Cleveland Clinic....Dr Lever

[sassydeborah]

I have an appointment with Dr Lever on Oct. 24th. I am really anxious to see a specialist and have questions answered more fully.:p

[bfino]

Please post your outcome.
Thanks,
Brenda

[Sarah]

Good luck! Make a list of all the questions you have and take it with you since I can guarantee you that you'll forget something--we all do!

Let us know how it goes. Dr. Lever is expert.

S

[MariaB]

Hello Sassy !
I also see Dr. Lever . He will explain everything.
You are in very good hands. Dr. Saliba is the EP I saw there. He put in my ICD. They worked together on my case. I consider them my Dream team !
Its always a good idea to write down your questions before.
Good Luck and keep us updated !!
peace
Mariab

[Esther]

Dr. Lever is cardiologist when I go to the Cleveland Clinc. He is very good in what he does and the way he explains things to you. If you do not understand he anyhting that he is telling yo just let him know and he will put it in terms that you would undestand.

He has been a big help to my family. my uncle went to him in Jan of 05 and had a septal myectomy and I went in may of 05 and had a septal myectomy and an ICD implanted.

[sassydeborah]

Hi Everybody!

Thanks for your input. I received my appointment schedule from the clinic yesterday. Sounds like a full and exhausting day.

The friend who had planned to go with me for my appointment will be unable to do so.t looks like I will be forced to go alone. Everyone else is either working or has health issues that would make all the walking, etc very difficult. Do any of you have any suggestions for remembering all the information that I receive? :confused: I t would be great to be able to record it.

[MariaB]

My husband wrote everything down for me.
Dr. Lever will explain it well.
He had this young guy with him when I was there. I guess it was an intern. He was also very helpful.
Parking stinks there. But you'll survive it. Just take your time and don't be afraid to ask for directions once you're in there.
Good Luck
peace
Mariab

[sassydeborah]

Just got good news. My cousin is able to go with me to the clinic on friday! I'm so glad to have someone with me to help remember details that I might forget! We are leaving town around noon tomorrow. I made reservations at the Cleveland Clinic Guest House for both thursday and friday nights. It is directly across the street from the Heart and Vascular Institute and also has shuttle service from door to door. I'll let you know how it goes. Please wish me luck and keep me in your prayers!

[Pam Alexson]

You got it..... prayers , thoughts ad best wishes. Glad you got a person to go with you...it helps lessen the scary stuff to have a friend.

Pam

[Linda]

Deborah - So glad you have someone to share the drive and be with you - We'll be watching for updates. Prayers and best wishes - Linda

[MariaB]

Deborah
Glad you'll have some company. Its supposed to rain Friday so you may just need that shuttle after all. If there's no rain, its faster to walk. That's the easy part. Once you get in there, especially if you're pre
-occupied, you may get lost.
There are plenty of helpful staff walking around. Be a female and ask for directions ha
The Hotel is beautiful and the staff was very kind.
I'll be thinking about you tomorrow. Keep us posted.
peace
Mariab

[mark720]

you are going to one of the best doctors around in the field of hocm i have been with dr. lever for 7 years now and is a very caring and down to earth doc that listens to everything you ask and will yell at you if your doing something wrong but its all for the good of your healh good luck i will be seeing him nov.17 and will talk about a icd they wanted to put in last year for v-tach you are in very good hands!!!!

[cozbaldwin]

Good luck Deborah,

I'll be driving from Philly to see Dr. Lever this coming Monday to get the full day work-up and determine if a myectomy is necessary. Technically my drive is Sunday, but I think I'll be staying in the same place you are. It's actually the InterContinental Suites... well, that's where they put me, at least.

I'm dealing today with a lot of confusion over what kind of authorizations i need and the level of coverage my Aetna plan provides. I really hate talking to call centers in India who have absolutely no clue how things work over here. If there was one industry where outsourcing call centers should not be done, it's the health insurance industry.

[sassydeborah]

First I want to say thank you to everyone who took the time to reply to this thread and apologize for taking so long to get back to you. I have been anxiously waiting to hear the details of the scheduling of my myectomy. Now, I am just anxious to get it over with. My goal is to be able to do many more things with my four year old granddaughter, Erica!!!

Hi Cozbaldwin!

Glad to hear that you are going to see Dr. Lever. I've been very impressed with him. How far will you drive be? Mine is about 6 hours. you mentioned that you will be staying at the InterContinental Suites....that is a different (more expensive) place than the Cleveland Clinic Guesthouse. I think you can make reservations for either place by calling the same number. I'm sure the Suites are fancier, but for me the cost made a big difference!!!

My appointment with Dr. Lever was on October 24th. At the end of a full day of tests (7:00 Am to about 5:30 PM...everyone else was gone from his office), I met with him for a 2nd time. He recommended a myectomy. I was surprised and shouldn't have been. For some reason all the questions I had written down went out of my head after that. I have been really embarrassed to admit that on this site (LOL). The only numbers I have are Septum = 28 and Provo-Cabal(???) = 60. I did call his office and request all of my test results.

