hi
I have my appointment with my surgeon this week but have been advised by a professional that I need to really sell myself to my surgeon in respect of my surgery
I am a bit of a loss as to how I do this .. is this like a job interview where I need to prove I am worthy of this operation? If so what are the trigger words ?
this seems so wrong but I guess I have to what I need to , so I can be well again and get my life back
Many thanks
was that a professional bookmaker ?
Assuming your diagnosis is right, ie you have severe stenosis, then your choice is the op or early death.
I had the op three years ago. It is not like any other hospital procedure. Cardiac ward is superb. Staff are brilliant. The op is fabulous. You get given your life back. The only downside, is the recovery period at home is rather long, could be three months. But given the gift of a new life, it is not difficult to put up with three months rehab.
When I met with the surgeon I asked him what can I do to make his work easier and please don’t tell me the gory details. That went down rather well.
You will be given some say in what new valve will be used. You might be offered a TAVi or just possibly a less invasive op. I listened and said OHS and a synthetic valve.
I now have my life back..many thanks to the wonderful staff and professionals.
Worst bit is waiting !
There are no magic words. Just be honest.
What rubbish is the suggestion you must sell yourself.
Best wishes
sooty
A very odd piece of advice and I'm not fully sure what it means. Your surgeon won't need any encouragement to operate - they love it! But at the same time they won't do it unnecessarily - only if the time is right.
I tried talking mine OUT of doing it, and certainly by way of Open Heart Surgery, but he just dismissed that.
Your surgeon will know what needs doing doing and when it needs doing BEFORE you go in there. They may give you some options around some minor details but rest assured, they will have instantly come to some conclusions based on years on knowledge & experience. Don't worry - let the surgeon drive.
I'm with the others a professional what? My rule is don't lie to them, if you feel OK some days and not others tell them, if you feel bad all the time tell them, if it's affecting you mentally tell them.
I told my surgeon 1yr ago that apart from 2 A&E visits and slowing down a little my life is pretty much normal. Tomorrow I go in for my pre-op tests in preparation for OHS in Jan, if you need an op they will do it. My consultants over the years have always said it's risk vs reward.
Hi , I wasn’t even considering lying to them 😔 I just wondered if anyone else had this advice ..
Sorry I never meant to imply that you would, i'm just saying don't sell yourself, just be yourself. They will see people like you on a regular basis, some better, some worse, and i'm sure they will make the right decision.
Hi, I could be way off the mark, but, it may come down to having your Cardiologist and Surgeon on the same wavelength.
My understanding is that you've opted for a Tissue Valve, which may well go against the grain from the Surgeons perspective. Duty of care in doing whats best for you would be a factor given the relatively uncertainty on how long the valve will last. I had my tissue valve for 19years but, its not unusual for them needing replacing much earlier in single figures years wise. So much so, that you could need further surgery in your mid 60's.
I've been in this situation myself many years ago, and there's been a fair number of times its been hinted that had I listened to the professionals back then it's highly likely that I wouldn't be in my current situation.
So, to be honest I get whats been said.
Just a thought.
A 'professional ' what? Comedian? Really! The decision will be made on your medical condition by the person concerned.Good luck!
Hello, You don't need to say anything. Your surgeon will have the results in front of him.
I may be wrong, but it might be that the person that gave you the advice was expecting to be offered an op and wasn't. I was in the somewhat unusual position of having a choice... stents or triple bypass. Either way I would survive, but I would require more intervention in the future had I gone for stents. I went with the surgeon's advice which was to have the bypass... after all, he was the professional.
Hiya, also not sure what that advise about selling yourself means but perhaps to be positive. Regarding options, explain what's important to you, your aims, hopes from the outcome of what ever procedure you're offered. Also perhaps as someone else said, ask what you need to do too in terms of lifestyle changes.
List the most serious problems first. Some doctors have a short attention span.
A few years ago, it took 3 months for a doctor to diagnose an infection because he would write a prescription for the first symptom that came out of my mouth. When that failed he would move on to the next symptom. I found out later that, taken together, the symptoms quite clearly suggested what the problem was.
Hopefully surgeons are more thorough than GPs. Good Luck
I suspect he meant to just emphasise how bad- or not- your symptoms are
Just tell him as he is the expert in his field you are open to his decisions as to what line of operation he decides, and also your degree of disability and anxiety around this whole issue. Even professionals feel good about feeling important and flattery always worked for me.
Earlier this year I was diagnosed with severe aortic valve stenosis. The surgeon had all my test results and as far as he was concerned the optimal solution was valve replacement via OHS. He was rightly proud of his expertise and very clear that without surgery I was looking at a short life expectancy. He was reassuring but quite clear. Any arguments by me were not relevant. As far as he was concerned I needed help and he could give it. And he was right. Six months in from surgery I am pretty much fully recovered. Once you are at the point where surgery has better outcomes than anything else the surgeon will be keen to use his professional skill to “fix” you.
Hi, I can sense your anxiety which has been compounded by the advice - not helpful.Doctors want to know that their patients are engaged with helping them give you the best chance of as full a recovery as possible.
Try and understand the procedure you will have before you go, and write down the questions you need clarification on, especially post operation recovery. Take your pencil and paper with you so that either you can write any helpful info down immediately, or straight after your appointment so you don't forget it. Your mind may be all over the place.
Someone else has said, ask what you can do to help make the operation a success. This is a great question.
Don't minimise your condition, but don't exaggerate either. My mum, when suffering badly used to say she was alright really!!!!! Not actually helpful but trying hard not to make a fuss!
Ask about your lifestyle afterwards, as this is very important to you. How soon can I....
Are there things I can do post op to speed up my recovery.... For example lifestyle changes eg I started to run after a severe stroke at 70. Best thing ever.
Doing this sort of preparation should help you feel more engaged and therefore more in control. Hopefully it will reduce anxiety.
Hope this helps.
Give the surgeon - and all other staff - respect and courtesy. Perhaps best not to refer directly to information one's had from Dr Google, saying instead "I understand that ..." or "I've heard that ..." and four months after my TAVI I saw my heart surgeon with a problem possibly due to my medication or another condition. A couple of days before, I emailed him a summary of blood tests for this year (he can't access my online records), and I shall do the same when next week I see the gastroenterologist to whom he referred me, and next March when I see a haematologist. The summary will include key dates relating to my fluctuating energy levels, recent changes in medication and supplements and so on. I'll take a copy with me for my own benefit. Hopefully this will save time and enable me to get across all the information that I think is important.
Post Op meeting with Surgeon 
Consultation call from Heart surgeon
Aortic Valve Replacement- meet the surgeon 👩⚕️ 
Things to ask my surgeon!
