I am devastated!!

[Leela3325]

Hey Guys and Gals,
Well I am so upset today.  I am, I mean, I was one week away from having LHR with Dr. Brooks. Today I got a call from his office at the Cleveland Clinic telling me that Smith-Nephew is no longer approving the Birmingham system for use in woman.  I think I am in shock!! I had already been approved for FMLA and am scheduled off of work for the month.  After a good cry, many swear words and a long talk with my fantastic boyfriend I have decided to see if Dr. Gross will take me on as a patient.  I already have the forms filled out and all my x-rays, MRI and CT ready to go in the mail tomorrow. I just thought that all the females on this site might need to know what is going on in case they are researching a surgeon.   

[Beth]

Lisa,
I also sent you a message. I am hoping others respond to this posting.

Since I am doing well progressing with weight bearing I have been thinking about my other hip which a planned surgery had to be cancelled because of my stress fracture in the hip I had the BHR 2/14.
My insurance will not pay for Dr Gross.
I just will have to put off the other hip surgery if my only choice is a hip replacement for now.

I wonder if they saw this coming?
Beth

[Pat Walter]

WOW   I haven't heard that.  At least not yet.  I can't believe it.  Many of us women have old BHRs that work well.  Mine will be 10 years in March.

I need to try and find out more.

Thanks for the post.  I hope Dr. Gross can help you out.

It is too bad how the hip resurfacing world is shrinking.

Pat

[karlos.bell]

  Hey Leela. Bit of a shame if this is true. But!!! looking around this web site people have all sorts of brands implanted in them.
Some I have never heard of at all until I look them up.
Pat may up date us on this with Birmingham, but I would doubt it if will stop you getting an HR of some sort that is as equally as good by a really experienced surgeon.
All the best keep us up to date.

[DeviceGuy]

Leela and Beth,
Sorry to hear about the BHR decision.  It is a litigious society and the companies are doing the CYA with poor data.
Dr. Gross is an excellent choice and may be able to help you both.  You have done your homework and have made a decision to go with resurfacing so you should continue to seek that out.  Experience yields high success in this case, so go for an experienced surgeon with an alternative to the BHR.  Your health is and should be paramount to you so don't settle for anything less than what you want and feel is best for you.
Best of luck and keep our community posted.

[JHippy]

This is such horrible news, I'm beside myself.


@Leela: yes Dr. Gross is a great option and I highly recommend him. Especially for women as he's pinpointed the ideal placement by cup size (not sure how many other surgeons have followed suit if any at all). Although he only has short term data so far, he feels the results he's getting with women is approaching that of men.


@Beth: Regarding the insurance see if your insurance will cover the hospital Dr. Gross uses. Another member here, Comfortably Numb, had his insurance cover the hospital stay and he paid out of pocket for Dr. Gross. Although it's several thousand dollars out of pocket, it's still a fraction of what the total cost is.

[Anniee]

I second the recommendation of Dr. Gross.  I had no problems getting my insurance to pay for him or the hospital, and he uses the Biomet implants.  Definitely worth checking out!