I got my surgery date!

[Hockey Heart]

April 28, 2011 at Northwestern University Hospital in Chicago by Pat McCarthy.

I met with him and his team and I also met with John Alexander at Evanston Hospital. I decided to go with McCarthy as I was really impressed with him, his team, the facility and how organized everything seemed there.

The pre-surgery appointment with McCarthy and his team was really comprehensive.
9am Ecchocardiogram
11am meeting with Dr. Bonow, the cardiologist assigned to me during my inpatient stay.
12pm meeting with McCarthy.

All of my questions were answered, especially by Bonow who really seemed compassionate and took the time to consider my personal life issues (pregnant wife) as well as my medical issues. McCarthy was a little dismissive of my personal life issues and seemed only interested in my medical standpoint which was fine with me....I felt fully confident in his ability to do the surgery well. McCarthy did seem a bit cocky but I kind of like that in my surgeon.

Do any of you have any info on McCarthy or Bonow or Northwestern? Did I make a good choice?

I had posted on here a little while ago about doing this procedure now on an elective basis. After recently meeting with 4 highly trained doctors in the last week (McCarthy, Bonow, John Alexander and Jay Alexander), the procedure seems more necessary and less elective. 2 of the 4 said they would do it now (Bonow and John Alexander). Jay Alexander wouldn't really commit to either choice but did say that neither doing it now nor deciding to continue monitoring it is a bad choice. The only person who said he would wait was McCarthy but he was talking about waiting 6 months and likely doing it then which would mean an October Surgery with our baby due September 15 that option is very unappealing. However, McCarthy also said that doing it now is not a bad choice and is fine with him from a medical standpoint.

 

[Bina]

It sounds like a good idea to be able to choose your date and surgeon as opposed to waiting a bit longer and
who knows what can happen in the meantime. I stalled and fussed and ended up in surgery for Thanksgiving which
was not my plan. Best wishes.

 

[paige]

Hey Hockeyheart,

I met with two of the surgeons you did as well, Dr. John Alexander and Dr. McCarthy. I liked them both very much and felt both seemed very competent. I went through the same process at NW. Echo, followed by appt. with cardiologist, followed by appt. with surgeon McCarthy. McCarthy is definitely all business, but I like that in a surgeon. I'm having mitral valve repair (possible but unlikely replacement) on April 18th. In the end, I decided to go with Dr. Pat Pappas out of Christ. I will be having it done robotically. I'm an attorney for a hospital and I spoke with a few cardiologists where I work (we don't do cardiac surgery at my hospital) and Dr. Pappas was highly recommended by them all. I felt confident that McCarthy or Alexander were excellent surgeons as well, but I felt that if the opportunity for robotic presented itself in my situation, I should take advantage of it. Luckily, my angio CT showed no issues with my arteries so at this point I'm good to go. I think you made an excellent choice with Dr. McCarthy. I mostly lurk around here for information, but I know a gentleman named Steve had his BAV done by Dr. M in late February. Hopefully, he'll see your post and respond.

I'm sort of in the same boat in terms of when to have it done. I have children in grade/middle school and I wanted to make it as convenient as possible timing wise. I'm asymptomatic so it would be easy to mentally put off, but the docs all said within the next six months.

Good luck to you!

 

[Hockey Heart]

Thanks for the feedback! I'll be praying for you, Paige, on April 18th. I'm an attorney too (workers comp and personal injury) and so is my wife (real estate). You should have seen the list of questions we had going into these appointments. Thankfully, the surgeons and other team members answered most of them on their own before we got to "depose" them. At one point, McCarthy said, "ok I see you've done your home work."

Yes, the whole "when to do the surgery" issue has been quite challenging for us with a baby due September 15. Knowing that there is no crystal ball that can predict exactly when it will be necessary has been frustrating. After these recent appointments, however, we are all happy with decision to have it done now as opposed to monitoring it with Ecchos and waiting for it to get worse.

 

[Greg a]

April 28, 2011 at Northwestern University Hospital in Chicago by Pat McCarthy.

I met with him and his team and I also met with John Alexander at Evanston Hospital. I decided to go with McCarthy as I was really impressed with him, his team, the facility and how organized everything seemed there.

The pre-surgery appointment with McCarthy and his team was really comprehensive.
9am Ecchocardiogram
11am meeting with Dr. Bonow, the cardiologist assigned to me during my inpatient stay.
12pm meeting with McCarthy.

All of my questions were answered, especially by Bonow who really seemed compassionate and took the time to consider my personal life issues (pregnant wife) as well as my medical issues. McCarthy was a little dismissive of my personal life issues and seemed only interested in my medical standpoint which was fine with me....I felt fully confident in his ability to do the surgery well. McCarthy did seem a bit cocky but I kind of like that in my surgeon.

Do any of you have any info on McCarthy or Bonow or Northwestern? Did I make a good choice?

I had posted on here a little while ago about doing this procedure now on an elective basis. After recently meeting with 4 highly trained doctors in the last week (McCarthy, Bonow, John Alexander and Jay Alexander), the procedure seems more necessary and less elective. 2 of the 4 said they would do it now (Bonow and John Alexander). Jay Alexander wouldn't really commit to either choice but did say that neither doing it now nor deciding to continue monitoring it is a bad choice. The only person who said he would wait was McCarthy but he was talking about waiting 6 months and likely doing it then which would mean an October Surgery with our baby due September 15 that option is very unappealing. However, McCarthy also said that doing it now is not a bad choice and is fine with him from a medical standpoint.

28th Added to the calendar we'll be there

 

[Greg a]

Hey Hockeyheart,

I met with two of the surgeons you did as well, Dr. John Alexander and Dr. McCarthy. I liked them both very much and felt both seemed very competent. I went through the same process at NW. Echo, followed by appt. with cardiologist, followed by appt. with surgeon McCarthy. McCarthy is definitely all business, but I like that in a surgeon. I'm having mitral valve repair (possible but unlikely replacement) on April 18th. In the end, I decided to go with Dr. Pat Pappas out of Christ. I will be having it done robotically. I'm an attorney for a hospital and I spoke with a few cardiologists where I work (we don't do cardiac surgery at my hospital) and Dr. Pappas was highly recommended by them all. I felt confident that McCarthy or Alexander were excellent surgeons as well, but I felt that if the opportunity for robotic presented itself in my situation, I should take advantage of it. Luckily, my angio CT showed no issues with my arteries so at this point I'm good to go. I think you made an excellent choice with Dr. McCarthy. I mostly lurk around here for information, but I know a gentleman named Steve had his BAV done by Dr. M in late February. Hopefully, he'll see your post and respond.

I'm sort of in the same boat in terms of when to have it done. I have children in grade/middle school and I wanted to make it as convenient as possible timing wise. I'm asymptomatic so it would be easy to mentally put off, but the docs all said within the next six months.

Good luck to you!

Paige , you are on the VR calendar so clear a corner out of the OR for the gang

 

[lindentree]

Hi Paige,

I am a newbie on this site but have a question. I have seen a number of doctors in Chicago for a possible mitral valve repair and have a to make a decision soon. My insurance doesn't allow me to go with Mccarthy but I have an appt with Pappas this week and am open to surgery asap. Can you give me any thoughts on your experience with Dr. Pappas and his team. I have the option of waiting for open enrollment and changing insurance to get Dr. mccarthy - but really don't want to wait another 3-4 months, especially if the Christ team is very good. I would appreciate any advice. Thanks.