I just got a call from scheduling. I will have to be back in Cleveland on Dec. 1st. Some of the tests will have to be redone that day, because it will have been over thirty days between when they were done and my surgery. I will have a Cardiac Cath
done on Dec 2nd, and meet with the surgeon on the 3rd. My myectomy is scheduled for Dec. 5th. I had hoped I wouldn't have to stay in the Guest House that long before surgery. I know my mother will be there until I am ready to go home. Oh well, no one said it would be cheap...only worth it!

Good luck! I know you will like Dr. Lever. I hope you get good news.

SassyDeborah

[sassydeborah]

I forgot to mention that Dr. Nicholas Smedira will be performing my myectomy. Have any of you had him? I haven't met him. If Dr. Lever recommends him, I'm sure he will be great.

[mbcube]

Sassy - Many have had your surgeon & everyone thinks very well of him. You can use the search feature (in the red band near the top) to search his name and how others handled surgery.
Best of luck - You'll do fine!

[cozbaldwin]

Hello, I had a near identical experience as you this week. Unfortunately, I only chose the I.C. Suites because i was lead to believe that's all that was available to me. If I knew about the guesthouse, I'd have surely stayed there and saved a couple hundred dollars. I'll be posting my update in my thread in a little bit. (link (http://www.4hcm.org/forums/showthread.php?p=97040))

[bfino]

How was your visit with Dr. Lever?
Sincerely,
Brenda

I have an appointment with Dr Lever on Oct. 24th. I am really anxious to see a specialist and have questions answered more fully.:p

[sassydeborah]

How was your visit with Dr. Lever?
Sincerely,
Brenda
Hi Brenda!
I really like Dr. Lever, feel that he really listened to me, and gave me a complete exam. The day of testing was exhausting. Make sure you have your questions written down and at hand. Mine went right out of my mind when Dr. Lever recommended surgery.

I read on another thread that you see Dr. Lever on 12/15 & have surgery on 12/19. I wish you the best of luck! Please keep me ted . We can exchange information and encouragement as we recover.

I posted more details about my surgical schedule in a previous post....about four up on this thread. Hope that helps a little!

[bfino]

Deborah,
I will put you on my prayer list!
Wishing you the best.

[sassydeborah]

Thanks Brenda! By the way, in my previous post I meant ...."Keep me posted. My brain got ahead of my fingers(LOL).

[sassydeborah]

I am getting the car packed. We leave for Cleveland around noon tomorrow. The next time I post my myectomy will be over and I will be on the road to recovery. Thanks to all of you who have aswered questions, given sugestions, and prayed for me or offered good wishes. I'm sure I would be much more afraid if it hadn't been for all of you!

[Pam Alexson]

Will be thinking of you Deborah and waiting to hear.. best wishes.

Pam

[gfox42]

Deborah,
You'll start feeling a lot better. Keep us posted.

Gordon

[THW]

Anyone heard from Deborah?

[Bucky]

I am sitting in the Phoenix Airport, on my way to Cleveland to see Dr. Lever tomorrow...you're right, it looks like a full day. My Sister in Law, whose husband had a lung transplant at Cleveland Clinic a couple of years ago will be with me all day. She insisted, saying she had lots of time at CC and won't let the Dr's skip anything or me forget anything. Soooo I feel like I'm in good hands both from the family side and medical side. I'll let you know how it goes.

bucky

[Rainey]

My visit with Dr. Lever took approximately ten hours. It's quite a stressful day. Not all of my tests went well so they weren't able to gather all the information they needed. I'm hoping my next visit goes better! Good luck to you!!!

[LindaSo]

Rainey,
It is a very, very long day. My 8 hr day was almost more than I could bear. I was in bed by 6:30 after a full day of testing. Just know this, you are in the best hands ! If additional tests are needed, they know how to do it, how to do it as efficiently as possible, know what they are looking for, know how to interpret the data to come up with the best treatment plan possible.
I'm sorry that you had a day that seemed to never end, but you are right where you need to be.
Linda

[SheilaGail]

I personally didnt like his bedside manner, he made me feel inferior like he was some genius and I was stupid fat girl from the hills I was on medicaid/welfare at the time., made a smart remark about how did I get over them hills, I am from west virginia.
I left there in tears. I also saw Dr. Wilson Tang he's in that same group, very smart and personal. Unfortunatly, I have no health care now, and see a group affiliated with our Medical School here in town. I am 2 year post 2nd myomectomy, and a ICD nov. 06.
Sorry, for any negative feedback just want to be honest about my visit with him.

[LindaSo]

I am sorry to hear that you had a less than optimal experience. Unfortunately, we human beings are not perfect in what we say and how we say it. Physicians are human and put their pants on just like everyone else. I want to assure you that no one is better than any one else.

You have been thru alot and I admire your perseverance. I don't know that I could do what you have done. We humans have alot to learn.

Linda

Linda

[SheilaGail]

how do i start a new question or post here ?? cant remember where. sorry