You will do fine. I had a miraculous recovery. I was blowing snow six weeks out. Best decision I ever made. Dr. Schaff did mine.

Welcome to Connect, @keyster1976. Thank you so much for sharing your information and your concerns. We have some incredibly informative conversations about septal myectomy on Connect, where fellow HCM-ers have shared their insights and experiences about this procedure. Here are two that you may wish to view:

– What is the recovery like following septal myectomy? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/what-is-the-recovery-like-following-septal-myectomy/
– Diagnosed with HOCM last year. May be time for surgery https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/hello-i-was-diagnosed-with-hocm-last-year-i-have-been-told/

@janicepike, thanks so much for your encouraging reply; I'm also tagging @lynnkay1956 @nightlite8 @cynaburst @ronaldpetrovich @vivian88 @mbcube @lamborama @PatMattos @wintergirl8 @Sensation @lepadelford; many of them (if not all) have had surgery, some recently and some a while ago.

@keyster1976, what concerns you the most about the procedure?

I guess the biggest fear is death. But from what I have read the chance of that is very low. I also want to just know if we are going to do the septal myectomy. I have to wait to wait till 4-2 to know. And last everyone is talking about 2 surgeons and that is not who my consult is with does Dr. Said do the septal myectomy as well?

Yes, Dr. Said is one of the surgeons at Mayo who performs septal myectomy. He is one of the newer surgeons trained to do the procedure, which is why you see many others who have had Drs. Dearani and Dr. Schaff, but Dr. Said has been trained by both Dearani and Schaff and will do a great job.

Schaff is a suberb surgeon. His timing on the surgery is down to a science. He doesn't keep you in the heart machine long.

Hi,

Please dont worry. I was at the same spot 3 weeks ago. My husband had the surgery at Mayo. Dr Schaff did his surgery and it went great. It is better not to watch all those videos. I was worried about what if something goes wrong and I will be left alone with 2 little kids. It was scary. Honestly if you are getting your surgery done at Mayo then please do not worry. You are in good hands. Dr. Schaff is the best.
Just think positive and hang out with ONLY positive happy people. You should know that my husband is recovering very well. He stop taking pain meds on week 3rd. He is just on Tylenol. So do not watch videos online of other people. Those videos had scared me too.. Me husband is doing lot better then what I saw online. Overall everyone is different. All you need to do is be positive and you will be fine.

Full disclosure: I am a moderator here AND I work at Mayo. I wanted to confirm what @cynaburst wrote that Dr. Said is fully trained in this operation and does this procedure several times a week -- you will be in great hands with any of the three surgeons here who perform this operation.

Are you scolding me? I will state what I want, and advocate for what is true.

Hi @janicepike, no one is scolding you. Your experience with Dr. Schaff is very valuable. Your comments are always welcome and appreciated as a valued member of the HCM community on Connect.

I'm not sure who you thought was taking issue with what you posted. Deanna was merely confirming what Cynaburst wrote about the team approach at Mayo Clinic, and Dr. Said's qualifications. Her comment was unrelated to your post.

Does that make sense?

@janicepike - No one is scolding you! Of course we all agree that Dr. Schaff is a fantastic surgeon! But he alone can't operate on everyone! He needs some help every how and then so he can take a vacation! That is why Dr. Said has been trained to also perform the operation. Mayo wants to make sure that it has younger surgeons who will be able to meet the demand for the surgery and to take care of people in years to come.