I'm needing a THR - where to go, what to do?

[cosmic1too]

I'm a new user, and have found this forum to be immensely helpful. I too am a candidate for hip replacement. I was diagnosed about 5 years ago with arthritis and at the time was experiencing mild discomfort in my left hip. Inevitably, my condition has worsened, and I find my lifestyle more and more limited. I'm in constant pain and depressed. Sleeping is difficult, and I'm not feeling some discomfort in my left hip and sometimes severe pain in my lower back. I think it's definitely time to do something.

...problem is, I don't know where to begin. I've done a little research on the minimally invasive surgery (I'm female, 62, 5'4", 140 lb.) and the prospect appeals to me because it appears that recovery time is greatly improved. I live in a suburb of Philadelphia, have never had a major surgery and frankly, the prospect spooks me a little.

I wonder if any other members live in my area, have any information about local specialists or hospitals. I have heard that Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia has a very good reputation for hip replacement surgeries, but I would love to hear from other members in my neck of the woods, about their own experiences.

 

[ruthz]

Re: scheduled for THR - some information

Hello Cosmic1too:

In your area, there is Dr. William Hozack who does hip resurfacing and total hip replacements at the Rothman Institute, in Philadelphia. You can get to the Rothman Institute website by just putting "Rothman Institute" into your search bar.

For information on hip resurfacing (a bone conserving alternative to hip replacement) you can go to the Smith & Nephew site (they have the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing components) or the Wright Medical Comapny website (they have the Conserve Plus components) or the Biomet website (they have the Recap resurfacing components). Also, if you just google "hip resurfacing" you'll get to sites with a lot of general information about this alternative to hip replacement.

Resurfacing surgery is not limited to the under 50 age group. When I was facing my hip surgery, I found that the more infomation I gathered, the more in control of my situation I felt. It is major surgery and it is very scary! I'm so happy I had bilateral resurfacing and got my life back again - I wish you the very best of luck and please do contact me if I can help further.

Take good care,
Ruth Z
bilateral resurfacing 2006 Los Angeles, CA

 

[Josephine]

cosmic, I have moved your post and Ruth's reply into its own thread so you get answers of your own. Ruth has given you good advice but don't forget that there are several options to this and resurfacing is just one. It's reupation is slowly building but is still a fairly new procedure so check out all other options as well to make sure you get the one that is right for you.

I made a list of suggestions in this post How to choose a surgeon and a prosthesis which outlines what you should bear in mind and what kind of questions you need to ask each surgeon you go to. Get 2, 3 or even 4 opinions and see what they all have to say. No one procedure is 'one size fits all' so do keep an open mind.

Let us know how you get on. All the best.

 

[ruthz]

Hello Josephine and All:

Very wise words indeed Josephine! The wonderful part is that there ARE so many options. You're right - one size does not fit all. My nephew is just so happy with his large ball ceramic on metal prosthesis - he's a welder by profession and a mountain biker whenever he's not welding. My brother-in-law just had his hip surgery this Tuesday - large ball metal on metal. I know he's going to do very well too. He has a farm in Wisconsin and is looking forward to being able to get on that big tractor of his again soon!

Take good care all,

Ruth Z

 

[Bob A.]

Hi. You've made a good start coming here. If you are interesed in minimal invasive surgery, I would suggest getting in touch with some of the physical therapy outpatient centers in the area and ask them if they know who is doing that type of surgery. You can also search on the internet and see if you can find a group that is doing that kind of work. I was initially interested in resurfacing, but resurfacing seems to be less popular than even mini hips. Go look over on surfacehippy.com and I am sure that they can at least find you some contact information. Ultimately I decided on "mini hips" because my wife worked with this surgeons patients and was pleased with what she saw. Another surgeon in the practice was doing resurfacing, but he did not have that many operations under his belt and I wanted someone that had a good track record of success. BTW, first names work real well here.

Bob

 

[Laurie]

Hello Cosmic, I went with a surgeon in my area who had a great reputation (know several folks who had hips done by him) and has done hundreds of TH and TK replacements. I also have a brother in law in the D.C area (10 years younger) who had the Birmingham resurfacing last year and is thrilled with the results. My surgeon refers patients to others in the rare instance (his perspective)that resurfacing is the way to go. He only advises this when someone is younger, could face a revision later. I may be dealing with a more traditional Dr -- in his fifties--.
Bottom line, I am convinced that the primary focus is to find the best surgeon that you can trust. Seems there is alot of success with the various procedures.

Good luck!!

Laurie

 

[mvo]

Hi Cosmic,
Do take your time, do Lots of research, but always evaluate the source of the information. There are even Youtube videos of surgeries if you can bear them. I tended to close my eyes and listen, rather than watch, but I am a big wuss

There is a wide range of different methods and implants and it does take some time to get your head around them all and to explore their pros and cons and to work out what might be best for you.

Make lists of questions for when you “interview” different surgeons and only go with a surgeon you trust completely and have a good rapport with.

Like Ruth, I found that the more research I did, the happier I felt about what I was doing, especially at my relatively young age (45). It was still scary, and it is a major operation, but now I realize I should have done it years ago. I can’t believe the lack of pain and the relative ease of recovery.

All the best,
Monica
LTHR – nearly six weeks ago.

 

[cosmic1too]

Thanks so much, for all the replies. I truly appreciate all the input, especially from folks who've been where I am, and thank you Josephine, for posting another thread.

 

[BigDog Mom]

Hi Cosmic,
That's an easy question. ;) Go to The Rothman Institute in Philly and see Dr. Hozack. He is one of the best period. I went to Hopkins to get my second opinion and even they conceded I would be in expert hands with Dr. Hozack.
I had bi-lats done 4.5 weeks ago. I am back to work. Back to life and every day gets a little stronger than the day before.
Dr. Hozack sees patients on Tuesdays at The Rothman in NE Philly in Nazareth off of Roosevelt Blvd. Right across from Nazareth Hospital. (if you don't want to go into center city) I went to that hospital just because it is a little smaller and because it is not in Center City it was a little quieter. The Rothman has a dedicated team there from start to finish and the 4th floor is all private rooms just for the ortho patients.
I true wish all medical professionals worked as well as The Rothman's team it was an absolute pleasure start to finish.
I have a lot of his journal articles, it you'd like them and if you go to the Jefferson Hospital site you can watch a video of him doing a THR a few years back.

Best wishes,
Donna