Hipster’s Hip Resurfacing with Dr. Raterman 2013

June 20, 2013

I had Dr. Stephen Raterman in Tampa, Florida as my surgeon about 8 weeks ago. When I checked this site before surgery, I didn’t see any good (no offense intended if I missed it) info on him, so now that I’m 2 months out & feeling pretty great, I think it’s time for me to post my opinion here.

First, I just give me quick opinion:
I highly recommend Dr. Raterman for hip resurfacing surgery.

Now, I’ll give more detain & explain my opinion so that anyone looking here or searching for answers will at least have this to work with. I found that the Doc & his staff were very professional. The only real criticism that I have is that they could have improved their communications to us patients. In my opinion they didn’t tell me far enough in advance what days & times my appointments were going to be before my surgery. That said, they do a LOT of surgeries so that’s most likely the reason.

Let me explain that a bit. They scheduled my surgery 2 months in advance. I talked with Dr. Raterman in February & confirmed that I needed & wanted surgery, then they booked my actual surgery date for April. As I said, they do a LOT of surgeries. They called me & sent me a package that was meant to fully explain what I was in for, but I found that it was a bit vague in some respects. It did have a great deal of info to cover though, so all in all I’d give that package an 8 out of 10.

They book 3 pre-op appointments:
1) One with my GP
2) One with the hospital
3) One with Dr. Raterman.

I only had a choice on the apt with my GP, the other 2 were made for me.

The apt with the hospital took almost 6 hours, so be prepared. They told me to be prepared for about a 4 hour appointment though, so they were close. Dr. Raterman uses Florida Hospital. I found them to also be excellent & I highly recommend them as well. Of all the people I encountered in my time at the appointment (at least 30 people), I only had 1 person who wasn’t very helpful.

Of all of the people I had during my stay for my operation, I only had 1 person out of at least 30 who didn’t seem to like her job. The VAST majority of people were ABSOLUTELY GREAT.

During my pre–op appointment with Dr. Raterman, he asked me if I waned a morning or afternoon surgery, although he said he was not able to promise me he could do it, he did give me what I asked for. A morning operation.

Dr. Raterman also has several ‘support personnel’ (so to speak), that do not actually work FOR him, but work with him. There was the "Don Joy" guy that sells the ICEMAN. An ice water circulation system that I HIGHLY recommend. The system is very reasonably priced & provides an ice water system that is far superior to ice packs for post surgery swelling. The ICEMAN guy also provides a walker & a cane for post surgery. Those two things were covered by our insurance, but the ICEMAN was not. That’s why we had to purchase it.

They also have a team of Physical Therapy people that work with them. I had the PT folks come to my home for 3 weeks after surgery, then I went to an out patient PT place. My PT guy, Ken, at the out patient place was GREAT.

The doc also has a company that called & delivered a "bedside commode", with arms, several days before surgery. That was nice, because I was able to set it up the way I needed it to be & got it ready.

The night before surgery the hospital calls to tell you when to report for surgery. I was given a morning surgery, just as I asked for. The day of my surgery, I got there early & signed in & only waited a short time to be sent off to get changed & ready for surgery. I had a great nurse, who was helpful & friendly. The Doc & his assistant came in to see me & check on me.

My wife was able to come in & stay with me for a while until they came to get me for surgery. That was very nice. They came to get me for surgery in less than 1 hour & of course, I don’t remember much after that until I woke up in my room. One of the best things about Florida Hospital is that each hip resurfacing patient gets their own room.

My surgery went very well. I must say that Dr. Raterman is VERY skilled at what he does. He’s a great surgeon. The perfect combination of artist & doctor. I’ve seen the X-Ray of my hip & it was done perfectly. Actually hip resurfacing looks more like carpentry than surgery. Do some searches on the web & you’ll find some pictures of what it looks like. I’ve also included my X-Ray. It was done with my pants on, so there’s a zipper in the shot. I don’t actually have a zipper. It’s my pants- REALLY!

I was told that if I could get up from my bed & make it to the chair in my room (5 feet away) by the end of the day I could go for a walk the next day. At 11PM that night, I got up (with my nurse’s help) & made it to the chair. I was going to go for a walk (with my walker) that night, but when I got to the doorway, it was WAY too cold & I had to go back & lay down. I laid down & actually went to sleep for about 4 hours. THAT was great.

The next day, the hospital PT people came & got me & said if I could walk (with my walker) with the PT guy around the hospital floor, 250 feet, I would be able to go home that day. I was able to do my 250 feet & I went up one flight of stairs & came back down. They were quite happy with me & I was quite happy to get out of the hospital after one night.

