Hello, I'm not sure if this question has been asked before, but please read this. This would actually fall in two categories, but this seemed to be the most fitting.
My name is Ryan, and I'm a pretty healthy kid. I lead the "straight edge" lifestyle, which means I don't participate in smoking, drinking, drugs, premiscuous sex. I'm slowly working my diet into cutting out meat, and eventually intend on a purely ovo-lacto vegetarian diet. I'm a bit of a workaholic (when it comes to an actual job), as well.
I was born with what's known as a pectus excavatum, where my pectus looks sunken-in. It's between a mild and a moderate case, but it has bothered me immensely since I hit puberty. I stay away from activities involving with taking off my shirt (swimming, going to the beach, intimate moments with a girl...), and I honestly haven't gone without a shirt in public in years. Even then, I find myself looking down at my shirt to make sure my "crater" isn't visible through the folds. About a year ago, I was told that I could be given a surgery to undo the "crater". My mother and I attempted to set up the surgery, but it's been pushed off for at least half a year. This is keeping me from finding a new job (the last place where I worked was closed, and I won't find a new one if I'd just have to quit it for a month) and starting college. At this point, I'm becoming extremely frustrated with the lack of contact I've recieved from the surgeon.
The reason why the surgeon (who shall remain nameless) has presumably been hesitant, is because of another condition I have in my heart. My aortic root is enlarged (if I recall correctly, it's 40 milimeters), and I also have a bicuspid aortic valve. Scheduled trips to my cardiologist have confirmed that it hasn't grown significantly in over a year or two, though, and my cardiologist has told the surgeon he approves of the surgery. The biggest worry is that I would have to undergo heart surgery during the time when the rod(s) of the surgery are in place, which could possibly obstruct the path to my heart. However, my cardiologist has told me that the chances of my heart requiring surgery in the near future are minimal.
My questions are:
Is my surgeon right to be so hesitant? Is there that much of a risk? He's said himself that he's performed the same surgery on patients with Marphan's Syndrome, which he says isn't very unlike my own heart condition (when it comes to that surgery).
What are the risks of the potential heart surgery I may later have to undergo? Will I survive?