Surgery coming up soon

[Ambriz]

Husband got two teeth pulled that were infected and we are waiting for clearance from the dentist. He's taking antibiotics and they are kicking his butt lol.. I keep telling him to eat more yoghurt.

He will meet with the surgeon on Monday and we are thinking a date might be scheduled in the next 3-4 weeks.

He was leaning towards a tissue valve in the beginning but now is thinking he wants a mechanical valve.

 

[epstns]

Ambriz, without knowing your hubby's age, etc., it is difficult to discuss valve selection. There is a wealth of information on this site in the Valve Selection forum, so why not try to sit him down and read through some of it together? It will either open his eyes to the potentials, or will solidify his confidence in his path thus far.

 

[Duffey]

It's good that he's getting any dental work done in advance. If he receives a surgery date next week, please let us know, and we'll get him on the surgery calendar.

 

[Ambriz]

Hi epstns, I've been trying to get him to sit down with me but he's just not into forums lol, so I keep passing on any information that I find and we talk about it, and I tell him what you all are saying on here and what I'm finding out. (He's 41, by the way.)

We are both a bit angry with his cardiologist. Back in August she tossed him a RX for antibiotics telling him .."if you want to see a dentist, make sure you take these" I don't think some of these doctors realize that some of us have never had an operation before in our lives and have/had no idea about how paramount the dental part of things is.

 

[epstns]

Ambriz,
I think the cardio may be a bit callous. I fired one for that -- after all WE are the customers. I found another (and now a third) with whom I could "connect" and it has made a huge difference. Also, when your hubby gets into the process of interviewing surgeons and starts the pre-surgery prep process, all of the surgeons are very clear about requiring a written clearance from your dentist. The surgeons supply a form to be completed and signed by the dentist.

I would have expected the cardio to have instructed your hubby to take "these" antibiotics one hour before any invasive dental work (including cleaning, etc.) - although the newest guidelines from the professional organizations (forgot which one) now say that pre-medication with antibiotics is optional, not required.

Keep working on hubby. He himself needs to become comfortable with all this or his travels down the path will be ever so much more difficult than necessary.

 

[Ambriz]

She did tell him to take the antibiotics before any dental work, but she never explained that he had to have all his dental work done before surgery. (i found that out on here)
So now we are scrambling around and getting all this done that we could have and should have taken care of months ago. All these extractions and the course of antibiotics he is on could have been out of the way already. (he didn't have any pain in his teeth and had no idea he had these huge infections.)

The dental thing was not the only problem. I had given him a list of questions to ask the cardiologist that I found on this forum and he said that when he started reading the questions to her that she asked him "who's the doctor in the family?" and asked him if he was getting all his info from "Dr. Google". *rolls eyes* It's just incredible to us that she ridiculed his efforts to get informed about his condition and then worse is not giving him information he needs!

She was fired recently, he called member services at Kaiser and filed a complaint against her and requested a new cardiologist. May seem a little harsh but hopefully she learns a lesson from this experience. (and we are learning one as well.)

 

[Greg a]

Bravo well done ....the patient is his own strongest advocate

 

[epstns]

Ambriz - He did the right thing. He, as the patient, mustfeel that he can trust and communicate with his medical team. This thing is hard enough without some high-and-mighty doctor playing the Big Person card. I remember my late mother's oncologist very sincerely asking me if I was in the medical profession because I asked so many on-point and insightful questions. I simply informed him that I was a concerned child looking out for the well-being of a parent, and that I expect that he would do the same. We got along just fine after that.

On the other hand, I did have to fire a cardio who insisted upon treating my aortic stenosis as if I was in my 80's just because the majority of patients with the condition are that old. I found another cardio whose practice was specifically in valve disease and whose philosophy in treatment was to do what was best in the context of the patient's life choices. I was super disappointed when this cardio moved to an office almost an hour away, but I've built a similar rapport with his associate.

If you can, look at the web sites of the cardiac practices within the major medical centers. Most of these show a biography, resume and some descriptive materials about the cardio's practice. Maybe check Kaiser's web site for this, but I'm not at all familiar with their plan.