Travelling Long Distances for Surgery

[Lynlw]

What I hear you saying, is that surgery, especially serious kinds of surgery, is basically a crapshoot. If you go to a mediocre hospital, you might get the doctor that you want, but he will not be one of the leaders in his field. The quality of the ICU may not be on a par with a major institution. If you go to a major hospital, it might just not be the chief honcho who actually does part of the procedure.

So, bottom line, it is still, IMO, a matter of probabilities. As they say, "You pays yer money, and you takes yer choice"!

OR you just be sure to ask tons of questions. like how many of my procedure have you personally done? (also I ask if they have a dedicated CICU or if the nurses in the ICU take care of heart surgery. brain surgery ect, I PERSONALLY prefer where the nurses deal with just hearts 24/7)ARE you in the OR the entire time or at least close by. IMO For routine first time valve replacements, most of the local heart centers/university centers probably have plenty of experience to handle most things that can come up, and probably can do first time replacemnts in their sleep(especially as Al said IF they do heart transplants) Ask how many they have done and what their stats are like.
It's the complex cases/ MULTIPLE REDOS that need the best of the best people that are experienced with seeing the problems that come along with that and can deal with issues without having to stop and think, (and then ask questions dealing with your particular heart issues, like we knew before Justin's last 2 surgeries his heart was fused to his sternum with scar tissue, so we asked the different surgeons, WHAT their plans were to open him as safe as possible ect)

YES it can come down to a crap shoot but for first time valve replacements the odds are like 99% in your favor.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

YES, Cleveland Clinic is a GREAT Heart Hospital but it is NOT the ONLY Great Heart Hospital.

I would think any of the top 20 (or even top 50) rated Heart Hospitals have some very skilled surgeons who are fully capable of dealing with most Valve Replacement Surgeries, including re-do's.

Surgery of the Aortic Arch or the Ross Procedure requires special skills and there are limited numbers of highly proficient surgeons in these areas. Patients with Radiation Damage to the heart are better served by surgeons who have considerable skill dealing with Scar Tissue in all areas leading to and in the heart.

I have talked with several Surgeons at Major University Hospitals and they ALL have considerable experience with Re-do's and dealing with the inherent Scar Tissue issues. I probably wouldn't still be here if my surgeon hadn't known how to deal with extensive (radiation induced) scar tissue.

My local hospital now has 5 Heart Surgeons who perform 700 to 900 Bypass Surgeries per year with good results. They also do 'some' valve surgeries but not on the scale of the State University Hospitals. The 'Local Surgeon' who did my bypass surgery did his residency under Dr. Cosgrove (former Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at The Cleveland Clinic and now head of CC).

As I said, CC is Not the ONLY Great Heart Hospital.