I was once advised never let the doctor who recommended surgery to be the surgeon who operates on you. Since it has never come up for me I don’t know if that’s good advice or not. However, my mother had carpal tunnel surgery done by the doctor who recommended it and he completely botched the operation. Another doctor recommended another operation to undo the damage but Mom decided to live with the pain.
I learned to search for those who had previously had a procedure done with referred surgeon and rate their satisfaction level. My husband did not do this for his spinal surgery and I would say we were both disappointed. Bedside manner, at home instruction, response to telephone calls were all disappointing. But most of all for me even having a kind and experienced surgeon, my surgery has lasted 15 years. Which is better than the 10 he predicted.