Ok, that makes perfect sense. He seems like an amazing surgeon. Does he prefer full sternotomy or minimally invasive, if you don't mind?
I never discussed minimally invasive with him. I had formed the opinion for myself before that point that the best outcome for me was a full sternotomy with a mechanical valve. Dr. Tyner agreed with me.
I will tell you this. I ended up needing a pacemaker for total heart block 5 days after surgery (before going home). Your aortic valve is very near the A/V pathway. My valve was very calcified. I don't blame Dr. Tyner for any damage to my A/V pathway. I kind of blame my cardiologist. Maybe my blame is misplaced but I believe he waited until I threw a fit to refer me for surgery. And as mentioned in my first post I had a "drop dead valve". I thought he should have referred me at least 6 months earlier. He was smug and didn't really listen to me. Maybe if I had less diseased tissue to cut out my A/V pathway wouldn't have been damaged? Maybe not. I got a new cardiologist after.
Five years ago today (approximately 10 days after OHS) I woke up at home from a nap and was very confused. I had no short term memory. My wife drove me to the nearest hospital in Temecula. CT scans of my brain showed what they believed was a brain bleed. They told my wife that I would need brain surgery and might go blind or have a stroke. They contacted Dr. Tyner and he told them to fly me to Scripps Green immediately. Dr. Tyner called a neurosurgeon who was his friend and the best neurosurgeon he knows to come in on the weekend to treat me. My brain started working again on its own 24-48 hours after the onset of confusion. I spent another 10 days at Scripps (for a total of 17 out of 21 days) under the care of Dr. Tyner's team and I was well taken care of.
I couldn't get an MRI for 6 weeks due to the newly implanted pacemaker. Once I had an MRI it was determined that I had a transient ischemic attack (TIA or mini stroke). My anticoagulation therapy possibly helped me to not have any permanent damage. The brain bleed was not a brain bleed and turned out to be an incidental finding of a Rathke's Cleft Cyst (another birth defect/ I failed at gestation). It was benign and is being monitored at Scripps.
I feel like my treatment would not have been as good if I hadn't chosen Dr. Tyner. My wife feels the same. He seems to be the king of the building there. I recommend him.
