Dr. Pochettino is fabulous. We sought a second opinion with him and decided to stay with him until and if aneurysm surgery is necessary.
He is not only a kind and smart man but we were very interested in his research on antegrade cerebral perfusion, which keeps blood flowing to the brain during open heart surgery - which, of course, is what an aneurysm involves.
While a previous surgeon had said that he would just work quickly to get the repair done within the requisite 20 minutes cooling time, we were interested in someone that would and could use other methods. What if the surgery could not be done within 20 minutes? We were very concerned about cognitive deficits resulting from surgery.
I work with patients anticipating surgery. There is growing realization, especially for older patients, that general anesthesia, anesthesia overall, and just the surgical process produces inflammation. UCSF researchers recently published work stating they may have identified a brain element that produces the immune reaction that possibly is responsible for damage in the brain stemming from surgery. This was denied for years but more and more research indicates that this is something to be concerned about.
Usually you must schedule at least three months ahead of time to see almost any physician at Mayo. Mayo may not have relationships with all insurers and it may be difficult to schedule if you have some Medicare Advantage products; this is true for many, if not most, big medical centers. You need to talk to the insurance people.