Need Experienced Hip Resurfacing DR For SW Florida (Ft Myers) Area

[Rascal]

 
I'm 66 years young and getting ready to hit Blue/Cross up for for Hip Surgery. If a bone scan allows, I would like to try resurfacing. I'm located in the N. Fort Myers Florida area. I need a EXPERIENCED in Hip resurfacing Doctor that is located some where from Sarasota south to Naples FL. Thank You

[Pat Walter]

Hello Rascal

Welcome to Hip Talk.

There are not many really experienced hip resurfacing surgeons using the BHR at all in the US.  The US doctors just started getting trained in May of 2006.  There are a handful of very experienced surgeons in the US that were doing hip resurfacing before the FDA Approval of the BHR.  The closest to you would be Dr. Gross in SC

Dr. Thomas Gross
1910 Blanding Street
Columbia, S.C. 29201
Lee Webb, RN, BSN, CNOR, CRNFA
Assistant to Thomas P. Gross, M.D.
803-256-4107 office, 803-355-2774 pager
803-331-6894 cell, 803-933-6754 fax
Contact: Ms. Lee Webb, RN
South Carolina Joint Replacement Center

 
He has done over 1100 hip resurfacings. You do have a doctor quite a few people on the Yahoo Surface Hippy Discussion Board have used, Dr. Kennedy.  I don't know how many resurfs he has done, but it would not be anything like Dr. Gross

Dr. William Kennedy, M.D.
Dr. Edward Stolarski
Kennedy White Orthopaedic Center
5741 Bee Ridge Road, Suite 280
Sarasota, FL 34233
941-365-0655
WRK@kwoc.net
PA: Mark Shiffner
Kennedy White Orthopaedic Center

Here is a page with doctor's statistics  http://www.surfacehippy.info/doctorstatistics.php

 It does not include every doctor doing hip resurfacing.  I only include doctors that are starting to be experienced and have done at least 100.  There are some on the list with fewer.

I have written an article about the importance of using a doctor with experience.
http://www.surfacehippy.info/pcselectingsurgeon.php

Here is an article by Dr. Rubinstein that he just wrote about doctor experience
http://www.surfacehippy.info/firsthundred.php

I am about to do another including the following information- this is from Karen who is currently in Belgium with Dr. De Smet. It is right from her email

My recovery is progressing slowly  in its usual irritating stop-and-
go way. Sue disappeared yesterday. We thought she was having a day on 
the town, but turned out it was a 'poor little me' day. You have a 
good day and overdo it slightly, followed by a 'poor little me' day 
when you have to catch up on sleep, etc.

Thom and i had a disturbing conversation with Koen De Smet. He spends 
one or two days a week in town operating, and the rest of his time 
all over the world at seminars and conferences, basically trying to 
convince people that they need to improve surgeon training and 
instrumentation.

He says he is worried about the future of resurfacing. It has become 
so fashionable that loads of OSs have leapt on board and the failure 
rate is now so high that resurfacing is getting a bad reputation. The 
only thing that will help is better instruments and to insist on 
higher standards for surgeon training, which is not happening at the 
moment in the US or, for that matter, in Holland.

Obviously resurfacing is difficult surgery, but so is THR and so are 
lots of other procedures. When you have a difficult procedure that is 
widely needed, instrumentation evolves that makes the surgery easier 
and more accurate.  THR surgery has evolved over 40 years, with 
instrumentation, operating tables, etc. evolving constantly, so it is 
now fairly easy for a competent surgeon to learn the latest technique 
in a weekend refresher course.  But resurf is so new that the 
instrumentation is still in its infancy. As a result, success depends 
heavily on the skill of the surgeon and we all know there are not 
many skilled resurf surgeons around, so the failure rate is high, and 
that's pretty depressing. It also, as Koen points out, gives OSs a 
VERY SOUND reason to say "Go with a THR" if you cannot find a skilled 
resurf surgeon covered by insurance without a one-year waiting list.

Hope all is well with you all,

Karen

Dr. De Smet was my surgeon and he has done over 2400 hip resurfacings and over 3000 THRs.  He is one of the best in the world.  He always suggest you use a doctor that has done at least 100 hip reusrfacing because there is a step learning curve.  Even though a doctor can do THR's, BHRs require much more skill.

