My husband had an aortic valve replacement in 2010 and it went well. We had no complaints about Dr Gott or his staff so that is why he went back in 2016 when the replacement valve had calcified and needed to be replaced.
The surgery took hours longer than we were told it would take,but Dr.Gott assured us that all had gone well,and we believed him. He was supposed to go home in 5 days but he did not resume consciousness for six days. It was obvious after the first day that something had gone wrong in surgery but we kept getting told that it was just a small complication that could be expected and I wanted to believe him. After 2 months in intensive care over a dozen other doctors countless other surgeries and procedures he was sent home by ambulance,delivered to his bedside because he could barely stand or walk and was still hooked up to a feeding tube, a suctioning device and he had a trach which we know now is permanent.
When we finally got the records from the hospital(that took almost a year) we were surprised to see that my husband left the hospital on his own and he could return to work with restrictions, he could also play golf or any other activity he wanted. There were no complications noted and most of the records had been deleted or altered. I'm sorry to say Dr.Gott had signed his part as did all the other Dr.s that had participated in his treatment even the nurse that saw Dr.Dockery remove a trach that had not been deflated effectively taking tissue out with it and causing horrible bleeding while chuckling and saying that happens a lot, she said that would be in his chart, it wasn't. This contributed to the trach being permanent.
What we are the most disturbed about is that I asked Dr. Gott what went wrong during surgery and got the same response as always "these things happen". We both thought he was a good Dr. and a safe choice for the second surgery, needless to say we are very disappointed in him as a Dr. and someone who would be honest with us.
My husband has undergone more than a dozen surgeries,since he left the hospital, from complications of his treatment at Piedmont Hospital. Even the feeding tube was placed improperly and he underwent emergency surgery at a local hospital to replace it properly. The surgeon that replaced it said that it had become life threatening. I told the nurses at Piedmont that he was having very bad stomach pain and they said it was probably from the heart surgery and just felt like stomach pain.
It has been over three years since I've heard my husband speak except in a raspy whisper that is hard to make out because he has to cover his trach and get enough air to get out a burst of sound. He rarely goes out because about one hour out of bed is all he can tolerate. read more