Let's Do This!

Ok, so the day came for the Cardiac Surgeon consult. I don't remember if I noted this before, but the surgeon to whom I was referred does consultations on Thursdays. This is not a big deal except my visit with the cardiologist during which we decided surgery was the next step, was on a Thursday, and the following Thursday was Thanksgiving.  So the next available consult was Dec 1st.

For the 2 weeks, I tried not to build up my expectations too much for how much would be resolved on "the big day" but, to be honest, it was pretty hard not to feel like the meeting would result in some answers.  I didn't sleep very well the few nights before and on Dec 1, I couldn't think of anything but the 2pm appointment.  In fact, I fell asleep mid-morning which turned out to be a Godsend because it took the edge off the waiting.

We showed up at the allotted time and were greeted with coffee/tea/water/juice and we did some preliminary tests (blood pressure, temperature, etc).  I was asked to walk 5 meters, 3 times while being timed (never really figured out what that was about).  We then had a really nice visit with the surgeon's Physician's Assistant who explained about their facility, the suggested procedure, the likely outcome, and then we went through all of the questions that I wanted to ask (see Questions to Ask Your Surgeon).

Both myself and my wife were really comfortable with the PA and he reviewed the hospital's safety record, the surgeon and his own records etc. We talked about various courses of action and landed on the same conclusion to which we had already come.  Some of the questions resulted in some hilarity between us and it really made us feel like he had our best interests in mind.

When the PA was done, the surgeon (Chris King)

Chris King MD, FACS

 came in and we talked about the procedure.  He was really very pleasant and not at all self-obsessed of full of himself.  Quite the opposite, he was humble and friendly and answered our questions clearly without making us feel like we had dumb questions. He gave us as much time as we needed and didn't rush us at all.  

Once we decided that we were going to proceed with Open Heart Surgery and that a Mechanical Valve would be the best option for.  The surgeon wants to do a mini-sternotomy and the valve that he is going to use is an On-X valve which is made of pyrolytic carbon reducing blood-clots around the valve over time.  

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/sebin/h/i/Chest-Mini-Stern.jpg

The significance of the mini-stermotomy is that they will not cut down the full height of the sternum but will cut down from the top and then make a T cut to allow the surgeon to separate the ribs enough do the replacement.  This makes the healing process smoother, reduces the risk of infection and blood loss, and shortens the hospital stay!! He mentioned that it's good for them too because it is easy to open it fully up if there are any complications too. 

http://www.onxlti.com/

The On-X Mechanical valve is state of the art and patients with one of these valves do not have to use as much anti-coagulation medication (like warferin).  In fact, in other countries doctors are recommending that patients control their blood coagulation with a simple aspirin regimen.  The FDA hasn't approved this yet in the US, but blood coagulation is something would be my responsibility after the recovery period. 

Once we all agreed on the next steps, the next question was "when do you want to have it" to which we both answered "as soon as possible"!!!! The next available slot was December 12th, so we jumped on that!!  Kickoff will be 5am and we're hoping for smooth sailing!