Posted by Longtimevalver on July 11, 2004 at 14:23:49:
In Reply to: Maze surgery could be rescheduled posted by Patrick Haley on July 11, 2004 at 12:08:41:
Having just completed my 4th open heart valve surgery in which they repaired the tricuspid, replaced the mitral, repair a septal defect and did a Maze, but left
left an old aortic Bjork-Shiley(22 years old)in place- I can tell you a surgeon faces a tricky risk vs. reward decision. Any procedure that will increase the amount of "table" time, is going to increase risk, but only marginally so. Many factors weigh in to risk ascessment- age, sex, number of reoperation, renal health- the list is very long. However, that is what
a surgeon is trained to do. I suspect that Dr. McCarty
will not make a complete decision till he see the results done by his team. Still that decision is sometimes changed when a surgeon does the operation and can see with his own eyes what the problem is. My advice- You have selected what is unquestionablely one of the best heart surgeons in the world- try to relax knowing that he will make the best decision- no matter what kind of ship he captains :) You will be fine!