Connect
← Return to HCM-ers: Introduce yourself or just say hi
Discussion
HCM-ers: Introduce yourself or just say hi
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) | Last Active: Mar 10 9:47pm | Replies (763)Comment receiving replies
Hello @karukgirl,
At a time when life isn’t normal in any sense of the word, I think your decision to postpone the surgery is commendable. I can imagine it’s a hard choice, but look at it this way: you’ve taken significant steps towards “flattening the curve."
By following current guidelines, you are allowing doctors and your health care team to prioritize and make the best use of medical resources for the more critically ill patients, and you are reducing the risk of coronavirus spread––patients who’ve had surgery are more susceptible to infections.
Still, knowing you have a condition that needs to be fixed and can be fixed, but not at the time it was scheduled to be fixed, can be incredibly stressful! Have the doctors explained whether postponing the procedure will or will not affect the ultimate outcome?
Replies to "Hello @karukgirl, At a time when life isn’t normal in any sense of the word, I..."
Connect
Hello,
Thank you for your response! You are correct. It was super stressful making the decision to postpone. I was packed and as ready as I ever would be to go. That was Monday, here we are today Wednesday, and the White House is strongly urging all hospitals to cancel elective, non-emergent surgeries. So it was the right choice. Things change hourly it seems! I do feel like it was the right thing to do and listen to what the President is urging ALL Americans to do...to cancel all non-essential travel, stay home if you can, and not to lose hope or freak out. We will get through this.
I recognize that I would have been consuming a large amount of intensive services, using lots of PPE and taking up space that an unplanned critical patient may need. That is a greater cause.
The Mayo cardiologist I saw, Dr. Titus Evans, suggested to me that although I have a pretty big obstruction, that I am not critical, and to schedule as soon as was possible. I don't think anything has changed since he told me that in December, heart-wise, so I'm not afraid that postponing until July or August will risk my life. But I do think having open heart surgery during a Global Epidemic would!
As you mentioned, patients who've had surgery are more susceptible to infection. And it seems this is a highly contagious bugger.
I have not yet heard back from Dr. Dearani's scheduler, as he will be the "co-pilot" for my septal myectomy. Dr. Bagameri will be the pilot. This will happen when it happens. I'm so grateful to this community. Who but those who share this condition or have had surgery know what it's like?!
I feel like my issues are so insignificant compared to the suffering of others. It's easy to put things into prospective because this isn't all about me...this is an unheard of time in history. And we can and will overcome, it will take time and patience. I pray for the doctors, nurses, all healthcare workers, police, military, EMTs, all those who serve and protect us. Thank you for thinking of me.