Scott is Scott

[Frostbit]

Down in Columbia, SC getting my hip resurfaced Wenesday. We flew into Atlanta and found out Scott was in town. We were able to meet up for breakfast after a long red eye.

Nice to finally meet face to face. Looking forward to seeing your digs in Florida this winter during out "White Whale Wonderings".

[phillygirl]

Very cool. Glad you guys got to meet in person.

[Gingersnap]

Wait, what?

You're getting your hip resurfaced in Georgia? What?

[Adam]

Wait, what?

You're getting your hip resurfaced in Georgia? What?

South Carolina. One of the best locations in this country for the resurfacing procedure is in Columbia. Resurfacing is sort of like getting a little metal "retread" for the top of the femur as opposed to the whole gigantic piece of metal sticking 8" or so down the inside of the femur. Much less invasive, particularly with the anterior entry method, less time under anesthesia, faster recovery time (the incision is much smaller), and if it wears down or whatever, there's still a bunch of bone left to do the whole replacement procedure.


ETA: Hip resurfacing.

[Gingersnap]

South Carolina. One of the best locations in this country for the resurfacing procedure is in Columbia. Resurfacing is sort of like getting a little metal "retread" for the top of the femur as opposed to the whole gigantic piece of metal sticking 8" or so down the inside of the femur. Much less invasive, particularly with the anterior entry method, less time under anesthesia, faster recovery time (the incision is much smaller), and if it wears down or whatever, there's still a bunch of bone left to do the whole replacement procedure.

Oh, gosh - I had no idea. Thankfully, I don't have that problem yet. Since I'm with Kaiser, they probably do it in some guy's garage in Conifer. It's probably my BIL's garage - he's a total cash whore.

[phillygirl]

South Carolina. One of the best locations in this country for the resurfacing procedure is in Columbia. Resurfacing is sort of like getting a little metal "retread" for the top of the femur as opposed to the whole gigantic piece of metal sticking 8" or so down the inside of the femur. Much less invasive, particularly with the anterior entry method, less time under anesthesia, faster recovery time (the incision is much smaller), and if it wears down or whatever, there's still a bunch of bone left to do the whole replacement procedure.


ETA: Hip resurfacing.

Good to know. My niece will need some sort of hip surgery (again) at some point. Probably a full replacement, although we're hoping it's not for another 10 years or so. I'll keep S. Carolina in mind for that.

[Frostbit]

Dr. Thomas Gross

Hip resurfacing takes a much tighter alignment than total hips but the restrictions/limitations post recovery are zilch. In other words I can Crossfit in 6 months without restrictions. I couldn't with a total hip. If you ever decide on resurfacing make sure you only go to someone that has done thousands of cases. There's little margin for error in alignment.

[Gingersnap]

Dr. Thomas Gross

Hip resurfacing takes a much tighter alignment than total hips but the restrictions/limitations post recovery are zilch. In other words I can Crossfit in 6 months without restrictions. I couldn't with a total hip.

How do you know when you need something like that? Just curious. I know Adam has had hip stuff and I assume some others have.

[Frostbit]

Main reason I chose Dr. Gross

When i sent him my X-rays and information package to review I included the picture that is my avatar. I told him I wished to continue doing such activities. He called me two weeks later and said he felt I was a good candidate and would do the resurfacing. I did have to get a Dexa scan because of being over 60. The procedure he plans on doing on me is "cement less" so you have to be able to form bone to have the prosthesis adhere properly.

The funny thing in his write up when I read it was under "activities". It stated "Patient enjoys carrying heavy animals out of the wilderness".

[Frostbit]

[Gingersnap]

The funny thing in his write up when I read it was under "activities". It stated "Patient enjoys carrying heavy animals out of the wilderness".

Don't we all?

[Adam]

Good to know. My niece will need some sort of hip surgery (again) at some point. Probably a full replacement, although we're hoping it's not for another 10 years or so. I'll keep S. Carolina in mind for that.

Isn't your niece pretty young? I thought she was a teenager, which would be pretty young for hip problems unless she has some congenital defect (dysplasia or something like that).

Resurfacing has relatively limited candidacy. Particularly if you let it get really bad (as I did), re-surfacing is out. If she's going to need something like that, better not to wait if at all possible.


The tops of your femurs are supposed to look like this:




In my case, they look like this



You'll notice that my right femur (left side of the picture) doesn't have that round ball fitting into my pelvis. You have to have at least most of that ball there in order to do re-surfacing. Otherwise, it's a THR.

[phillygirl]

She's 14. She has Perthes Disease. She's already had one surgery and they're hoping to hold off until her 20's for anymore, if possible. She had to stop all athletics for about 3 years. She just started back to her competitive cheer a year ago. We're keeping our fingers crossed that the stress of that isn't aggravating anything. She's had some stress fractures in her back, and she does have pain a lot, but the doctor said her pain tolerance is good and as long as she tolerates the pain she can continue. She's very anti-pain reliever, so I feel bad whenever I know she's hurting, but I think she prefers to feel the pain rather than mask it.

The doctor says there is probably no way around her having a full hip replacement at a young age, we're just hoping she can at least get out of school before that happens.

[Gingersnap]

She's 14. She has Perthes Disease. She's already had one surgery and they're hoping to hold off until her 20's for anymore, if possible. She had to stop all athletics for about 3 years. She just started back to her competitive cheer a year ago. We're keeping our fingers crossed that the stress of that isn't aggravating anything. She's had some stress fractures in her back, and she does have pain a lot, but the doctor said her pain tolerance is good and as long as she tolerates the pain she can continue. She's very anti-pain reliever, so I feel bad whenever I know she's hurting, but I think she prefers to feel the pain rather than mask it.

The doctor says there is probably no way around her having a full hip replacement at a young age, we're just hoping she can at least get out of school before that happens.

I've never heard of that one - sad.

[phillygirl]

I've never heard of that one - sad.

Yeah, I was pretty upset when I first found out. And they got three opinions...and three separate recommendations for courses of action. It was a hard decision for them to make, especially with the doctors not agreeing on how to proceed.
After the surgery I visited her at Children's Hospital and was there when she accepted Communion from the priest that was doing visitations. I absolutely cried seeing her laying in bed and taking Communion. When I left, however, there was a kid leaving who was clearly getting chemotherapy. I said a prayer of thanks that her major physical ailment at the time was a limp and realized that my fears of her having a permanent limp were pretty small potatoes at that point.