@quinn, I think 71 is young! I get closer to it every day! I share your voracious research tendencies, and I too agree that sometimes you can overload your mind and end up making yourself less confident and feeling unsure and uncertain. I actually found a septal myectomy YouTube and watched the surgery. I wanted to know what was going to happen to me. It was not a mistake in my case to watch it, but I would say that sometimes we are better off not knowing every single thing. I also feared complications. They do happen. We know that. But I also feel you have to weigh the benefits along with the costs. In today's open heart surgery, complications are so very rare. There comes a point when you get to decide how you want to live your life, and for me I wanted my life back. I wanted to hike and walk and dance and just about anything without feeling like I was going to have a heart attack or be short of breath. My advice to you would be to tell yourself you have enough information about the negative things that could happen, and start reading, or re-reading on Connect the amazing results those of us who had septal myectomies have had. Maybe that will balance your thoughts and bring some peace to your racing thoughts. The longer you put off the decision for surgery, the longer HOCM has make your heart work so hard and cause more damage. Of course it is easy for me to say all this, I got my life back and feel fantastic. But I do remember very well the fear of what could go wrong. The odds are in your favor, and that's what I told myself. I was in the best place in the world, the Mayo Clinic, and I trusted God. I accepted the risk and I am so very grateful I did. I hope some of what I shared is helpful. Even having a dental procedure has risks, we can't avoid them. The process starts in your mind. I hope you can find some peace. ~ Debra