What questions should I be asking?

[Lauren1982]

Hi it is Lauren here, I was told about a month ago that I have to get my Pulmonary Valve replaced, because of my Tetralogy of Fallot leaving me with a leaky valve. My cardiologist asked me if I had any questions. Of course at the time I could not think of a single thing to ask her.
I have an angiogram in November and I get the results of that when I next see my cardiologist in early December.
I was just wondering what questions should I be asking my cardiologist? Because I have no idea what so ever on the questions that I should ask. So I would really appreciate it, if any members can inform me of any questions that I should be asking.

 

[davidfortune]

Lauren,

My reseach has been geared towards aortic valve so I don't have many specific pulmonary replacement questions but here's what I can think of:

Surgical Questions - for the surgeon
Pulmonary homograft - should never be from a female donor (much higher rate of stenosis).

How many has he done?
What are his mortality(death)/morbidity(injury) statistics?
What about minimally invasive?
What does he do to prep for future surgeries?
How would he deal with future stenosis?
How long does he expect you to be on bypass?
What other heart/valve surgeries does he do?
What are the criteria for surgery? (heart dimensions, etc...)
What are the pros and cons of homograft?
What about other valve types?

I know virtually nothing of TOF so there may be specific questions related to TOF that you should be asking. Somebody else will have to jump in.