should i get bilateral resurfacing

Candymanbet1 · June 30, 2012, 05:55:32 PM

I had arthroscopic surgery by Dr. Phillippon in Vail, Co in 2004 and 2005 (both hips). I am doing fine and can walk/hike 3-4 miles with very little pain and during regular daily activities I experience very little pain. I do have some pain playing golf and it is difficult for me to play tennis without experiencing pain.

I have sent x-rays to Dr. De Smet and Dr. Su and they both said that I am a candidate for resurfacing. I am 56 and my question is whether I should continue to put up with a little pain in golf and more in tennis (limited to basically doubles now) or should i have bilateral resurfacing? After reading many posts it obviously sounds like surgery and the recovery is not a walk in the park and worse for bilateral.

If i do choose to have resurfacing - any recommendations on one doctor over the other and BHR or Conserve Plus? Thanks for your help.

wayne-0 · June 30, 2012, 07:21:28 PM

Hey Candy,
I am a same day bi-lat and for me this surgery was life changing(all for the better). I cant tell you if you should have the surgery or not, but in my case i couldn't do anything anymore, hardly even walk. Life sucked like that for sure. After my surgery i am very active again with alot of impact stuff including tennis with no pain at all. So if life or pain gets to the point where you need to do something about it then I know for sure this surgery works and in my case better than I ever expected it to be. Surfing,snowboarding,windsurfing(my big love),ice skating,roller hockey,running,golf, tennis are all things I am doing again. Hey just walking without pain would have been the measure of success for me but I recieved all of the above bonuses as well. Good luck with your future.

Wayne

Candymanbet1 · July 01, 2012, 02:29:59 AM

Thanks Wayne and those are comments I like to hear! Do you think it is worth going overseas to Dr. De Smet or would Dr. Su in NY be just as good? Thanks again for your reply and good luck with all of your athletic endeavors.

Tim

wayne-0 · July 01, 2012, 10:03:28 AM

Hey Tim, It is worth traveling anywhere however far to get a great surgeon to fix you up. From what I have read about both of those Drs. you cant go wrong with either. When I was searching I consulted with 5 different orthos until I setteled on Dr. Ball in San Diego. I think/know when you have your consults with the Drs. you need to go with your instincts. As always, like everyone on this forum stresses, seek out the experinced Drs. to do this surgery. It is super important as this surgery is more technical than a THR (for the Dr.).

Wayne

Tim Bratten · July 01, 2012, 03:57:54 PM

Hi Tim
Just wanted to say that I had a very good experience with De Smet and would definitely recommend him. He has had good results with bilaterals and seems enthusiastic about doing them (we talked about this when I was there). For me (and my wife) traveling to Ghent turned out to be kind of fun and the medical tourism aspect wasn't a drawback at all. On the other hand, I understand that Dr. Su is one of the best hip surgeons, so either choice would very probably work out well for you. Good luck!

Dannywayoflife · July 01, 2012, 04:02:47 PM

Hay tim, on the subject of weather you should have hr done now or wait I would trust in the clinical opinion of a good surgeon as both you have mentioned are. If thayer say it's appropriate then go ahead if they say your not quite there yet listen to them.
Also if your thinking about traveling internationally then Derrick McMinn apparently takes US medical insurance and will work out cheaper for the insurance than a US doc or vijay Bose in india. Any of the mentioned docs will give you a great outcome!
Danny

Candymanbet1 · July 01, 2012, 09:09:48 PM

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and advice. I appreciate all of your opinions as it is a difficult decision. It's a long trip to Belgium from Colorado and it seems that Dr. Su would be an excellent choice for a Dr. in the US.

Thanks again for your comments!