The only other thing to mention was pain meds. Normally that is controlled by Dr. Raterman’s office, but I was already under the care of another pain management doctor for my back, so my meds were handled by the other doctor.

June 21, 2013

I’m just finishing up my last day of out patient PT with Florida Medical Physical Therapy Division, in Zephyrhills, Florida (near Tampa). They have been GREAT. My guy Ken, has been extremely helpful. He’s always explained what’s going on with my muscles & why we’re doing the exercises he has me doing. I’ve made great progress & felt that everyone there was polite & professional.

I highly recommend them.

June 26, 2013

I used a different brand of ice machine (Don Joy Ice Man), but I have to agree with you on the use of them, MINE was excellent. The guy that sold me mine, told me a little trick that a customer had told him.

For those who are unfamiliar with what these are, they’re (or at least mine was) a little cooler that is filled to a point with ice, then with water. It has a little electric motor to circulate the ice water out through one hose & to a pad, then back to the "cooler" again through another hose.

Instead of putting ice cubes in the cooler, I used 6 bottled waters, that I opened, took a "swig" (drink) out of, put the lid back on & then froze them. For those "non-science" folks, when water freezes, it expands. If you don’t pour or drink a little water out of the bottle, when it freezes it’ll explode the plastic bottle or blow the lid of the … bottle.

Anyway, 6 bottles fit perfectly in the little "cooler". Then, you fill the cooler with water, up to the line, put the lid on, plug it in & you’re good to go. It works GREAT. The bottled ice lasts a LONG time. No mess, easy to swap out the bottles & if you freeze 12 bottles, you can rotate them & always have cold water. Oh yeah, there’s also a little thermostat to control the temp.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I also have been taking a supplement with MSM, Condroitin & Glucosamine. I ‘think’ it’s helping my hip heal faster, but of course, I don’t have anything to compare it to. I’m 59 & in "pretty" good shape. Within 3 weeks of surgery, I was off my walker & using my cane (not nearly as cool as your cane, but…) & walking 1.5 miles every day. Within 6 weeks I was doing that without my cane, but limping a bit.

Now I’m 2 months out & I just fly around without even touching the ground.. Oh wait, that’s when I’m dreaming.

All joking aside -Now I’m walking 2 miles at a time, with no limp at all (for the first time in over 3 years!!). I also ride 2 or 3 times a day on my recumbent bike, for 30 minutes at a time. I started with 2, 20 minute sessions & increased my way up.

Good luck to ALL who have the BHR. As with MANY folks, my only regret is that I didn’t do this sooner.

July 18, 2013

Two days ago I went back to see Dr Raterman for my 3 month followup appointment. They took some X-Rays to see how things were doing inside. The Doc said things look great. The nurse had me do some exercises to test my RoM & flexibility & both she & the Doc said I’m doing great. I feel great!

I’m done with my actual PT now, but am doing my exercise regimen. I walk 2 miles every morning or 6 days a week @ about 4 mph, I spend about 10 minutes stretching every day & ride the stationary bike 5 days a week 2 times per day for about 30 minutes. I also work out on my Bowflex (not affiliated with the company in any way, just a fact) & do some abdominal exercises for about 20-30 minutes M-W-F.

I’ve also been doing the 5:2 diet brought to popularity by Dr Michael Mosley (BBC) for about 4 months now too. This ‘diet’ is 5 days of eating ‘normally’ & 2 days of ‘fasting’. The 2 days do not have to be consecutive & MM says he’s gotten great results from Males eating 600 Calories per fast day & Females eating 500 Calories per fast day. I’ve lost about 15 pounds of mostly fat (from about 24% to about 20% Body Fat), lowered my Cholesterol & Triglycerides considerably. I’ve also lost about 2 inches around the waist. Again, this is not a plug for the diet, but IMHO it’s well worth checking it out. I happened to see a program on PBS about 1 month before surgery & it really hit home, so I bought his book & started making changes. The best thing is that it’s easy & works.

So much for me plugging everyone that I’m not getting a cut of the $$$ from. I just wanted to check back in & give an update.

So, to recap:

I’m healing well, almost no pain, a tiny bit stiff when I first start walking after sitting for a while, I’m done with actual PT & have tried to use my RHR as a motivator to get my old geezerly self back into shape.

Good luck to any one recovering & if you’re someone thinking of getting the HR surgery…
My ONLY regret is that I didn’t do this procedure MUCH sooner & I foolishly suffered for years limping around with a "bum" hip.

Did I ever mention that I’m 59?