Hi Jean, glad to hear from you!
I actually don't know for sure if he is the most experienced in Utah, but I can't imagine anybody doing it any better. For the second surgery, I had a different doctor doing the anesthesia, and I was told by the nurse later that they all have different methods, so waking up during the surgery was actually a result of what the anesthesiologist did, rather than Dr. Hickman. Again, it was not the least bit uncomfortable, scary or anything like that, and I really am a wimp, so if it didn't bother me, it probably won't bother anybody. Even though I was conscious, I was still very sedated and relaxed. Thinking back on it now, they must have noticed my eyes opened, and put me out again, because I don't recall much other than those few minutes after the initial wake-up until I woke up again in recovery. One important thing to mention here is they asked me which type of anesthesia I would prefer, and I could have opted for a deep general anesthesia that pretty much guarantees you are out for the duration. I have to say that if I had to have this done 10 times, I would chose the block and sedation all 10 times vs. the general (it's a good thing I only have 2 hips!!).
Dr. Hickman has probably done over 150 resurfacings by now, but he doesn't do just those. He also does THR's and other orthopedic surgery, like the knees. He does his surgery every Monday all day. I remarked to the pre-op nurse this last time that Monday must be a really long day for him, and she says he absolutely loves it. She said he's like a kid in a candy store, and can't wait for Mondays. You will be able to get your own opinion of him during your visit, but I think you will find him very enthusiastic and like I said before, totally sold on the merits of resurfacing. When I go back for my 3 week post-op visit, I'm going to ask him where he trained for the BHR procedure, but if you happen to think to ask him during your visit, can you send an email to Pat so she can update the Dr. listing?
I have only spoken with one of his other BHR patients during all this, and he was an older man who was back for his 3-week post-op visit, and he was off crutches, doing very well, and was just as happy with Dr. Hickman as I have become. This last surgery, there was another Hickman BHR patient in the room next to mine, and I planned on going in during one of my walks with the physical therapist, but by the time we got over there, he had been released. One thing you might want to do is see if they can give you names of a few patients of his you can talk to. Two people you will get to know there if you decide to have him do your surgery is Kristen, who is his secretary, and Brooke, who is his medical assistant (I think she is an RN). I have called them both many times, and they usually don't answer because they are busy, but they are both excellent to return calls.
One of the many things I was impresssed with was the care he took in placing the cobalt chrome cap over the femur bone. Apparently the angle at which this is inserted is very important, and has ramifications down the road as to how resistant your hip is to future fracturing. Fracturing is quite rare, but it can happen, and is aggravated by positioning the resurfacing hardware incorrectly where there is more stress on the femur neck than is necessary. In my case he looked at the xrays after the first surgery, and carefully showed me how mine was at the perfect angle to withstand the maximum stress (my femur neck is apparently at a bit wider angle than most men). I'm sure all the good resurfacing doctors do this, but I was just very reassured at how detail oriented he is.
The other doctor I looked into locally was Dr. Kim Bertin, and he came highly recommended to me by a friend of mine who is a hospital administrator, and knows him well. My problem there is he only does his surgery at LDS hospital, and my insurance is not accepted there.
The hard part about all this is here you have an extremely skilled and dedicated person who basically gives you your life back, which is priceless, but all you have to give in return is your money
. I know it's a LOT of money, but it somehow doesn't seem like quite enough compensation because it's so great to be able to do all those things you used to do, and can do them pain-free again.
Whoever you chose to do your surgery, I wish you the best of luck! I don't think this surgery is recovered from as easily as some of the minimally-invasive total hip procedures from what I understand, but it's a great solution for younger more active people, and recovery is not that bad. It's been one week today since my second surgery, and I am still on two crutches, but I am very mobile, getting in and out of bed myself, and I will probably toss one crutch this coming week. As far as pain, the first couple of days I was glad to have a pain-pill, but now an occasional Tylanol is all I need. It's also been 6 weeks today since the first surgery, and that side is very strong now, which is good, since it has done most of the weight bearing.
If you haven't already started, make sure you do some exercising to tone those leg muscles. That makes recovery a little easier. Also, you may not have been told this yet, but within 48 hours after surgery, they send you to a clinic to get a radiation treatment on the operated hip. They do this because the body is so aggressive in trying to heal that hip that there is a possibility of getting bone spurs or calcium growth in the tissue surrounding the joint. The radiation slows this process way down so the danger is minimized. It's not painful, and the actual radiation takes only a couple of minutes, but you're there for quite a while as they do x-rays, and map out exactly how and where to treat the joint. The hard part is you are getting up and down on tables, so you'll need meds.
Good luck, and keep us posted.
Alan
Topic: Another new Double Hippy (Read 4043 times)
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