Beverly’s Hip Story with Dr. Heinrich 2007
Dr. Eric M Heinrich in Austin, Texas did the resurface of my right hip last May 14th and it was a very positive experience as far as bone surgery goes. I think he is terrific. He had done 60 resurfaces by May 2007. So he is over 100 by now. Both my legs are the same length. Everything went smoothly and he visited me in the hospital every day sometimes twice. He is very kind and considerate. He is good with drugs (no reason for pain) and very pro PT. Plus the hospital (St. Davids) has a pool and he had me in it on day three. It felt very good. He will call you at home at night and answer any questions you have. His staff is tremendous and considerate. He was recommended to me by his professor Dr. Paul Peters in Dallas who did the reconstruction and cup and ball replacement of my left total hip in May of 2005 and the original TLHR in 1993. Dr. Peters was one of the only surgeons that would do a hip replacement on a 39 year old woman (with a two year old child) back in 1993. They had only been doing them on 70 year olds previously. He turned out to be one of the top 10 orthopedic hip surgeons in the country for eight years running after my surgery. Now he specializes in reconstruction. I had interviewed over 10 orthopedic surgeons by the time I found him. I’m kinda picky I suppose. In 2005 I interviewed a whole bunch more but chose to go back to Peters in Dallas which worked great for me. When it came time to do the right hip I interviewed a bunch more but when I met Dr. Heinrich and his staff, plus with Dr. Peters recommendation, I scheduled resurface surgery for 10 days later. He teaches resurfacing and wanted to use my case to teach because he considered it unusual. That was a whirlwind 10 days getting ready. Regarding resurface vs total hip replacement. I think resurface is going to be the norm really soon. I noticed the huge, gigantic, nay, remarkable lessoning of the impact to my body when I woke up from the resurface vs the replacement and of course the reconstruction. With the resurface I was out to eat in a week, the recovery has been really easy comparably. I was at the beach jumping in the waves at two months. Keeping the femur makes an undeniable positive difference lessoning the impact on the body. Let’s see, right at two months I was back delivering Meals on Wheels, climbing stairs, walking all over. I’m starting post op month five and I just got back from a two week vacation to visit family in California with my 16 year old son. No way I could have even thought of doing that at four months with the total hip replacement. Plus with no restrictions on my right hip I’m still free to bend and squat and do all the normal stuff with that leg. This alone is a tremendous benefit of resurface vs replacement. Shoot me a line off list and I’ll give you my phone number if you like. It’s a wonderful life, walking! Eric Matthew Heinrich (MD) 1015 E 32ND ST STE 200, AUSTIN, TX 78705 Phone: 512-476-2830Enjoy! And a heart felt and true thank you to all who contribute to this list. It soothed me so before and after my resurface. You all rock! Beverly in Austin |