Hi everyone,
Well I've made my decision, no I will NOT be the sixth!
This was a tough decision but now that it's made I feel reall good about it. I decided to go with Dr. McMurtry at St. Jo's. Primarily for these reasons:
Surgical experience:
- McMurtry has the MOST experience with my specific situation, and overall has more experience with internal heart surgery with the other valves too. This is not to diminish the other surgeon's capabilities, and if I needed bypass surgery she would be my first choice. But since we're talking VALVES here -- I want to go with the one who has the most VALVE experience.
- McMurty plans the minimally invasive technique - but NOT using the robot. After much review, I could not find a specific advantage to using the robot. However I found one major disadvantage -- TIME. The robot procedure almost doubles the length of time in surgery. Why does this matter? The heart/lung machine! It is your friend, yes, but also your enemy. Every minute you spend on the machine increases the probability of complications. You want your time on that machine to be as short as possible. This became a major influence on my decision making process.
- McMurty offering a better mortality rate of 1% vs 5%. I do not know why there was such a difference between the two, and I do not know if the 4% differential is statistically significant, but hey, I'll take the better odds!
Hospital factors:
- St. Joseph's made the top 50 cardiovascular hospital list in 2013 (as rated by Truhaven Health analytics)
- St. Joseph's will keep me in ICU until I am discharged - Reading would send me from ICU to another floor after 24 hours. I like that I would be cared for by nurses with a higher degree of specialization throughout my entire hospital stay at St. Joseph's.
Other/Intangible
- My initial introduction to McMurty came from a radiologist friend who highly recommended him. He basically said if it were not for McMurty in our area he would go elsewhere out of the county. A personal recommendation like that is really of value to me.
- I also reached out to an acquaintance and neighbor who is a critical cardiac care nurse at St. Joseph's. She had mostly good things to say about both options. Her negative on St. Joseph's was the fact that there is no cardiac physician or assistant on staff 24/7 - they are on call during the night. So for the most part it is just the nurses on night shift. But when I asked her what counts most --- her answer was experience and technique of the surgeon above all else. I like her and basically would be under her care in the ICU for my entire stay at St. Joseph's. And if I had any trouble after discharge, she just lives down the street!
- Ultimately McMurty gave me greater comfort and increased confidence in his ability to get the job done. I was excited and pumped up about getting this done after I met. I really was!! Contrast that with McCarty, when I left her office - I was scared... I think it's important for me to have utmost confidence in the surgeon, I don't want to be lying there on the table wondering if I made the correct choice. Right or wrong, I definitely felt more comfortable with McMurty.
So there you have it. On February 28th I hope to join the ranks of the MVP Repaired.
Richard
