Brand new to the site. Looking for more feedback on Dr. Gross

[Dayton96]

Scott,

My recovery was great.  There was very little pain, and I was off pain meds within a couple weeks of the surgery.  I did develop hypothermia after spending a few hours outside one evening watching my son's baseball practice.  It was a wet & cold night up here, less than two weeks after my surgery, and I did not realize how vulnerable my system was.  I could not stop shaking and my hip hurt like hell.  Yet I survived it.     

Dr. Gross made a comment to me prior to my surgery that he was always amazed when some of his patients told him that they forgot they had the implant in after a while.  He said he could not imagine not feeling anything when you had metal inserted into your body.  I actually feel a little difference between my two hips, but it is not discomfort, just a slightly different feeling.  A lot of time I do forget there is a metal hip.  I flew to England and hiked around the Lake Country last August with my family (4-1/2 months after my surgery) and had no problems.  I even forgot about the hip when I went through security at Heathrow - until the alarm went off. 

I was going to post a 6 month update on my surgery, but decided to wait until my one year check-up, which is scheduled for later this month in Columbia.  While I could just get my x-rays taken up here and email them to Columbia, I wanted to go in person.  I plan on getting copies of all my x-rays and asking lots of questions.  When I return, and with clearance from Dr. Gross, I will start working on a running program.  That program will be a true test of my hip resurface. 

I'm little surprised to hear BC/BS is saying you will have $7000 out of pocket.  I would guess my out of pocket expenses were under $1000, and that includes the ice machine, crutches, and my share of medication expenses.  I have BC/BS for federal employees and my experience is our federal program is often not as good as many in the private sector.

Best,

Mac

[curt]

    I had BC/BS and paid up to my max yearly copay (out of pocket) which is just under 5000.  I think each company etc., negotiates different stuff based upon monthly premium (mine is low, so copay is high).  Good luck, I would have robbed and bank and paid cash to get it done one way or the other.

Curt

[bigblue]

This August will be 4 years since Dr. Gross did my surgery. For me it was the best decision I ever made. A few weeks ago I needed some clarification about a test I am scheduled for this week unrelated to my hip surgery. I contacted Lee Webb by e-mail and she responded quickly answering all my questions. I think this sets Dr. Gross apart from some others. They are never too busy to respond to concerns from their patients. You are very lucky to have him so close. I had to drive 6 hrs and would have driven further if need be.

[Tin Soldier]

Scott - very similar story for me, without the backpain though.  If I were on the eastern half of the US I would have gone with Gross.  You are not going to hear anything bad about the guy or his staff.  He's an excellent surgeon. 

I fussed a little over the "as cast" and heat treated aspect before surgery.  I got a little fixated on DeSmet's paper about the subject where he compared the BHR to the C+.  After Pritchett said "we do the BHR" and based on the population size for the BHR coupled with the success rate, I decided that BHR was it.  Also the fact that Pritchett, like McMinn and probabaly a few other surgeons, pointed out the failure potential of the ASR before it went on the market suggested to me that my surgeon know's best and I should just rely on him.  I think that is a perfectly good reason for you to simply go with Gross.  I'd say based on his experience and numbers, he's one of the top 10 in the world, maybe top 5.  He wouldn't be so supportive of the biomet unless he really believed in it.  Also, I really like the idea of bone growth into the back side of the femoral component.  Pritchett uses cement, but he says not much.  I have no idea how important that is.  It does seem common sensy, much like the acetabular side.   There has certainly been some discussion on it here.   

Back to the "as cast" vs heat treated - I don't think there is much difference.

BTW - The ASR failed due to machining (not totally hemispherical), not metallurgy.       

Good luck.

[bosoxgordon]

Thanks again all for the great info and feedback. After doing a lot of research, getting a lot of feedback from folks out here, and meeting Dr. Gross it is pretty clear to me that he is a great choice. I of course still have to iron out the insurance details. I will let the board know when I get a more definitive answer.

Of course the next big question for me is when! I know this is a popular point of discussion on this board and I can understand why. Once getting past the shock and denial about actually having advanced OA at a young age I now have to figure out when is the right time. I know my GP will tell me to wait as long as possible and control the pain with medication. I'm all for that to a point. I have already slowed down some to avoid the worst of the pain but I'm not nearly as bad as it seems some folks were before they took the leap. This decision is unlike any of the other decisions. It is much more subjective and personal. I'm not exactly sure how I will decide but I suppose I will setup some sort of litmus test that will trigger my decision to go ahead with it. Any ideas? What was your tipping point?