Tim

Rob6297 · July 01, 2012, 09:58:23 PM

Tim,
I had resurfacing with Dr. Su and am thrilled with my result. I only had my right hip done. Dr Su will put you at ease after you meet him, and the hospital for special surgery is just fantastic! I highly recommend using him and his staff! Good luck with your research and eventual operation!
Joe

bilateralbliss · July 01, 2012, 10:05:19 PM

Great choice! :)

Woodstock Hippy · July 02, 2012, 06:31:21 AM

As you have probably already figured out, the big problem with bilateral resurfacing surgery is that you don't have a leg to stand on after. Bilateral is serious business. Most doctors don't seem to have realized this yet. They want to perform bilaterals but they don't have any plan for the recovery and the patient is sent home just like a single side patient in two or three days. There are a lot of single side patients who go home and have a very tough time. Make that both sides and from what I've seen the patient has problems. If you're traveling for bilateral surgery, how are you getting home? Doctor Bose in India arranges for a week of PT at a beachside resort before a single sided patient gets on the plane for home. The first question you should ask your surgeon is; what's the plan for my recovery?

I had bilateral surgery with Dr Scott Marwin at NYU Joint Disease Hospital on November 15 last year. I stayed on the surgical floor with PT twice a day for three days then I was moved to rehab floor for six days where I had PT three times a day. I walked out of there on Thanksgiving morning, nine days ofter surgery, using just one cane and my recovery has been almost smooth sailing ever since.

Check out my posts from the hospital and after:

http://surfacehippy.info/hiptalk/bilateral-stories/bilaterals-with-dr-marwin-1115/

Of course the skill of your doctor is most important, but he has to have a plan for your recovery. Make sure you go over this before choosing a surgeon for bilateral surgery.

SteveJ · July 02, 2012, 07:35:55 AM

Hello Tim, I had BiLateral BHRs 18 days ago; I can't advise whether or not someone should go for it, and it shouldn't be taken lightly, but here are some things that may be worth your consideration. Due to the extent of the osteoarthritis in both hips I didn't really have a good leg to support the operated side. I managed to stay reasonably fit pre-op and had good upper body strength which I have found to be a massive help. My wife has been beyond brilliant supporting me; I am a very independant person but there are things I just can't do at the moment, little things like changing TED socks and setting things up around the house to make things easier. That said, I am surprised by the things I can do if I think about it a bit first and accept that I can't do what I want as quickly as I'd like. I'm sticking to the PT and walking quite well with crutches. A single operation and recovery suited my personal circumstances and, so far, all seems to be going well. The scars are healing well and I'm on minimal pain killers.

So I suppose the key things for me have been pre-op fitness, good after care from my wife and that I didn't really have a good leg. You could probably add some factors like luck and a positive attitude in there and not forgetting that I had a good surgeon and hospital.

Hope this helps - Steve.

lori.36 · July 02, 2012, 03:20:30 PM

Tim, we are lucky to have Dr Rector at Boulder. He did me and he is a great ortho/ hr doc. You could split the surgeries up in two and keep them in the same calendar year. Best of luck with your decisions.

Tin Soldier · July 02, 2012, 03:41:15 PM

I had mine both done in the same calendar year and I was really happy to have a solid working leg when I went through the initial recovery on the second. My surgeon was only 6 hours away, so it's not like I was going to another country, where you would probably want to get the bulk deal and have both done at once. On the other hand there are lots of happy bi-lats that had theirs done in the same event and they talk about the recovery (initial) being a bit rough, but I haven't heard any complaints about recovery after the first few weeks. Some folks just prefer getting it all done at once.

As Lori pointed Rector is a lot closer than Su or DeSmet and there's a number of happy hippies here that went to him.

bilateralbliss · July 02, 2012, 11:24:35 PM

Woodstock is spot on here! It`s definately harder with no "good leg" to support. I only travelled three and a half hours by car to the hospital, coming home was far from easy, stopping, getting out twice,as instructed, taking a walk on crutches at such an early stage. To be honest I couldn`t have managed a plane flight. The 90% restriction doesn`t help, you have to be very careful. Find the best surgeon closest to you, guess I was lucky mine was that close! I begged to have both mine done on the same day, as both were bone on bone, so felt just wanted it all over and done with in one go. One thing to bear in mind is an actual operation, if you can get away with one albeit longer why have two? :) Mine was about 6 hours including being in recovery. I didn`t regret my decision though :)