Hello @annd, and Merry Christmas too!
Welcome to Mayo Connect, I am so very glad you are here. Like @jaymaysea says, and I echo...fear is something that would be normal for anyone who hears they need to have open heart surgery. Everything we do has the potential to have a negative outcome...driving a car, walking down stairs, going to a crowded concert...but we get to decide what we will do and assume the consequences.
I admire your perspective. How you are willing to to consider open heart surgery. It is scary. I admit that. And I would have done anything to avoid it. I was too late for the Camzyos trial, the usual meds were not working for me, and I could have just said this is okay for me. To live a half of a life. I had lost so much I cared about and could no longer do.
But when I look back I realize I had God by my side and that gave me great peace. It didn't hurt that I was in the BEST hospital in the WORLD either! This is a surgery like none other and you need to be in the excellent, capable hands of superior surgeons.
When I think about where I was before surgery, I wonder how much worse I would be today had I not chosen to take a chance. It felt like a chance, but in reality, it is a straight forward procedure, nailed down to the minute deals and perfected beyond belief at Mayo.
I will be so glad to help you with any questions or thoughts you care to share. Mayo Connect is a wonderful forum to share with others just like you and me. I wish you a Merry Christmas, and before I press "reply" do you have a good cardiologist on your team? One who is up with HOCM?