How to pick doctor

How do you pick a doctor for something like this? I’ve found a good hospital (Mayo Clinic) but I have no idea how to adequately research the right doctor. And I’m quite good (to my own detriment) at researching. I have an upcoming appt with a neurosurgeon who finished his fellowship 5 years ago. That doesn’t seem like a lot of practice yet? I’m kind of freaked (on top of everything else) that I don’t have an experienced enough doctor.

Should I already be setting up second opinions before receiving my first? My annie is small but I’m also pregnant. I don’t know how pregnancy changes my timeline to act or if I event should “act” (consider surgery, coiling, etc) before baby arrives.

I’m 34 years old, female. 17 weeks pregnant. Just found a “sub 3mm left cavernous ICA.” Haven’t even talked to my Neurologist yet. It’s only been a week since I found out.

Good Morning Heather! I would start by talking to your OB/GYN and see if they have any experiences with a patient who has an aneurysm. A simple call or if they have a portal for you to email them may be helpful.

We have many members who sought out many surgeons before settling on one. Have a list of questions for the Neurosurgeon. My first, if I were you would have course be “have you ever worked with a patient who was pregnant”. Think of it as an interview since that’s what it really is after all, you are hiring the doctor in a way. You absolutely need to be able to understand them and if you don’t, stop and tell them to talk to you in words you can understand. I call it dumbing down. Sometimes doctors or any specialist in a given field will fall into their language and if we didn’t major in what they did, it seems like a foreign language. You need to be comfortable with any doctor you choose.

If the Neurosurgeon was a Fellow, it basically means they were at the top of their class, so not a bad choice in any medical field. Personally, I like younger doctors even if they have less experience. For the most part, they’re not set in their ways, seemingly open to learning new methods and perhaps have better communication skills with patients for the most part. I’ve never had a younger doctor tell me that they were the doctor and I was to do what they said, I can’t say that for older doctors. But all my doctors now seem to easily be 20-30 years younger than me, and coincidentally they were all Fellows, even my PCP.

Specifically when doing research on doctors, there are the various sites including where the doctor works where patients can leave comments and there’s a website where doctors vote on other doctors in their field (I forget the name of that site). Remember the larger hospitals or university hospitals will have more experience with aneurysms generally speaking. In NC, Duke University is supposed to be the best but I lucked out and was sent to Wake Forest and have a wonderful Neurosurgeon who was a Fellow and is now head of the Neurosurgery Department!
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Hello Heather,

When my aneurysm ruptured 53 years ago (that’s not a typo) my mother did not want the neurosurgeon who was referred to us because he too young. The surgeon she preferred had moved to another hospital so she relented and accepted Dr. Katz. I was his patient #83.

What a blessing it has turned out to be for me. I learned many years later that he had done a fellowship in Switzerland and had learned a new technique to prevent hemorrhaging during the surgery. That knowledge/technique most likely saved my life and allowed me to recover without any significant deficits. I returned to college with a full schedule, three months after the surgery.

I pray that all will go well for you and your baby. May God bless you and keep you.:pray:t5: If you are a praying person and have friends and family who pray, please them to pray for you to make the right choices for treatment and neurosurgeon. Prayer works!

P.S. Don’t hesitate to ask you doctor how many surgeries similar to yours that he/she has performed when you’re talking with him/her I’m sure you won’t be the first person who’s asked.:wink:

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