HIP REPLACEMENT OR HIP RESURFACING BY PEGGY GABRIEL

[Jan49]

Hi................I'm scheduled to have a THR following a very brief appointment with the Registrar of a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon last week.  He told me very little about the operation and what little he did know about me had been forwarded by the Rheumatology dept who had referred me.  I spent the weekend on the Internet finding out as much as I could and ordered from ebay the above book which has totally changed my way of thinking. The book arrived yesterday and I have read it - and I now want HS rather than a THR.  I'm an active (well I was ;-) 59 year old who is at the moment limited to walking for just an hour.  I have osteoarthritis and my right hip is quite badly worn although my bone strength is good.

I telephoned the secretary of the THR consultant who told me I would have to speak to the secretary of the HS consultant - I did this (they can be quite forbidding) and am now waiting to find out if I can change consultants in order to now have the HS.  I live near Croydon, England and we have an excellent specialist unit about 13 miles away in Epsom. 

I find it quite scary that all the information I have is what I have learned myself - I am an NHS patient - is this quite usual and I am right in changing my mind aren't I? 

Any guidance or advice would be greatly appreciated.  Regards Jan49

[Tekka]

Jan, a similar situation happened to me...i am going into surgery in two hours time to have LBHR. What you will here time and time again on this site is seek the best surgeon you can, and is so correct.

Your are correct to pause a get your thoughts together, after lots of research and the help of this site i have been lucky to find Mr McMinn and his team..i will be coming out on the other side shortly, i will post daily my progress.

Terry

[Todd]

Jan,

I also had a similar situation.  The doctor hierarchy I went through decided a THR was what I needed.  With my own research I came across resurfacing, found the best Dr in the area, and got another opinion.  And now 16 days post op I couldn't be happier with my first of 2 BHR!  I'm 39 with osteoarthritis in both hips and good bone.  Find a doctor who does both surgeries and see what he/she says.  I would bet that you are a HR candidate--Once you find the right doctor, you will know it.  Good luck. Keep us updated.
todd

[Pat Walter]

HI Jan

Welcome to Hip Talk.  I am assuming that you are a woman - but not sure.  You did not say unless I missed it.

You are 59 and to me that is still young.  I will tell you that if you are a woman, many surgeons tend to not give hip resurfacings to women over 55. That does not mean it can't be done or should not be done.

I was 61 when I hd my hip resurfacing.  I live in the US, but had no insurance and traveled to Belgium to Dr. De Smet who has done over 3000 hip resurfacings.  Many surgeons in the US won't do older women.  There have been studies to show women do have more failures than men - but it still is not that great in my mind.  So you must find a surgeon that is willing to do older women.  Also it really depends on your own personal situation as to how good your bone density is.  That is one thing doctors look at when they review your x-ray.

All of us would certainly rather keep our full femur bones and have a hip resurfacing rather than a THR.  Many of us have cancelled our THRs to get resurfaicngs.  So we would all agree with you that it is the best option if you are a good candidate.

I would encourage you to continue to get a resurfacing if possible.  I will say that if you must get a THR - then make sure you get a large ball THR like a MOM metal on metal thr or a ceramic on ceramic thr.  Those devices match the size of your femur ball so you don't have dislocation problems.  NOrmally with that type of THR you can do whatever you want.  You are definite too young to get an old fashioned small ball metal plastic THR which easily dislocates.

So keep doing your research and try to get your hip resurfacing.  If you can't - go to my http://www.hipsforyou.com  total hip replacement website to learn about the THR options best for young active people.

I hope that helps and I wish you the best of luck.

Pat

[Bionic]

I found Peggy's book years ago, when my hip arthritis first became severe.  I am certainly grateful that I did.  The timing was coincident with my quitting my job and starting my own part-time work.  I simply had more time and was able to do some careful research online.

If I had continued to work full-time, I probably would be walking around with a small-ball THR right now. Caveat emptor applies as much in medicine as in anything else.

[stevel]

Jan,

My family doctor and the local OS recommended a THR in July, 2007.  I was not in much pain so I delayed surgery and researched THR's.  A chance encounter by a coworker and a local hip resurfacing patient of Dr. Gross provided me information about hip resurfacings.  This patient gave me references to this website and others.  So I researched hip resurfacing and had surgery on 9/29/08.  I doing great at nearly 4 months post-op.  I believe hip resurfacing should be your first choice, if you are a candidate.  Go to the most experienced doctor you can afford.  It's your body.  In your case, living in England, I would go to Dr. McMinn or Dr. Treacy.  I traveled from Juneau, Alaska to New York City for my surgery, because I wanted the best and my insurance paid for nearly all of the surgery.  I had to pay for the hotel, meals, taxi, etc..  I used frequent flyer miles to fly to New York.

[Jan49]

Hi - thanks so much for responding so quickly to my initial email.

I've had a call this afternoon from the secretary of the HR surgeon and she told me he'll be more than happy to see me in his clinic to explain the procedure/s in more detail - I feel so relieved and can only hope that he won't find me too old for HR.

Once again - many thanks for your encouragement - it means a lot ;-)

[obxpelican]

Jan,

You're not too old, many people in their 50s and 60s are very active.  Go for the hip resurfacing if at all possible, just make sure you go to an experienced hip resurfacing doctor.


Chuck

[Jan49]

I've just had my appointment through to see Mr Khasif who works in both Mayday Hospital (Croydon) and the specialist unit in Epsom - he will let me know if I am a suitable candidate for HR.  Fingers crossed!!!  I'm finding all the other postings very interesting and full of useful advice.  Many thanks Jan