ccummins
Well-known member
So I finally met with my first surgeon! Yeah!! What a relief. It was Dr. Chris Malaisrie. I really liked him though he is young ... 36. 1 year younger than me. And no ladies ... he is not Dr McSteamy. He asked and understands that I may still want to have children. He said that it would be very difficult to be on Coumadin with the mechanical. We then got to the procedure that I was very interested in. Valve sparing aortic aneurysm surgery. I do have a bicuspid valve but it seems to be in good shape. What he said was that it is probably an option that gives me a bit longer than a tissue valve. Plus its mine! Of course nothing is guaranteed. And he admitted that they only have 10 years history as this is fairly new. He also said he had done about 30 of them and that he was probably the most experienced surgeon with it in Chicago. He also admitted that about 30% of the time when they go in planning on this surgery, they find the valve in bad enough shape that they have to replace it anyhow. So I will definitely have a back up. If I go with im, On X is not an option. He said he would not be comfortable installing it. That doesn't mean I can't go elsewhere. And I do have an appointment with McCarthy on Tuesday. Has anyone had this surgery and any opinions? He said he uses the Tirone Davis technique.
