Game on...Date?

[kangaroo]

Hi Folks,
Well, I survived my appointment with the OS.....and now I am waiting for a call from his secretary with a choice of surgery dates !!!

I was pleased with this doctor. He took ages explaining "the whys and wherefores", the "what ifs" and his reasoning behind his answers. He's had lots of experience with Minimally Invasive surgery and is confident that he can get a good result, and increase my leg length problem to almost level.
He also feels confident that I will be able to get back to normal life with no significant restrictions afterwards.....I also got the impression that he is technically competant as a surgeon. This of course is the most important aspect. In Australia the infection rate is about 1 in 100. His infection rate is almost 1 in 1000....
He spent a huge amount of time explaining my hips issue, and the problems that might present for him, or might make it a difficult surgery, (really minor stuff) and also explained the things that would make it easy as well (mainly my size) .
Best of all, all of this combines with a $0.00 fee for me (after he's received his payment from the health fund). He will only charge me the "schedule " fee, and there would be no additional cost. Thank God for "mates rates ". (His wife is best friends with my sister in law and my brother is a doctor as well and referred me to him) I cant guarantee that this would be the case for the anaesthetist .
Anyway it seems its game on!

I better get down to the pool now to give at least as much muscle strength that we can....
Rachel

 

[JudyS]

OK Rachel
That is great news. Glad you liked him. Can't wait to hear what date you choose. you will be so happy
Judy

 

[Peta]

Good news Rachel! And the $0 is a huge bonus! I hope your scheduled date is SOON!

Peta

 

[kangaroo]

Hi Folks,
One thing the OS did say was that my abductor muscles would be really tight after surgery because of the stretch they will need to lengthen my leg by about 2 cm. Has anyone experienced this situation.? I imagine this could be quite a painful situation. Probably not as bad as slicing through muscle.

How long does it take for the "stretch" to turn into normal new muscle length....?or does this just happen as the muscle is exercised, given that the muscles are really weak because of the lack of femoral neck.?

Rachel

 

[Judles]

Rachel! Great news! Why don't you ask the doc about getting your leg length/muscles back,,,,,I'm sure it varies! But get in that pool! The better shape you are in before yur surgery, the faster the recup! Good luck!

 

[JudyS]

Rachel
I am still struggling with how they can increase your leg length. I understand shortening it.
I do remember telling my doc I was surprised at how much pain muscles cause.
But it is all relative, after my back surgery the hip pain was a piece of cake. I remember that when I was not moving I was OK. Not so with the back.

Like Judles said, your doc could best answer that.
Judy

 

[Judles]

Stretching your legs on the table??? Seriously,how DO they lengthen?

 

[JudyS]

I think I remember my doc telling me they could shorten a very little bit, but not lengthen.
Judy

 

[Judles]

Judy,,,,,have this weird mental graphic of marionettes!

 

[Josephine]

It's quite simple actually - they can either be sparing how much they cut off the femur and/or use a long necked prosthesis (see below). There are long necked and extra-long necked. I remember the Charnley used to have an extra-extra-long neck as well!

 

[Sticker Lady]

Jo--
You are such a wealth of information! We don't "google", we"Jo" ;)
Blessings,
Irene

 

[Josephine]

It's my job - what can I say!

 

[Judles]

She says,,,,,,TOO modesty,of course!!!

 

[Peta]

It's quite simple actually - they can either be sparing how much they cut off the femur and/or use a long necked prosthesis

So Jo - is there any "stretching" of the muscles involved in the process at all? When I read Rachel's post I couldn't really understand how they would do that part?

Peta

 

[Josephine]

Not in the sense that they would physically stretch them, like racking them! No. But the muscles will get stretched or tensioned because the length of the bone has been restored. There's a lot of 'stretch' in muscles normally so though they will probably hurt at first and PT help to make them adapt, sore muscles can be inevitable. But all in a good cause, I supppose!

 

[aussie]

Pleased you have seen the OS Rachel, good luck with all of your arrangements, and in no time you will be on the recovery side, and enjoying life with a new freedom.

Chris

 

[kangaroo]

i don't actually have a femoral neck, to talk of, so any prosthesis they use will automatically give more length, and then they have to tension the joint. You sometimes hear of people ending up with a longer leg than when they started and so have to wear a lift on the "good" side...we will just deliberately do this. The OS did say that he was limited by how much he could do this as there are risks to the nerves etc if he stretches the muscles too much, and that would be the last thing we want.... It would be good to have a more even leg length, There's about a 4 cm difference now....and the back does give way...I'm sure this is to do with the length difference and how I walk etc.
Rachel