{"id":936,"date":"2009-09-25T09:15:47","date_gmt":"2009-09-25T14:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/2009\/09\/25\/travel-heart-surgery-stenosis\/"},"modified":"2019-03-05T15:34:29","modified_gmt":"2019-03-05T20:34:29","slug":"travel-heart-surgery-stenosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/2009\/09\/25\/travel-heart-surgery-stenosis\/","title":{"rendered":"“Did You Travel For Heart Valve Surgery?” Asks Carol"},"content":{"rendered":"

I just received a great question from Carol about traveling for heart valve surgery.<\/p>\n

She writes, “I have concerns about choosing a hospital that is highly regarded for heart valve replacement surgery<\/a> but out of town. Have any of your readers traveled significant distances for their surgeries? Were there any problems? How did they handle follow-ups? Thanks, Carol”<\/p>\n

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Carol raises a very good point. In fact, her email reminded me of my gut reaction when I was diagnosed with severe aortic stenosis<\/a> and told I needed surgery.<\/p>\n

“Even though I live in California, I’m going to The Cleveland Clinic or The Mayo Clinic!” I thought to myself. “No messing around… I want the best surgeon… That surgeon must<\/em> be in Ohio or Minnesota.”<\/p>\n

So you know, that is a very, very, very common thought among many of the patients and caregivers I have spoken with over the years. Interestingly enough, that thought often turns into reality for some<\/em> patients. So you know, I recently learned that over 50% of heart surgery patients at The Cleveland Clinic are not residents of Ohio (e.g. Robin Williams<\/a>).<\/p>\n

However, when I took the time to research and evaluate surgeons for the procedure I wanted, I found some heart valve gurus right in my own backyard. As I live in Los Angeles, I located several, highly regarded surgeons within 10 miles from my home – including Dr. Starnes (USC), Dr. Trento (Cedars) and Dr. Shemin (UCLA).<\/p>\n

I admit, I was lucky. This is often not the case for many, many, many, patients out there. As a result, patients must travel – by car, by plane – to have surgery done.<\/p>\n

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\nMary Billings – Heart Valve Surgery Patient
\n(Traveled From Fiji To Los Angeles)<\/div>\n

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In fact, I know patients from Fiji, Trinidad, Somalia, The Philippines and Malaysia that have traveled to the United States for surgery. Recently, I featured a story about Patrick’s journey to The Cleveland Clinic from Brazil<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The points I am trying to make are two-fold.<\/p>\n