So the reason for such a long email is to try and encourage you to do some research and look for an experienced doctor - not use the closest to you.  You only have 2 hips and if a doctor does not do a good job - you are back into the OR for another surgery revising your hip reusrfacing to a thr.  It is happening more often now with the newer inexperienced doctors.  I belong to the Yahoo Surface Hippy Discussion group of over 6000 people and there are many more post op problems now that there are so many new inexperienced hip resurfacing doctors.

I know that did not give you a specific answer, but I hope you will search for an experienced doctor and try to get your hip resurfacing.  I was 61 when I had mine done and would not accept a THR. I ended up going to Belgium to Dr. De Smet because I did not have insurance and could not afford surgery here.  Even if I had insurance, I would have gone to De Smet since many insurances will cover his surgery. 

Good Luck and keep looking until you feel comfortable with a doctor that gives you the answers you are looking for.  Both Dr. De Smet and Dr. Bose of India will give you free email consultations if you send your x-rays as an attachment.  Have them taken digitally or take photos of them with a digital camera.  Both are very quick to answer your mail and talk with you.

Pat in Ohio
3/15/06 LBHR De Smet

[Rascal]

Pat,

Thank you for your through and timely reply. I have heard about Dr Kennedy In Sarasota FL. He has a very good reputation and was in a pilot program for hip resurfacing for several years before it was approved in the USA.  I think I'll give Dr Kennedy a call for the bone scan to see if I'm even eligible.

Kind regards,

Rascal

[Pat Walter]

You are welcome for the info.  If for some reason Dr. Kennedy doesn't think you are a good candidate for hip resurfacing, you might want to look further.  Just a hint that this has happened many times for people in the past. Not necessarily with Dr. Kennedy, but other doctors.  Sometimes if you should have a difficult case, you need to use the really experienced doctors like Gross, Bose, De Smet, etc. 

If that should be the case, let me know and I can help you find some other experienced doctors.  Don't take No for an answer until you have checked out all your possible solutions.  There have been some very difficult cases that the experienced doctors have done and the people are very happy.

Good Luck.

Pat

[Vicky]

I believe Dr. Kennedy has retired or is shortly retiring and no longer scheduling patients for surgery.  However Dr. Stolarski has taken over and has had some good experience by now.  I am not sure how many he has done but you can ask when you call the office.  You will find that a lot of docs will have age limits, do not let that stop you from getting a resurface.  If your bone density is good and you don't have large cysts, etc. there should be no problem for you to get a resurface.  Some docs will not resurface anyone over age 65, some as young as 55, which to me is ridiculous.  It should be on a case by case basis not based on age. 

Vicky

[Pat Walter]

Hi Vicky

Thanks for your reply and Welcome to our Hip Talk.

For new people - Vicky is a very happy Dr. Bose hip resurfacing patient and knows all kinds of information about hip resufacing. She is a great resource and inspiration to many wanna bee surface hippies.   

Thanks for joining.

Pat

[Rascal]

An Update,

Made the 200 mile (round trip) to see Dr. Kennedy in Sarasota FL in late 2007 regarding resurfacing. I was very clear when making the appointment that I was interested in resurfacing only.

After the xray an examination Dr Kennedy informed me at that he thought I was a good candidate for resurfacing and gave me a good presentation of its benefits. But...due to insurance reasons/costs he was no longer doing any surgery. He referred me to another doctor in his office some 30 days later (another 200 mile trip).

I don't remember the doc's name but it was not Dr. Stolarski. I asked Dr. Kennedy about Dr. Stolarski and was told he was no longer doing resurfacing also.

I met with the new Doctor some 30 days later and was told that he could do it (resurfacing) but did not believe in it  versus replacement. He said he had done about 15 resurfacing and would do it if I wanted it...but would not guarantee it, pending the surgery table. It would be his call to resurface or replace at that time. I thanked him and got the heck out of there!

A lot of wasted miles and too few smiles with the Dr Kennedy's office experience for me. Although a few Dr's are starting to advertise hip surfacing in my home town Ft Myers area, when questioned they lay claim to only 25-50 completed operations. A nurse friend relates that she believes its an advertising ploy to get you in the door to be talked into a replacement only.

I have no desire to drive hundreds of miles or fly to BFE for resurfacing. I do not have anyone for help during recovery other than a few neighbors that might look in. My Medicare and BC BS insurance will not cover time in a additional care assisted living facility. The recovery process in a 100+ mile away location is not appealing to me.

