My surgeon did a top shelf job too, she was not only recommended by my cardiologist but I'd seen from her stats that she had tons of expereince of aortic valve surgery, and I'd read articles about her in the press and in cardiology websites BUT she was very off hand in the two consultations I had, the one preop one and the one post op one. She wouldn't answer my questions and really I needed my questions answering. She also didn't really listen. I wasn't looking for a bedside manner, I was looking for a surgeon who would tell me what I needed to know. I think that's very important since open heart surgery is a very major surgery, one of the most major anyone will have in their lifetime, and there is a huge build up over the years for us bicuspid valvers. You don't want to be left with anxieties as a result of any uncommunicativeness and any non-information from your surgeon. You don't want a surgeon that brushes off your questions. The surgeon doesn't have to be friendly, I don't mean that, but they do have to be able to communicate some things. I eventually found my answers from another surgeon via the Society for CardioThoracic surgery and from watching YouTube videos and from talking to the anaesthetist the night before surgery (that's why I list the anaesthetist before my surgeon in my signature - after all, too, it is the anesthetist that keeps any of us alive while the surgeon does their cutting and sewing job). To be honest, I feel that as a result of my surgeon's non-communicativeness that I really didn't need to see her at all excpet for her seeing my unconcious body the day of surgery, all she needed was the referral letter and copies of echos etc, there was no reason at all for her to meet me when I was awake !
Next time when I have a "re-do" I will try and make sure the surgeon I have fullfills the criteria of being a top notch surgeon and one who will answer my questions and take any concerns I might have seriously.
