Hello, it's laga, now eatwell, which better suits me.
My tapes arrived overnight to Dr Lever yesterday and last evening he called once again. He talked to my husband and I for nearly an hour, just amazing! He reviewed my TEE taken down here and he said he felt something was wrong with my mitral valve, yet he couldn't fully determine what, he said it's not typical, but it's a problem. He said, my thickness at 15mm isn't all that thick yet obstructive as it's located right at the valve. So, he strongly feels OHS vs a ablation is the right course so the valve can be repaired and septum thinned somewhat. He didn't rule out the possibility of a replacement valve, but said, 'we consider that a defeat here and do everything possible to avoid it'. The good news, much to my husband's relief is that Dr Lever felt my HCM is far from the worst he's ever seen. So, if I can get this taken care of, I might be in good shape for awhile. He said that he would definitely repeat the TEE up there and other standard tests. You all said he would do that, he commented that 'they' never take enough pictures and the views are just inadequate to develop a clear plan of action.
So he's squeezing me in July 6th, told me to plan on ALL day and late into the evening. I imagine there will A LOT of wait time between things. I also have to stay the next day to do the TEE in the morning. Tests follow a certain set schedule I guess.
Anyway, he was very leisurely on the phone, much more so than the first phone call earlier in the week. He asked what I did for a living and spent a good bit of time talking to my husband about his career. We were very much at ease with him and so impressed with his personable nature. You can tell you're not just a number with him.
He even went onto say, he didn't need the business (swamped with work) but he wanted to help me. He seems to be everything you've all said. He even praised the Mayo clinic saying 'we do and believe things generally the same way'.
What a relief to feel I will get the best care, even though I wish I could avoid it!!
Laura
My tapes arrived overnight to Dr Lever yesterday and last evening he called once again. He talked to my husband and I for nearly an hour, just amazing! He reviewed my TEE taken down here and he said he felt something was wrong with my mitral valve, yet he couldn't fully determine what, he said it's not typical, but it's a problem. He said, my thickness at 15mm isn't all that thick yet obstructive as it's located right at the valve. So, he strongly feels OHS vs a ablation is the right course so the valve can be repaired and septum thinned somewhat. He didn't rule out the possibility of a replacement valve, but said, 'we consider that a defeat here and do everything possible to avoid it'. The good news, much to my husband's relief is that Dr Lever felt my HCM is far from the worst he's ever seen. So, if I can get this taken care of, I might be in good shape for awhile. He said that he would definitely repeat the TEE up there and other standard tests. You all said he would do that, he commented that 'they' never take enough pictures and the views are just inadequate to develop a clear plan of action.
So he's squeezing me in July 6th, told me to plan on ALL day and late into the evening. I imagine there will A LOT of wait time between things. I also have to stay the next day to do the TEE in the morning. Tests follow a certain set schedule I guess.
Anyway, he was very leisurely on the phone, much more so than the first phone call earlier in the week. He asked what I did for a living and spent a good bit of time talking to my husband about his career. We were very much at ease with him and so impressed with his personable nature. You can tell you're not just a number with him.
He even went onto say, he didn't need the business (swamped with work) but he wanted to help me. He seems to be everything you've all said. He even praised the Mayo clinic saying 'we do and believe things generally the same way'.
What a relief to feel I will get the best care, even though I wish I could avoid it!!
Laura
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