I have had a successful bone density test done by a local highly recommended replacement only doctor. I will be 67 shortly and both hips hurt. I barely can bend over to put socks/shoes on. I have been going through the process of trying to find a local resurfacing doctor for about three+ years now. I am sick of being sick!

I am getting ready to bite the bullet and have what the new Dr calls a "minimally invasive" replacement done on the first hip shortly. The second possibly next year. Many other people in my age have had hip replacements an seem to be able to boat, fish, play golf/tennis. That is all I need too do at this late age. Thats better than what I'm doing right now. (Enough is enough). I think I've given up on the resurfacing idea due to lack of experienced doctors in my area and my desire to not travel three states over or to India to find one.

Kind Regards,

JS

[hollyk]

I probably went '"against the grain" and am too new after hip resurfacing to give any advice. However, this web site was and is a great resource for info. My surgeon is in the Orlando area. He is know in this area to be one of the best THR surgeons in this area, however he had only done about 20 hip resurfacing surgeries. I had also gone to a reputable Dr. in Tampa, but after much indecision, opted to go with the surgeon here. I don't know when someone might see problems if there were to be any. So far, my surgery went well,  recovery has been excellent, and the xrays, etc. looked great. Hopefully I will have no complaints down the road... I was very uncertain as to whether I was doing the right thing, but Pat's advice was "go with your gut"...I wish you the best and would say the same thing..do your research and go with your gut... use this web site..it is really helpful. Good luck!

[Pat Walter]

Hi JS

I am sorry to hear about your experience. It would upset me too to drive that far and have the surgeon tell you he doesn't do surgery any more.  I removed both Dr. Kennedy and Stolarski from my list. 

There are still 2 surgeons with several hundred resurfacings on the doctors list  http://www.surfacehippy.info/listofdoctors.php#Florida

It does get discouraging running all around to doctors that can't help you.  I traveled just about 200 miles also to have 2 surgeons tell me hip resurfacing is not a good surgery.  They each cost me $200 apiece.  Then I had 2 local surgeons tell me the same thing and charged me $200   It is not uncommon to have surgeons try to discourage you against resurfacing.

I hope you find a good solution to your hip pain.

Pat

[Rascal]

Thanks Pat,

I am still interviewing doctors for THR (gave up on resurfacing). Although, when I come back to your forum and read again, I have second thoughts. Dr Gross in SC sure sounds good. I have Medicare and a good expensive BCBS supplement policy. So other than hotel cost its possible But, I'm alone in this world with only a 88 year young aunt to watch my little furry four pawed boy while I'm in the hospital and recovering at home. The logistics of a out of state ain't for me. The Florida Dr. Raterman is well thought on your forum...but about two hundred miles away in Tampa.

I don't relish the trip to SC. or Tampa. And how do I recover to fly or drive back? I can't afford to stay in a hotel for weeks at 90$ per day. Life's a beach and then you die.

God Bless,

JS

[xocy]

Just brain storming...

You can fly inexpensively from Ft. Myers to Atlanta
Dr. Gross is an easy drive from Atlanta, all Interstate, but 3 hours.
The Marriott is in the hospital parking lot (literaly) and cost $93 per night.
I had very little trouble with the ride from Columbia to Atlanta where I live. Keep in mind that I had two hips done that week.

Another option, in Atlanta there is a OS by the name of Steve Smith. He is at Piedmont Hospital in downtown Atlanta. A very good hospital. My understanding is that he has done 50 or 60 resurfacings. You need to verify. I believe he is at Peachtree Ortho.

Mike

Bilateral
Dr. Gross
Left 6/23/08 Right 6/25/08

[John C]

Having traveled from SC back to Idaho after my resurfacing with Dr Gross, which involved four airports, I can tell you that the travel thing can be done. You will only need to stay in the hotel for a couple of nights ( I chose to stay for three nights, just to be close in case anything seemed off), and you can use a taxi to get around Columbia ( I think that Gross's office even has a taxi driver that they recommend for patients). I have never flown first class in my life, but it is great after the surgery. Ask the airlines to meet you at the gate with a wheelchair for getting around the airports, and it all goes okay.
Choose a surgeon that you feel good about, but I would advise that you not let travel be a primary factor in this big of a decision.

John/Gross/Left Uncemented Biomet/ 6-16-08