Choosing A Surgeon for Sinus Surgery October 16, 2005
Posted by atharkhan in : Personal, Review, Tech , trackbackGeorge (aka vpscarwash) from Toronto asked:
Did you get a septoplasty done? If so do they have to put you completely under, Plus who was your surgeon? I am considering having it done.George, Toronto
Thanks
Answer:
Yes, Septoplasty was one of the four procedures that was performed. My surgeon is located in Mission Viejo, California which is quite a long walk from Toronto. Anyway, here is his website:
http://www.pacificcoastcosmetic.com/heinrich.html
I considered several factors before choosing Dr. Heinrich as opposed to someone else:
1. Plastic Surgeon - In addition to being an ENT/Otolaryngology Surgeon, Dr. Heinrich is also a plastic surgeon specializing in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. My theory is that the difference between a regular surgeon and a plastic surgeon would be analogous to the difference between a blacksmith and a goldsmith. In other words, I would expect the “strokes” of a plastic surgeon to be far more subtle and precise than that of someone who is regular surgeon. Or, the difference between a “Finger Painter” and Rembrandt. Okay, you get it so… moving on. Of course, this is my OWN theory and I am positive that its not all true and overly exaggerated. Still, I would prefer someone who has an aesthetic component to their work rather than someone who is more functional. I also expected less bruising with a plastic surgeon than a regular surgeon. I don’t know if this is why I have absolutely no bruising at all or if there is some other reason. The ONLY bruise I have is on the outer side of my left hand between the knuckles and the wrist where they injected me with electrolytes, anesthesia etc. I asked them why they picked the hand as opposed to the forearm for this purpose and they explained that this allows them to move my arm around and bend it without any danger of injury. Makes sense to me :-)
2. Image Guided Surgery - We all hate to ask and stop for directions when driving. Did I really want someone doing that inside my face?? NO! That is why I wanted a surgeon who would perform “Image Guided Endoscopic Surgery” as opposed to not. I did some research on this and found the technology to be compelling. Basically, knowing upfront where the infection and obstructions are located allows a surgeon to get in, do what they need to do and get out without poking around. This in turn minimizes the recovery time. You can check out my earlier post on this type of procedure. In addition, I also watched a video of the entire procedure at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital’s Website. The video was from 2002 and I would think that the technology has only gotten better since then. My fascination and trust in technology definitely paid off. In the minutes before anesthesia was administered, I was surprisingly calm (usually I am a wuss) because I knew that they were using state of the art technology.
3. Packing - Most doctors use “Nasal Packing” after the surgery to control bleeding. Nasal Packing is just a fancy term for “ten cubic feet of cotton crammed into five cubic feet of space.” Basically, they stick as much cotton up your nose as physically possible. This is what causes the most pain after the surgery. In fact, I found out that when the packing is removed a few days after the surgery, many people pass out from the pain. Dr. Heinrich avoids using Packing. Instead he uses a Gel which works the same way. The only reference that I could find to such a product was ENTaxis Nasal Packing. I DON’T know if this is what Dr. Heinrich used — I can ask him if you really want to know. All I know is that there was virtually zero pain after the surgery — again, coming from a wuss like me, that is a big plus!
4. History with the Doctor - I have been to Dr. Heinrich many times over the last couple of years and by now he is pretty familiar with my medical history and more importantly, my geekiness and bad sense of humor. Since he was my doctor as well as the surgeon, I thought this would be much better than going to different people for treatment and surgery. I can’t expect everything to be communicated in a medical report (even though it should be). Since the doctor was the surgeon, it didn’t really matter if he was crappy at writing reports — which he isn’t. He answered every question I had with definitive answers. I asked him to explain the procedure to me visually with one of those models they have at the doctor’s office and he did. When I asked him about the risks, he replied with specific risks and the statistics. I like that type of quantification as opposed to words like “most of the time” or “usually.” And, he didn’t get upset when I asked him before the procedure if he had been drinking :-)
5. Personal Recommendation - This past labor day, I had the privilege of sitting in traffic school all day. I happened to go to lunch with a doctor and we got to talking about the surgery. I purposely didn’t tell him the name of my doctor because the last thing I wanted him to do was to recommend someone crappy just out of “professional courtesy.” When I asked him for a recommendation, he told me that Dr. Heinrich had performed the surgery on his son who had a 95% nasal obstruction and (obviously) couldnt breath too well. He was very happy with the results and referred to Dr. Heinrich as a “good, solid doctor.”
6. Physical Proximity - Another factor for me was how far I would have to travel to get home after the surgery. I didn’t really want to be stuck on the I-5 freeway for hours on the way home so that ruled out Cedar Sinai even though one of the doctors that is where Dr. Murray Grossan practices medicine. Dr. Grossan is the author of “The Sinus Cure”(ISBN: 0345439716) and inventor of the “Pulsatile Sinus Irrigator.” I saw Dr. Grossan once and I have to tell you, he is really really good at what he does. Anyway, back to physical proximity. Even though the Surgery Center was really close to my home, the ride home “eventful.” I will leave it at that. So, its good that I didnt opt for a surgeon further away.
That’s all I can think of right now. Now, I need to go and lay down :-)
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