Jared's Journal

Grace Mason   Hi Jared,
Meet or talk with several surgeons if possible. Ask how many Ross procedures they have done. You want someone who has done more than 100 in their career, as it is a specialized surgery.
I am in the Midwest and I chose to go with Dr El-Hamamsy at Mt Sinai in NYC. I highly recommend talking to Mt Sinai as one of your options as they are a Ross Center of Excellence and have a team dedicated to these procedures.
I met 4 surgeons previous to my Ross. Dr El-Hamamsy has performed hundreds (700-800) of Ross procedures, at least 2 the week I was there, as my husband met another patient family while staying at a hotel nearby. 
He is also very personable and kind. I cannot say enough about the staff support before and after surgery. All excellent.

John Cook  I’m on Post-Op Day 11 from my Ross.

The Ross is definitely a specialized, longer surgery. My doc specializes in it. I got a referral to him to see if I was a good candidate at 52 and with a bit of dilation that would make it an even more technical surgery. My PsA also complicated my recovery.

You definitely want to ask lots of questions.  It would also be worth your time to see if there are surgeons at other major medical facilities within travel distance for you.

Valerie Allen  You are pretty close to Mt Sinai. I’d say a large group from here on or near the east coast have used Dr El-Hamamsy.

J Alexander Lassally  I'm not impressed by pediatric anything for an adult... I'd dive into their volume of cases and ask really hard questions. For mitral valve, their more seasoned surgeon also left...  Also, for what it is worth, there are not many yale patients on this forum - by far more at Mt Sinai,  Columbia Presbyterian -- and NYU is also excellent!  Shop hard and get lots of consults for this one. Family member recommendation not worth a lot (sorry to be direct on that!) 

Robert Miller  The owner of this website had the Ross procedure. I don't really know anything about it. But to address the main question, my brother in law (a surgeon) recommended a surgeon for me to do the procedure. He was looking for reputation and someone that has done 1,000+ of those procedures. For my second surgery, I talked to a famous surgeon but there was a high chance, that some "student" would have done the surgery. Not just because of that but for other reasons, I decided to go with someone else. But even if you have someone that is maybe a little bit less experienced, there will be an expert there. 

Sue Maize  If I can offer a somewhat different perspective, I was scheduled for a Ross last June—it was harder to find well experienced Ross surgeons in Canada, but I was able to consult two. It was difficult to decide between the two—the first said he almost exclusively did Ross procedures, which I found very reassuring. The second said initially that I was a very good candidate, had performed many, but that it’s a very nuanced decision and would depend on what my imaging showed prior to my surgery…so no guarantee that I would have a RP (but I seemed to have blocked out that part). In the end I went with #2, was then devastated to discover that she no longer felt it was a safe option 3 days before my surgery, but at this point it was too late for me to back out and go with #1 because my condition had made it unwise to delay any further. 

I had tremendous peace going into my surgery, though, because of my faith in God and the prayers of others. When I woke up 3 days later, I was told that had they attempted to do a Ross I would not have survived because it would have been too much surgery given other complications that developed. 

in a nutshell, I would encourage you to first trust God, and then trust your team (assuming, as Grace said, that theirs is a Ross centre of excellence)….the Ross is an incredible procedure that is the right choice for many, but not for everyone. If you trust them to make the right decision in your best interest, then they will make the best choice once they have all the information they need. 🙏🏻❤️‍🩹

Jared Stanley  This feedback is fantastic! I'm calling Mount Sinai today to get some additional information. I'm sure that I will have additional questions for all of you as I navigate this journey. Thanks again for your help!