David's Journal

Surgeon, hospital and date are selected....everything is in order.....I\'ve come to terms with the idea that i need open heart surgery to repair my mitral valve....I\'ve been keeping very busy to keep my mind off the surgery....till now this has worked....i can not sleep and am having awefull heart palpitations, head aches, and anxiety...it does not help that work is very stressfull at this time. I know one way or another I will get though it all. reading through some of the journals on HVJ\'s has been very healpful and comforting...thank you! I know things could be worst but this all still really stinks! anyone know how to control the palpitations?

I\'m told that I need a bileaflet repair or valve replacement. I was also told that a repair in my case is complex and requires a very skilled, experienced surgeon. I met with one surgeon that my cardiologist recommended and he seemed good and capable. He put my probability for repair at roughly 70% While I liked the 1st surgeon, I have heard from numerous sources that I should be seeking out a very skilled experienced surgeon that can offer a higher probability for repair. So I started seeking out and I receiving numerous names with numerous comments about the surgeons in Boston and now I’m more confused than ever. My cardiologist did say that since we live in the Boston area that any of the top surgeons in the big hospitals will have the skill sets to repair it if at all possible - not sure I feel confident in this. My biggest fear is that I will select someone that will open me up and replace it rather than repair when someone else out there might have a skill set necessary to repair it. Conversely I don\'t want someone to repair it when it really should have been replaced and have it fail in a couple years. Being that I’m 42 they all recommend a mechanical valve if it needs to be replaced which I really don’t want. So I started to put together all the surgeons’ names I got for a 2nd/3rd opinion and want to use real data to figure out who best to see. I\'m looking for information on # of MV surgeries for my condition and the number of repairs vs replacements. I’m not having much luck as no one that I have called thus far has any real data on this. Don\'t know where to get this info if at all possible The selection of the surgeon is the most nerve-wracking part of this ordeal.