Resurfacing in the West Palm Beach, FL area?

[shubhasgirl]

About 6 months ago I was diagnosed with AVN; it is likely due to prolonged prednisone useage to treat Sarcoidosis. My left hip has been giving me problems but my right hip is currently asymptomatic. I'm a 42 year old female.

I had a bad experience with my doctor a few days ago. My girlfriend came to the appointment with me. She's been with me at almost every doctors' appointment since I was diagnosed with Sarcoidosis about 3 years ago. She'd typed up questions to ask him - questions taken from this site and research in general. She asked how many resurfacings he'd performed (about 100), if he would do the surgery himself or if an assistant would & if resurfacing was suitable taking my AVN into account. She mentioned notching leading to fractures, something she'd read about. He got really defensive and went off on her. He threw out things like .. you have to trust at some point .. where did you do your fellowship? .. who's your internist? (and when she said she hadn't seen a doctor in a while he said something like .. why are you asking me all these questions when you obviously don't take care of yourself!) And a lot more .. it was a trainwreck!

Anyway, I won't be seeing him again! So I'm looking for an experienced surgeon in the West Palm area. And I need someone who's willing to answer both of our questions. So I really look forward to some advice and hopefully some recommendations. Thanks! 

[danebuxbaum]

Hello fellow Floridian. Believe it or not, it wasn't until I relocated to Little Rock Arkansas that my hip problem worsened to the point where I HAD to get something done. In my search I perused the heck out of this wonderful website, watched all the doctors' interviews and finally decided I needed to travel to have it done. My actual diagnosis and suggested option of resurfacing came from a local doctor who unfortunately had only performed about 20 of them.
I chose Dr. Peter Brooks in Cleveland on the strength of his interview and the fact that he had at that time performed over 450 resurfacings. I think he is probably over 800 by now. He also studied with both of the British doctors who pioneered this operation. My second choice would have been Dr. Gross in S. Carolina.

During my research I looked into Florida but didn't find anyone there who had a "reputation" for this procedure. That seems to matter for this surgery. It's one thing to find a doctor who does them, but another thing altogether to find one who truly believes in the operation and dedicates himself to it's perfection. My recommendation is DON'T BE AFRAID TO TRAVEL TO HAVE THIS DONE. I drove my family with me to Cleveland and made it into a mini vacation. I was able to visit the R+R Hall of fame with them 4 days post-op and only used the wheelchair provided maybe 50% of the time and crutches the rest.
I wish I could tell you that Florida had a "mega doctor" there for this procedure but I don't think it does as yet. Good luck to you.

Dane
RBH July 28, 2010

[shubhasgirl]

Thanks Dane for your suggestions. After everything I've read on this site, I too really believe I need someone who lives and breathes resurfacings! I have BCBS of FL insurance and I'll have to find out how it would work to go out of state & how much more it would cost me. (Would it be "out of network?" I dread talking to the insurance company about this. I dread everything about this!) I think I would consider Dr. Gross because of the doctors with great reputations and high numbers of surgeries, it would seem he's the closest.
My problem is that I'm really scared to have the surgery! Luckily I'm not in that much pain and so I talk myself out of it! I tell myself, "better the devil I know than the devil I don't." I'm worried that something might go wrong and I'll be in worse shape afterwards. But I'm probably not in that much pain because I baby my hip. I limp along, climb stairs sideways and walk at a snails pace. That's just not good for someone who's 42!

[jenn]

There is one doctor in Florida that I know of, Dr Raterman. He is in Tampa. Per my consultation he said he has done about 1,000 resurfacings. He openly discloses that he is a consultant for Smith & Nephew. 

I found 3 publications that he has co-authored. They are

http://www.orthosupersite.com/view.aspx?rid=37184    Early Clinical Experience With the Use of the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing System, Dec 2008 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19779950      The learning curve for adopting hip resurfacing among hip specialists, Feb 2010 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18949528    Initial American experience with hip resurfacing following FDA approval, Jan 2009

Otherwise there is limited information on Dr Raterman.  I know one person that has used him and he is happy. I am still deciding on what to do. Dr Gross and Dr Su's websites and experience are very impressive and their staff are responsive.

Good luck!!

[Dayton96]

Hi Florida,

I have BCBS of Ohio and I've found that it would cover Dr. Raterman, as well as Dr. Gross, Dr. Peter Brooks, Dr. Thomas Schmalzried, Dr. James Pritchett, and Dr. Michael Clarke.  All are excellent surgeons.  It will not cover Dr. Su or Dr. Rogerson. 

In fact, I did try to contact Dr. Raterman several times last year but could never get him to return my calls.  I talked to several of his patients who said they liked him, but were less than pleased with some of his staff.  I've been told he doesn't usually attend the hip resurfacing conferences that you see the other top docs at.

Having said that, let me repeat that his two patients that I communicated with last year were pleased with his work.  No one has raised any issues on this site, that I am aware of, that would question the quality of his work.  If one of your solid requirements is that it has to be a surgeon in Florida, then from what I've read while doing my research last year, he is probably your best bet. 

Mac 

[shubhasgirl]

Jen: Thanks so much for posting the links to those publications. I just read the article about the learning curve and it's reassuring to know it's something he's concerned about. What was your impression of his "bedside manner" or his attitude answering your questions; was he patient with you or defensive in any way?

Mac: Thanks for the information about insurance. It gives me hope that BCBS of Florida may allow me to go out of state if that's what I decide. I think I'll take a deep breath and give them a call! (I find talking with insurance reps so exhausting!) How were you able to contact two of his patients?

Thanks to both of you! I really appreciate the information because it helps me move forward and not put this off!    (this face is really how all this makes me feel!)

[Dayton96]

I did a lot of research last summer on a hand full of surgeons, including Dr. Raterman.  In the case of Dr. Raterman, I can't remember if I received some responses from a posting on this site, or if I found references to Dr. Raterman in previous posts and then sent personal emails to those previous posters.  I used this site to do my research, as well as the yahoo web site.  I don't know if you have tried this yet, but check out the yahoo surface hippy site too and plug in Dr. Raterman's name.  Most posters on that site, and on this one, will accept personal emails.  As you may have discovered, many patients will post on both these sites for a while, but after they have a successful surgery, will drift away.  Not surprising. 

[jenn]

Dr Raterman was sooo nice, patient and answered all my questions during my consultation. The problem was that I kinda locked up during my appointment. All my research and reading went out the window.  He discussed the importance of device placement, bone size and in my case, the slightly lower success rate in women.

Unfortunately his office is not too responsive. I actually scheduled the surgery  (it was a bad hip day) but wound up having more questions once I snapped out of the shock. I called his office twice and it took a full week for someone to call me back.

The woman that returned my call was polite, answered a few questions with general responses and told me to wait until my pre-surgery consultation. OK, that bothered me. Also, his staff does not communicate via email, which is annoying.

My impression is that Dr Raterman is experienced but  he clearly has a different business model than Dr Gross or Dr Su.

I hope this helps. If you contact his office, please post your experience.


Jen