Out of Town Patient Question

[Saddlepal3]

Greetings,
How important is it to see the surgeon in person for a 2 month follow up, as opposed to sending x rays?
I am a 6 hour flight away from my surgeon and I wouldn’t hesitate to travel if I had concerns, but if the follow up appt consists of xrays and a 10 minute “everything looks fine” session, I wonder about the necessity. My doctor told me I could send x rays if I “couldn’t” come back, but he said, “it’s always better to see you in person.” Anybody have thoughts/experience? Thanks in advance.

[hernanu]

My take on it is that you should go in person. I think that if the doctor sees things like your scars, sees you walk, etc. that they and you can be more confident that things are going well.

After my procedures, I went to see the doctor at two months, then at six, at a year and then we went to multi - year visits.

In my case, it wasn't something that will be continuous, but if possible, I would take dealing with the surgeon personally to let them exercise their training fully, instead of just looking at pretty pictures. Just my 2 cents.

[Joe_CA]

Hi Saddlepal3,

I had bilateral resurfacing in South Carolina (I live in California) with Dr. Gross (5 hour flight) about 20 months ago. I never planned on going for the standard 6-week post surgery follow up appointment. It would have been nice to see him, but I wasn't having any complications, so I simply sent him the standard post-op x-ray images.

As I read you story, your revision surgery (and bone density situation?) is a little more complicated. You may want to consider going back, especially if you have any post-op issues (fingers crossed that you don't). Then again, if everything is going well, and I will assume Dr. Pritchett (and staff) is available to answer your questions, then it may not be necessary.

Good luck in your recovery.

[catfriend]

I think he wants to see you walk. Also, if memory serves me correctly, he moved my leg around to check for range of motion. And, as a previous poster mentioned, you had a complicated revision case so that might require a more careful follow up.

[blinky]

I went in person to those early milestone visits, but in retrospect it wasn't necessary. Others I knew did not go.

Okay, so I scheduled the face to face appointments just in case I had any concerns. Then when I didn't, they seemed unnecessary. If I had had questions or problems, I may well have felt differently.

We did arrange those visits around big vacations, which made them worthwhile. They felt like victory laps: see the doctor, take a trip.

Dr Gross
bilat
11-15

[John C]

I have done all of my follow ups for the past ten years by long distance, and it works fine. When I have had minor questions, my surgeon has always been great about calling me and having lengthy phone conversations. Unless I needed a physical exam to evaluate a problem, I personally would not travel.