Hi
Ok, so Pellicle, let me get this straight, from his single short post, you've established that Nigelp is "foolhardy", "unwise in the extreme",
I have not established that, but given his statements that I quoted I think that his statement "reoperations don't bother me" is what I said it was.
I said:
But because you are afraid of warfarin? Well that's misguided and perhaps even slightly mad.
which does not mean to say he is mad, only that a decision process based on such is misguided and slightly mad.
Let me ask you ... has anyone ever said to you "what do you think about me doing X" and you have said something to the effect that "that'd be stupid"
I think you may well have done that ...
were you saying to your co-worker / friend / person on the street anything intended as insulting? I guess not ... I guess you were "expressing your opinions"
"afraid of warfarin", "misguided", and "slightly mad"...and that he is "hysterically anti warfarin" while "knowing nothing about it"...and that he's "deceived by stats" and "kidding himself" thinking that "reoperation is like a bad flu"?
well thanks for taking all that out of context, but none the less ... I think there is grounds to suppose from his post that he is afraid of warfain. I believe another picked that up too.
As you are perhaps aware, the use of the word
IF in the English language means a contingency based on a set of possibilities. For example : "if I jump in the pool I will get wet". So those words mean that in the case where "I do not jump in the pool" that I may not get wet.
please note that my sentence was
I guess I'm just going to assume you may have been speaking more generally...this is supposed to be a support community, after all!
I was .. and I was making assumptions about the OP's intent and putting forward views which seemed to me to be relevant.
Also perhaps you missed the sentence he wrote:
and given the choice between warfarin and re-operation I'd have a preference for the operations
This implies some fear of warfarin and its risks, a greater fear than reoperation. Do
you really think there is more risk associated with warfarin than reoperation?
Because this IS a
support forum and because I strongly believe that (again as I said)
unless there is a sound case for avoiding a mechanical valve or warfarin that it is the safest course of action -
especially when you consider the risks associated with reoperation.
But I tell you what, despite anyone's particular choice of valve, I've always found it a little hard to believe that anyone could be presumed to be taking valve replacement surgery and inherent complications lightly.
I agree with you, and I am not contradicting you when I say that one needs to weigh all the factors carefully in the hard light of day. These must be facts and not fancies.
I have seen enough people reacting against warfarin as it it is a death sentence. This seems to be based on fear as there is little that comes from the literature to suggest that there is any real basis for that fear. If such a fear prejudices your decisions then that pushes it away from being a rational decision to being an emotional one.
People may be more comfortable with emotional decisions than rational ones. I will not deny anyone that privileged.
I mean really...who isn't ever petrified knowing their heart will be stopped?
and so why would you deliberately then set yourself up for a 2nd event?
Fortunately, there are generally only fairly low probability risks on either side of the decision.
exactly ... but knowing which is the lower probability is what I was addressing.
We all know here (or at least should) that any valve choice does not preclude a second operation. But some valve choices do essentially guarantee it.
So thanks to my actual 100% odds, I guess he was then able to promise his next 99 patients zero percent risk... :wink2:
Nigelp, it's important to always remember that good results happen overwhelmingly more often no matter what you choose.
which is a good point ... you
should get 10 years clear on the tissue valve. But after that the bets are off.
Also, while everyone discusses improvements in medical science, few seem to discuss that gradually many bacteria are becoming resistant to the antibiotics we have. Since I did my degree in microbiology (around 20 years ago) I can say that the bugs are adapting faster than we are producing. Nosocomial infections are a serious problem.
To Nigelp I say this, there are many points to consider. which is why I said in my post to you:"I suggest you have a good long think about it, and discuss it candidly with your surgeon."
Discussions are best done with the analysis of all points and people speaking their mind (without being rude).
Ultimately it is your decision and only you can make it. It is not an easy decision, but I again urge you to examine all the points and make a decision based on how you consider them. If you are leaning away from mechanical because of warfarin then I encourage you to outline your issues and discuss them here.
That's what we're here for ;-)
All the best