Calculations

I'm just mulling things over in my head and decided to put it down 'on paper' to try to clear my mind (or at least have a way to articulate it in the future and maybe get back to sleep).  In terms of outcomes of surgery, I feel like there are many factors driving the discussion about surgery methods and valve types.  Here are a few that are most critical to me:

Risk
I'm not sure what this means to me exactly. I guess it's the likelihood of something going (or not going) haywire during the procedure resulting in a significantly undesired outcome. I suppose that means how much of a chance that I might die, or be permanently injured in some way.

Success
In my mind there is something different to 'success' beyond the opposite or Risk. Perhaps success is more than just 'not dying' but the extent to which all of the expected outcomes have been realized. Things like that the surgery took the expected time, the valve replacement went without any issues, the surgeon had no problem with sewing me back together etc.

Recovery
This one is pretty straight forward. How long until I'm out of the hospital? How long before I can start moving around relatively normally? How long before I'm driving, exercising, feeling normal or
getting back to work? I don't know all of the milestones but will probably think about that in more detail soon.

Longevity
How long will the new valve last? Will there be the need for surgeries in the future for maintenance and/or replacement? What are the odds that future surgery can be done minimally invasively? Might the choice of valve type or surgical procedure now impact the ability to use minimally invasive techniques in the future? Does the new valve come with some limitations on me now or in the future (taking medication, avoiding certain activities etc)?

These factors are all critically important for me to know, but even more useful when evaluating the different surgical options. Do they have a weighing? Yes they do! (Thanks for asking.)  To me, if an element of procedure/valve type influences Risk, that is the least flexible of the factors. Meaning that I'm likely to gravitate to the combination considered least risky, even if the result is longer convalescence (for example). Recovery seems like a fact that could be considered selfish and short term thinking. I understand that I'm going to want to be on the mend fast, but not if it is at the expense of a lower risk, longer term fix.  Obviously Success is critical too but Longevity must be considered for future me who may have to undergo follow on procedures in my 60s... I'm going to lean towards the "we do this all the time, the risk is low, success rates are high and you'll never need additional surgery" over "this is a newer technique which is less proven and potentially higher risk, but if all goes well you'll be back on the golf course in 2 months until you have to have it replaced when you're 55".

I don't know if I have made anything clearer for myself but I know that it's not swirling around my mind so that might mean that I can get back to sleep.  Thanks for indulging me.  Feel free to comment below if you have any words of wisdom.