Questions on Selecting a Surgeon

[Protimenow]

I'm not entirely sure about the rules about switching providers when you have pre-existing conditions (although, in my case, even though I had cardiac issues, the choice of the provider was to reject my application, or to take me on as an insured client). Switching from Kaiser to another provider may have been an issue - I don't know.

Kaiser seems to be kind of hit and miss. I have a friend who's had Kaiser for decades. He was very happy with his care, and impressed by the ophthalmologist who did his cataract surgeries -- otoh, the hospital appeared to have neglected his wife, appearing to neglect the fact that she wasn't getting any fluids for perhaps a week and, in effect, dehydrating her.

Again, I know that there are some very good doctors at Kaiser. It may just be a matter of finding them. I'm glad to read that they found surgeons who specialize in mitral repair, and suspect that you probably couldn't have done much better out of network. (And, too, if these doctors specialized in these procedures, it's safe to assume that the pre, peri, and post surgery teams are also pretty darned good).

 

[V__]

(And, too, if these doctors specialized in these procedures, it's safe to assume that the pre, peri, and post surgery teams are also pretty darned good).

Yep. Especially since the cardiac surgery volume is higher than at any other hospital in the area, by far.

 

[carolinemc]

I'm not entirely sure about the rules about switching providers when you have pre-existing conditions (although, in my case, even though I had cardiac issues, the choice of the provider was to reject my application, or to take me on as an insured client). Switching from Kaiser to another provider may have been an issue - I don't know.

Kaiser seems to be kind of hit and miss. I have a friend who's had Kaiser for decades. He was very happy with his care, and impressed by the ophthalmologist who did his cataract surgeries -- otoh, the hospital appeared to have neglected his wife, appearing to neglect the fact that she wasn't getting any fluids for perhaps a week and, in effect, dehydrating her.

Again, I know that there are some very good doctors at Kaiser. It may just be a matter of finding them. I'm glad to read that they found surgeons who specialize in mitral repair, and suspect that you probably couldn't have done much better out of network. (And, too, if these doctors specialized in these procedures, it's safe to assume that the pre, peri, and post surgery teams are also pretty darned good).

I have had to change providers at the teaching school hospital I go to know. I have a regular Nurse Practioner that does her part, and the Cardio comes in to look over Echo results. I get those done once to twice a year. Right now, they are watching my mitral valve calcification progress. And Medicare covers its part and have Medicaid to pay the difference. Good that you have had good luck at Kaiser.

 

[Protimenow]

I have had to change providers at the teaching school hospital I go to know. I have a regular Nurse Practioner that does her part, and the Cardio comes in to look over Echo results. I get those done once to twice a year. Right now, they are watching my mitral valve calcification progress. And Medicare covers its part and have Medicaid to pay the difference. Good that you have had good luck at Kaiser.

I'm not AT Kaiser.

 

[carolinemc]

I'm not AT Kaiser.

Neither am I.

 

[Amy]

I had a big shot senior surgeon who was too busy and important to talk to me for even a minute or two about how the surgery had gone.

After days of insisting, however, on talking to someone who’d been there, finally the resident who opened and closed came to talk to me.

He told me I’d had a blood transfusion before they even started, that they’d put in a dacron graft, that the whole thing only took two hours... I mean it was really nice to hear exactly what went down while I was out.

All this to say that even if you did, hypothetically, find the BEST surgeon, they probably wouldn’t come see you afterwards. Ahhh what a crazy time, getting ready for the surgery, surgeon-shopping, .... it’ll all be over before you know it and you’ll be on the road to recovery.

Maybe even more important than surgeon - choosing, but something I rarely hear about on this site, is getting as healthy as you can before the surgery. Exercise, (obviously don’t overdo it, especially if you’re symptomatic) stretching, nutrition, supplements, (though you may need to stop some for days, weeks or even months before the surgery) hydration - anything to build up your strength and immunity. I wished I’d focused more on this.

 

[pellicle]

but something I rarely hear about on this site, is getting as healthy as you can before the surgery.

actually I seem to recall saying and seeing others say that quite a bit.

It is clearly not enough ... but then all good messages often get drowned in the vast amount here.

 

[Gail in Ca]

My wonderful, big shot surgeon saw me before surgery. After that 3rd surgery, the chief surgical resident who was the 2nd on my two surgeon job, came to chat when I was awake in icu. He was very kind with a good bedside manner.
My big shot surgeon, (who is now retired),
went to talk to my husband in the waiting room after my surgery. He drew him a picture of what he had done and said I came out fine. I still have that paper of his artistry!

 

[3mm]

I had endocarditis in Nov-Dec 2022, which destroyed my aortic valve and damaged my mitral valve. I was in horrible shape in Jan 2023; I needed crutches to walk more than to the bathroom. So I worked to get healthy and strong again before having surgery. Lots of antibiotics during the winter and spring of 2023, and lots of exercise. I very much agree that you want to be in good shape before surgery.

Now my humorous counter example regarding doctor visits after surgery. On Sep 14, 2023, Mayo repaired my mitral valve and installed an On-X mechanical aortic valve. While doing this, they say a tiny speck of something on a leaflet of the aortic valve they removed. Then they had the infectious disease people culture it. It grew a little! It was Bacillus circulans. Meanwhile, I was recovering fine, and I looked great. An infectious disease doctor AND the head of the infectious disease lab BOTH came to my room to tell me that they found this. However, there was only 1 case of Bacillus circulans infecting a heart in the last couple years in the entire USA. So they were very confident that it was a mistake. A speck of dirt that got through their air filters or something. They thought I should just monitor my temperature, etc when I went home. They also took extra blood samples and ran tests on those, which did not show any infection.

So some doctor visits are NOT wanted... On a serious note, I think Mayo handled this incident very well. They did appropriate tests, they were honest in sharing information with me, and they had a sensible plan for followup.

 

[Survived03]

. He drew him a picture of what he had done and said I came out fine. I still have that paper of his artistry!

Gail, I believe you and I had the same surgeon and I think I might still have his old drawings as well. He is a wonderful man. He spent a lot of time with me answering all my questions no matter how trivial. They all still talk highly about him at Stanford.