I have a second opinion / alternative surgeon process going with the Mayo (less than 2 hours away from my home) that I mostly started due to frustration with poor communication with the heart valve group I've been seeing fro 20 years, and that did my very successful repair in 2002. Of course, as soon as I started the second opinion process my group finally called me, and I am scheduled for mitral valve replacement on 10/16. I didn't tell them I have a second opinion going.
The issue I am wrestling with is the recommendation that I proceed pretty quickly. I was advised by my original group on 8/29 that having surgery "within a month" was a good idea (and then they ghosted for almost a month). When I got an educational consult from Cedar Sinai last week, they also said a 1-2 month time frame because of my TIA. I feel mostly okay as long as I don't have afib . . . I am worried about the afib becoming permanent in the next few weeks and making surgery more difficult, or having another TIA. So that by farting around with a second opinion and maybe having to wait longer to be treated at the Mayo, I'll screw myself over.
I do feel like my local group is capable, it is a comprehensive valve center involved in a lot of research. I'm concerned about some really poor communication and if they have other systems/processes that are not well organized.
Theoretically I can at least meet with the Mayo surgeon before my 10/16 local surgery appt. -- they told me 10 business days max. I didn't do any second opinions for my repair because it was more of an urgent situation, so this whole process is new.
Can anyone share what they did for second opinions and how you decided, felt about it, thought about the process?
The issue I am wrestling with is the recommendation that I proceed pretty quickly. I was advised by my original group on 8/29 that having surgery "within a month" was a good idea (and then they ghosted for almost a month). When I got an educational consult from Cedar Sinai last week, they also said a 1-2 month time frame because of my TIA. I feel mostly okay as long as I don't have afib . . . I am worried about the afib becoming permanent in the next few weeks and making surgery more difficult, or having another TIA. So that by farting around with a second opinion and maybe having to wait longer to be treated at the Mayo, I'll screw myself over.
I do feel like my local group is capable, it is a comprehensive valve center involved in a lot of research. I'm concerned about some really poor communication and if they have other systems/processes that are not well organized.
Theoretically I can at least meet with the Mayo surgeon before my 10/16 local surgery appt. -- they told me 10 business days max. I didn't do any second opinions for my repair because it was more of an urgent situation, so this whole process is new.
Can anyone share what they did for second opinions and how you decided, felt about it, thought about the process?
