randy62 Nylsor marcopollo nmscienceteacher Butterfly, Thank you all for your great thoughts. First things first...Randy! I am SOOO sorry it my comment about writing styles hurt your feelings. It wasn't intended that way. Sometimes things come out wrong when we write them instead of speaking them. I really do love your comments, your sense of humor, and your wonderful relationship with your wife. One thing that has come through on this site is how many of us have really strong relationships with our husbands and wives. A wonderful thing to see. I have found that the writing on this site really makes people come alive, and is very nuanced. So many diffferent personalities come through. I meant to comment on the different qualities I enjoyed in people's styles, and I truly appreciate your caring, your ongoing comments, your sincerity, and your great sense of humor.
Things are better already, although I have had to face up to the fact that this really is major surgery, and not just a walk in the park. It is not like getting a tooth filled. I'm relieved to learn that the water weight has come off pretty quickly for the rest of you. I've been drinking so much water, but it seems to go in, and not come out.
I've gotten religion about the foot pumps and breathing toy. My PT came today and put me through a series of exercises and stretches. It felt good to move again, and I was pleased to see how many things I can do. We practiced walking all around the house with only a cane instead of the walker, although I can't do that on my own for the time being. I'll have another session with Sydney, the PT, on Friday, and then three sessions next week. I also see my OS again next week -- on Thursday, two weeks after surgery - and can stop taking the Xarelto at that point.
My husband's son and his family sent me gorgeous flowers, which came today. They live in Washington state, clear across the country, and it brightened my spirits to receive the magnificent roses.
Now, what you've all been waiting for with bated breath -- reflections on the US healthcare system! I've learned so much from this international forum about the strengths and weaknesses of the systems in so many different countries. I've also learned more than I care to about navigating the US system, even when you have "good" insurance, because of the many challenges my husband has surmounted. Earlier in life, I studied health care policy as part of a graduate program in public policy, and both my husband and I worked as organizational consultants on things like managing change, organizational climate, etc. So this experience, being in the middle of the health care system as a patient with a serious issue, really prompted a lot of thought:
It is possible, in the US, to get magnificent health care, absolutely state of the art, and to be treated as a sentient human being, not just so much beef on the hoof. But to do that, you really need to do your homework, and navigate an incredibly complex system, when you really don't even know what questions to ask. Bonesmart was so valuable for me in this area, and I believe I got much better treatment than I would have otherwise. Also, our system leaves millions of people completely out of the loop, unable to get care at all for things like hip and knee replacement, which are considered "elective." Yes, it's elective, but forget about having a worthwhile life if you can't get the surgery. And even in the best case scenario, we really need to be active caretakers of our own lives and bodies and in charge of our own medical care/medical team. We can't simply hand ourselves over the the "experts" and expect to get a good result. It takes hard work, follow-through, self-advocacy skills, and commitment, to get good results.
Canada, England, and Australia have found ways to provide treatment for all, but it sounds as though there is a lot of bureaucracy to overcome, and there can be long waiting times to receive treatment. It also isn't clear to me how much choice you have about which surgeon or type of procedure is used. Am I mistaken about this? Watching so many of you navigate the system has raised many questions for me.
As "Obamacare" is phased in, I truly hope that it opens the door to good medical care for all the people who have been left out. But I also hope that the strengths of the US system are maintained.
I waited until this month so that I could have Medicare and a Medicare supplement, which is the single best experience of my life as a healthcare consumer. I have genuinely free choice, and never see a bill (except for my monthly payments, which are well worth it to me). My doctor has built an amazing system of 360 degree care that takes care of his patients from the moment we decide to work with him through the total healing process. My experience has been that everyone on his team -- nurses, receptionists, billing people, everyone -- is thrilled to be working with him, proud of his excellence, and totally dedicated to customer care. This has not been my experience elsewhere, and I will be changing my primary care physician after I totally recover, as a result of all the bumps in the road before surgery. (For example, as another writer commented on this forum, just getting the preop clearance sent in on time was a nightmare.)
The home healthcare nurse who came yesterday told me that he has selected his providers (like the company she works for, as well as a rehab center, etc.) and told them that he will refer ALL of his patients who choose to continue working with him after surgery, but that if even ONE patient has a bad experience, he will pull the entire account. So we are treated like living gods and goddesses. Every staff member on these outside organizations has my doctor's personal cell phone number, and can call him at any time (although I don't think anyone abuses this). He also gave me his cellphone number after my first visit, which was a huge trust-builder, although I never used it. My sense is that he has built an "organization" of people who don't even work for him, as well as those who do, entirely focused on superb and sensitive patient care, and achieving results that are as perfect as can be obtained by medical art and science. This experience has just knocked my socks off. Everybody knows what everybody else is doing on behalf of the patient. And none of this is managed by bureaucracy -- it is simply the way he has set it up. Imagine what life would be like if every doctor practiced this way. There is no unnecessary care simply to build a bill, but nothing that is needed is withheld. As a former organizational consultant, I am in awe of what he has done. There is an ethos and a value system behind the way he practices, and I am so grateful that I found him and was able to have this kind of surgery.
It seems to me that if other doctors practiced this way, their reputations and practices would soar, because their patients would be living, walking advertisements for their competence and success. But I've found a lot of mechanization and coldness in the system, over the years. My husband and I have had a few doctors who have many of the elements discussed above, but they are the exception rather than the rule. Fortunately, my husband's oncologist is the same type of person, though I've never experienced the full power of integrated services like what is happening now.
I'd be interested in thoughts and comments from others who are here in the "meat grinder." Are you being treated as a feeling individual, and a full partner in your care, or more as a specific body part -- a hip, a knee, etc.
Love and prayers for speedy healing and happiness to everyone reading this.
United States
Flowers from me from the UK. Having a loving and supportive partner is so important throughout this whole hip journey. We celebrated our 45thWA in May and I just don't know what I would have done without Mike over the past year. Who elso would have wrapped me in a duvet and comforted me when I howled through the bone-on-bone pain, accompanied me to see OS and spoke my thoughts when I was too ill and debilitated to speak for myself ( a new experience for him!) , supported me when I said I couldn't wait ten months for an op on the NHS ( the waiting-lists in our part of London are some of the longest in the country) and didn't blink an eyelid when we were told the op would cost £11220 - from our retirement savings - to be done at a private hospital. He also attended daily to my horrible compression stockings for six weeks , helped me in and out of the shower, dressed my wound and did a thousand and one other kindnesses to assist my recovery including massaging me. He worked in construction all his life before retiring and I still can't get over how he took to the home nursing. BeckyR we are truly blessed. I can't get over how small your scar is - two inches - mine is four inches and I still have , five months after surgery, a large contusion half way down the scar. Immediately after surgery, my buttock and my leg to my knee were the colour of a blackberry. The OS who performed my surgery has an excellent reputation and told me after the op that my hip was 'very nasty'. I too had bone spurs and bone-on-bone. I have OA in my left hip but not to the extent of the right one and if I have to have that replaced I will certainly ask a lot more questions and also try and bypass the general anaesthetic as it throws my diabetes balance out for weeks. Thanks to this site and all the wonderful advice and support I am now far better informed re OA and the choices that can be made. I wish you very well BeckyR and hope you continue to make excellent progress. 
Take care, dear. 
