OP
OP
Carriemay60
post-grad
Canada@insexec @grnplatebrd @toohip @NoraJ
Thank you all for your good wishes for my appointments yesterday. The appointment with the Thrombo specialist went well and I was in & out in record time for that clinic! He is going to do genetic testing for a predisposition for blood clots in November and then I see him again 6 weeks later for the results and to find out how long I will stay on blood thinners. From there, I had over 2 hours to wait for the OS appointment so the girlfriend that had gone with me wheeled me down to a fun patio pub area (perfect jeans/t-shirt weather) and we had a nice lunch and a beer along with a really nice visit.
I stopped by the x-ray department to ask for copies of my x-rays and was told 3 x-rays were already ordered by Ortho for my appointment so she would include those too. I get those early next week. When I got upstairs they did the ordered x-rays but one. They had me sitting in a chair with my foot on a lift and attempted (very hard) to bend my knee deep enough so my foot was going under the chair. No way could it be tolerated so they skipped that one but they left my knee (and hip, oddly) in quite a lot of pain.
I'm not sure if you remember me being told on my return to my home province that I was not allowed to see the same OS for my knee and hip by my OS's secretary, the Ortho support staff, the hip OS and his nurses. I had really tried to push for one doc because often wait 3 hours for the appt. They said I had to go through the referral procedure and see two different doctors. Another blast from past posts was the fact that my Edmonton surgeons recommended that I have my doctor here explore the possibility of Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD). At the time we had never heard of this. I had given the hip OS all the notes from Edmonton including one about RSD and they had photocopied them for my chart. My husband was with me for all the above so I am confident in my recollection.
So I get in with "Dr. Ego" (with my girlfriend who is a homecare nurse) and right away he asks why I am even there because I had been told I could see the hip OS for both my hip and knee and the hip OS would be taking over my care. (he obviously knew I was coming if he had pre-ordered x-rays) I told him I had been told I couldn't do that and he basically called me a liar, saying it had all been agreed and I had been advised. I was gobsmacked!! Then out of the blue he says something about RSD and I said "oh, that's interesting because it is something my hip surgeon thought should be explored". He turns to me and says , "well of course, I have talked to about RSD before and told you that's what you have, of course you do"! He then pointed to my x-ray and said my tibia plateau looked stable and was not compressing but to look at all the mottling in the tibia and fibula and said "that is RSD". Unbelievable!! So when we finally got home at 6:30 at night my girlfriend and husband compared notes on these two appointments. My hubby was as blown away as I was.
I truly give up on these idiots in that clinic and wish it were easier in Canada to get another doctor/opinion. I do see the hip (and now knee) OS next Tuesday but I think all my hopes of any decent care is now in the hands of the Physiatrist I see in October. They apparently look at the whole picture rather than the OS approach of surgery and bones only.
**Physiatrist: A physician who specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation. Physiatrists specialize in restoring optimal function to people with injuries to the muscles, bones, tissues, or nervous system**
So after all this I hit the sack just after 7pm and thankfully slept quite well but my knee is out of commission today.
Thank you all for your good wishes for my appointments yesterday. The appointment with the Thrombo specialist went well and I was in & out in record time for that clinic! He is going to do genetic testing for a predisposition for blood clots in November and then I see him again 6 weeks later for the results and to find out how long I will stay on blood thinners. From there, I had over 2 hours to wait for the OS appointment so the girlfriend that had gone with me wheeled me down to a fun patio pub area (perfect jeans/t-shirt weather) and we had a nice lunch and a beer along with a really nice visit.
I stopped by the x-ray department to ask for copies of my x-rays and was told 3 x-rays were already ordered by Ortho for my appointment so she would include those too. I get those early next week. When I got upstairs they did the ordered x-rays but one. They had me sitting in a chair with my foot on a lift and attempted (very hard) to bend my knee deep enough so my foot was going under the chair. No way could it be tolerated so they skipped that one but they left my knee (and hip, oddly) in quite a lot of pain.
I'm not sure if you remember me being told on my return to my home province that I was not allowed to see the same OS for my knee and hip by my OS's secretary, the Ortho support staff, the hip OS and his nurses. I had really tried to push for one doc because often wait 3 hours for the appt. They said I had to go through the referral procedure and see two different doctors. Another blast from past posts was the fact that my Edmonton surgeons recommended that I have my doctor here explore the possibility of Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD). At the time we had never heard of this. I had given the hip OS all the notes from Edmonton including one about RSD and they had photocopied them for my chart. My husband was with me for all the above so I am confident in my recollection.
So I get in with "Dr. Ego" (with my girlfriend who is a homecare nurse) and right away he asks why I am even there because I had been told I could see the hip OS for both my hip and knee and the hip OS would be taking over my care. (he obviously knew I was coming if he had pre-ordered x-rays) I told him I had been told I couldn't do that and he basically called me a liar, saying it had all been agreed and I had been advised. I was gobsmacked!! Then out of the blue he says something about RSD and I said "oh, that's interesting because it is something my hip surgeon thought should be explored". He turns to me and says , "well of course, I have talked to about RSD before and told you that's what you have, of course you do"! He then pointed to my x-ray and said my tibia plateau looked stable and was not compressing but to look at all the mottling in the tibia and fibula and said "that is RSD". Unbelievable!! So when we finally got home at 6:30 at night my girlfriend and husband compared notes on these two appointments. My hubby was as blown away as I was.
I truly give up on these idiots in that clinic and wish it were easier in Canada to get another doctor/opinion. I do see the hip (and now knee) OS next Tuesday but I think all my hopes of any decent care is now in the hands of the Physiatrist I see in October. They apparently look at the whole picture rather than the OS approach of surgery and bones only.
**Physiatrist: A physician who specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation. Physiatrists specialize in restoring optimal function to people with injuries to the muscles, bones, tissues, or nervous system**
So after all this I hit the sack just after 7pm and thankfully slept quite well but my knee is out of commission today.