[mslendzion]

I had pain all the time. I limped, used a cane, was unable to workout, used a sock putter on tool, all pre op.  what put me over was the lack of sleep. I took ambien 2 yrs before my surgery and they stopped working because the pain still woke me up. No regrets so far and best of all NO AMBIEM SINCE THE SURGERY. My husband is thrilled. He had fears I would do evil things at night to him on ambien, ( the drug gets some bad press).  I'm confident I will be in full workout mode adhering to restrictions bringinging me back to the life I led and love, the sooner the better. Youre only young once. 

As one of my doctors said "you don't get points for pain".

[Miguelito]

Scott,

My final straw came in early November of last year. At the time I thought (and was told) I had golf-related sciatica. I had quit golf in August because the bouts of disability after a round (which had been getting worse and worse for 6-7 years) just became so bad that it was a fairly easy decision (after a last major bout of pain/disability after my final golf trip).

So after 2-3 months of recovering I was feeling pretty good and I think I lazily threw some combinations and maybe two or three kicks in my basement. As a result, over the next two weeks I lost the ability to put any weight on my right leg four separate times. I couldn't even stand (for a several hour period) without crutches. I was in so much pain that to fall asleep I would have to (besides deliberately self-medicating with alcohol) make myself a nest on the couch with cushions and pillows to get my leg in this crazy position so that it would hurt the least, all the while applying heat, so that I could pass out for four or five hours. I'd been doing the pillow between the knee thing for at least a couple of years (without even knowing that that was big hip OA thing), but this was just a different order of pain.

These bouts of pain and disability all happened at about ten o'clock at night and lasted until I could fall asleep at two or three a.m. I then missed work the next day every time. During this stretch I resolved to finally push my doctor and figure out what was going on. So he sent me for an x-ray and then an MRI. As you all know from your own experiences the x-ray was dispositive, even to my laymans eye. My PCP told me it was just a matter of time before I got a hip replacement.

He was gonna send me for a surgical consult straightaway but I talked him out of it. That night I thought about it and I realized that constantly in pain and sometimes disabled was just no way to live. Called the doc the next day, I had heard about HR and was interested in it. He sent me to a local surgeon at Boston's most well known orthopedic hospital who supposedly did both (but who later told me that he only did HR when someone's femur was so abnormal due to injury that he couldn't jam a THR spike down into it - honest to god he said that).

Went to Dr. Gross's web-site, was blown away by how forthright he was, heard nothing but great things about him on this web-site and the Yahoo board and was sold. Part of my day job is being able to tell when someone is BS'ing me (and I think I'm particularly good at it) and the sincerity vibe I get from Dr. Gross and his web-site is so strong it is off the charts.

Short answer it was the not being able to walk (at times) that was the final straw.

Mike

[Tin Soldier]

As you mentioned, this is probably one of the most discussed aspects of HR - the "when" question.

I think I could have gone a little longer without treatment.  I wasn't taking much but ibuprofen once in awhile, but every time I wanted to do something active, I'd pay for it.  I certainly wasn't able to run much like I used to, I couldn't ride my bike to the river with the kids, sleeping was getting worse... the list goes on.  Although I still don't think I was a s bad off as others.  Not even close in some cases. 

A few thoughts on tipping point:

I was grumpy a lot, I wasn't getting the cardio exercise needed for overall health, not to mention keeping the BP in check

I was seeing my kids have fun without me (that's a biggy), they're going to be in college in a few years and I didn't want to miss out on being active and keeping up with them during their teenage years,

Insurance was paying for it,

I could wait 10 years to maybe see some big changes in the industry, or I could wait 1 or 2 years in pain for what?  why wait?

Also I felt like I had already had a pretty significant lifestyle change for a few years by reducing my activity level and I felt like it was just getting easier and easier to sit in the easy chair and drink beer all night.  That's not the direction I or my family wanted me to head.

Fast forward to 2 days ago, I was happily running around chasing a Frisbee from my kids.  I was the golden retriever running around on the beach in the sun on a dog food commercial.  Life doesn't get much better than that.

[jb46]

BoSox,
I'm in same situation but have already pulled the trigger and have surgery scheduled with Dr. Gross at the end of April.
You know it is time to do it when it affects your life on a daily basis, stops you from doing things you enjoy etc.
I was a physically active 46 year old male...at least I was active before the hip shut me down. This will allow me to get "my life back".

