How to Talk to a Doctor About Open Heart Surgery

A recommendation for or against open heart surgery isn't a prescription to be simply accepted and followed. People are taking greater control over their own healthcare decisions, and the ease with which a person can find cutting-edge treatment and disease information these days is astonishing. Read on to learn how to talk to a doctor about open heart surgery or any other medical issue you may be facing.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Educate Yourself

1. Know that many doctors can only spend about 15 minutes on each patient. If you go into your doctor with pointed, focused questions, you will get informative, focused answers.
2. Ask your doctor to name your condition and describe it in easy-to-understand terms. There are many types of heart disease, from weak valves to blocked arteries. Next, find out what type of open heart surgery will rectify your particular situation.
3. Visit the Mayo Clinic heart health website to fully understand treatment options, as well as to explore tips on living with heart conditions. See the Resources section below for a link.
4. Go to your hospital's library and avail yourself of their heart-related literature. You may find pamphlets on cardiac disease as well as treatment options.
5. Know that coronary artery bypass graft surgery is the most common type of open heart surgery. In this procedure, a piece of vein from an arm or a leg is sewn into the heart, allowing the blood to flow through this "bypass" to avoid the blocked area. More than half a million of these procedures are done every year in the United States alone.

Discuss Open Heart Surgery With Your Doctor

6. Make an appointment with your doctor to discuss open heart surgery. To do this, call your doctor's office and tell the receptionist you want to schedule a consultation regarding cardiac surgery.
7. Tell your doctor you want to know why open heart surgery is or is not being recommended for your condition. Ask what other viable options exist, if any.
8. Ask if there are any experimental treatments that your doctor knows about. You may be open to trying something at the forefront of medical research.
9. Talk to your doctor about pre- and post-op care. Sometimes surgeons forget that, long after a successful surgery, the patient will still be dealing with related issues.

Tips & Warnings

• If you can do even a tiny bit of research before you talk to your doctor, you'll better understand what he is talking about.
• If open heart surgery is recommended, and you go home and do research, feel free to call your doctor back and leave your questions with his assistant. A good doctor will call back with answers.