You've already done more research...probably than necessary. I've had major knee surgery before, cartilage replacement. Once I decided on Doc, I had all confidence in him and his decisions. Feel the same way about Dr. Gross, more experience than almost all others, solid background, history of good decisions. Don't get caught up reading every article or paper on every type of procedure/equipment. You've got to remember that EVERY one involved in those has "outside motives"...companies they "work with" etc.

Probably your background as a pilot. You want to be in control of all aspects. If I know I've got a good pilot, that's enough and I let him "fly the plane" so to speak. I'm already booked for surgery and I don't even know, or care, which procedure he's going to use. I can't do enough research to second guess someone with his experience level.

Hope this helps...I wanted to write cause I waited to long. Get it done and get your life back...good luck...jb

[Aerial]

I am just past 12 weeks and recently I truly have begun to to forget an implant is in there.  I didn't think that would be possible but apparently it is!  :)

[LAB123]

Getting more encouraged as I'm reading these posts. I'm scheduled to have my left hip  done 3/28 by Dr. Gross. Any advice on hotels near the hospital? My wife will be with me and I guess we'll be spending the night in Columbia after I'm released Friday. Or will I be ready for the 7-hour drive home to Norfolk that night?

Thanks!

Larry

[sdunn4]

Larry,

I had surgery on a Monday and was released Wednesday.  We stayed overnight at the hotel near the hospital (I believe it was the Marriott Courtyard) one more night before beginning the trip home on Thursday.  We had a 2-day (1000 mile) drive back to upstate NY.  We stayed the extra night "just to make sure" all was well prior to the long drive home.  I purchased the battery pack for the ice machine and ran the machine on and off for the entire trip home- no problems at all.  I hit the 20-week mark in 2 days and I couldn't be happier with the procedure and the results so far.  Good luck!

Steve

[Dayton96]

I had a 9 hour drive back to Ohio.  I stayed at the Residence Inn and had an easy drive home with several stops.  Dr. Gross asks patients who are not local to stay an extra night at a close just in case.

Mac

[Dayton96]

Oh, and I recommend you ask for a handicap room when you make your reservation.   

Mac

[John C]

Since I had about a ten hour trip through four airports, I stayed two nights in the hotel before flying home. There are two Marriotts near the hospital; one is right across the parking lot from the hospital, which I believe is the Courtyard and has nice hotel rooms; and the other is the Residence which is about three blocks away, and has nice living area and kitchen options. Both offer the option of handicapped rooms, and are familiar with Dr Gross patients. My wife stayed in the Courtyard while I was in the hospital, and then moved us to the Residence for the two nights after I got out.

[obxpelican]

Larry,

You're probably going to get swelled up and be a bit sore but it's really not that bad.  Break that 7 hour trip up with plenty of stops, do bathroom breaks at larger national restaurant chains, they have really good handicapped bathrooms, do lots of foot pumps and you will be perfectly fine.  Hundreds of Dr. Gross hippys have done what you will be doing. 

I did Columbia to Pittsburgh, same day and I drove part of the way back when I was sure the pain meds were done.

The whole ordeal is nothing to get worried about, I will need my left done at some point and I will do it with much more confident attitude.

Chuck

Getting more encouraged as I'm reading these posts. I'm scheduled to have my left hip  done 3/28 by Dr. Gross. Any advice on hotels near the hospital? My wife will be with me and I guess we'll be spending the night in Columbia after I'm released Friday. Or will I be ready for the 7-hour drive home to Norfolk that night?

Thanks!

Larry

[einreb]

Any advice on hotels near the hospital?

I think the Marriott Courtyard next to the hospital is a no-brainer.  I literally walked over the morning of my surgery.  I think they actually gave a discount as one of Dr Gross' patients?  We drove to Charlotte on the Friday after my wednesday surgery, stayed at the Doubletree somewhat near the airport and flew out Saturday morning. We did not have a handicap room, but that may have been helpful for the raised seat and bars. 

[curt]

    Courtyard for me too.  Perfect spot near the hospital, and close to drug store to fill 'scrips for meds.  Stayed there the night of discharge before the drive home and night before admission.  Discount price, decent room.

Curt

[mari]

We also stayed at the Courtyard both before and after surgery; it's very convenient.  Took our time going home to MN; took breaks at rest stops and stayed in motels 2 nights.

[LAB123]

Steve, Mac, John, Chuck, einreb, Curt,

Thanks for the info...this board is an amazing resource! Will book at Courtyard and hope to leave Friday with the ice machine pumping!

All the best,

Larry