How much say did you have in choice of prosthesis? Just wondering if your surgeon gave you a choice in the matter or if they decided which would be the best for you? For various reasons I have not yet seen my surgeon, just one of his team and we didn't discuss replacement at that point. . The surgeon wrote and told me I need a THR after reviewing my MRI which was done elsewhere. I was expecting to see him to discuss what he had found and get his recommendation but it has ended up that I will only see him on the day of the surgery. I am in a lot of pain and just want this sorted and I guess if I had injured my hip in a car accident or something I would perhaps only see the surgeon after the operation had been carried out. The surgeon is reputable and very experienced, it's been more of an admin problem that has caused this. I could postpone the op and demand to see him but that prolongs my pain and causes problems with having someone to stay with me post op which is all arranged now. There aren't any operation appointments until the end of October if I don't go ahead this week. Just feeling anxious and under pressure. I have decided that if I feel very uncomfortable with him when I do meet him I can always walk out. I did send him a list of questions by email via his secretary but haven't heard back. I rang the hospital today as I had no reply from the secretary and they are chasing this up for me. Was discussion about the surgical approach, prosthesis type and lifestyle expectations something that you had in advance or were you just given a new hip? Not having had anything like this before I don't know what I should expect. What questions did you ask or wish you had asked?
I am in BC Can and have had a different experience. I did meet my surgeon who is the head of ortho. He highly recommended the ceramic hip which i now have. Also the anterior approach. And a spinal which is what they do. I am now over 8 months and if I do my exercises I am great. I ride a stationary and try to walk often. Yeaterday and the day before I did 7.5 k and felt only muscle tiredness. Good luck. But definitely have confidence in your surgeon. Can't believe you haven't met him. Where are you located?
Hi Ann, most surgeons have their own favourite hips, my cynical brother says it is which hip supplier has been friendliest to them! My surgeon says he does not like ceramic as it is prone to debris. I don't know if that is correct or not.
I'm in UK and I did see consultant before but was just good luck as his Registrar was also seeing patients at the clinic. Didn't meet him on day of op just the registrar. He called by my bed next morning and mumbled a few words and walked away. That said I had every confidence in him and he told me what type of prosthesis he was using. I did not know what approach was until I saw my scar. At the end of the day they are all qualified and apparently have their own specialised methods. Being in pain is no joke so we just have to take the amazing chance of having this op and having a future again. Hope op goes well. The whole experience was not as daunting as I thought. Despite pain from op it is so great to be free from the excruciating pain of pre op.
to be honest, I didn't ask - I think he might have told me what he was going to use but even that just went over my head -
Didn't ask the 2nd time either ---
My surgeon was not the most approachable man - not even that kind, more matter of fact -
I did not like him but somehow trusted him - and he did a good job, surprised me that he had nice bedside manners and so I trusted him with 2nd hip ...
I understand where you are coming from - it would be nicer if you meet him face to face before you go to the OR -
Have faith darling and trust that he is a very skilled surgeon ...
and come here any time when the pre-op jitters are overwhelming you ...
Hi Susan I'm in the U.K. Having the op at a private hospital via the NHS. I have literally just had a call saying my operation is now postponed due to them not having the correct paperwork for funding so I will be seeing the consultant now prior to the op which is probably for the best.
Hi Ann. I'm in the US. I did discuss with my surgeon what type of hip he used (dupey), what approach (anterior), & what life would be like post surgery. My followup appts PT were also scheduled before surgery. I'm now 6 months post op & as Susan said, as long as I continue to do the exercises from PT I feel pretty good. No longer having that bone on bone pain was a real life changer. Hip can feel tight sometimes but I'm back to all of my daily activities. Best of luck to you.
I had mine done privately in the US. Not only did I see the surgeon to discuss what my options were, I also had to do a manditory 4 hour class that was held at the hospital before they would schedule me for surgery. As far as the type used, this wasn't an option for my surgeon. He uses a reputable brand that he is comfortable with giving the best outcomes for the long term.
I hope you hear back from your surgeon and get the answers you are looking for.
I have also had a difficult time getting any info or dialogue from my Kaiser o-surgeon. Even though I'm 68, my passion is still surfing. My previous o-s said he wouldn't do my surgery becuase his posterior approach may not hold up while surfing. He suggested I use my current Dr. Namba and his anterior approach. I had requested bilateral surgery and was told they don't do that. Now without discussion they have accepted my request for bilateral. I hope I'm doing the right thing and that I can surf again next spring.
What medical group are you using? Kaiser does offer a class. I attended but they said they weren't going to discuss bilateral becuase nobody in the class was havfing that kind of surger. That was the first I heard that it was even offered. I'm now going back to the class on Thursday to find out more info specifically concerning bilateral. I wish I didn't have to wait so long. My world is shrinking, my pain seems worse by the day and I'm looking forward to getting it done. Funny how pain kind of puts you i the right frame of mind for surgery
By the way my first o-s showed me two kinds of prosthesis and specifically which one he was using and why. I asked about prosthesis choices during my class and they said there was only the one? I wish I had chance to go ahead this week, I would definately go for it but at the same time I can surely understand your hesitance. Let me know how it all goes. Good luck, I'll say a prayer for your good outturn.
As far as I know in the UK, unless you go privately, you don't get much choice. That said I don't think I'd feel qualified to make a decision. If you choose a surgeon you have confidence in I'd let him decide what the best option is.
I heard that there have been instants of these prosthesis squeaking. Having experienced this noise when my poly wore out and it was metal om metal I know how embarrassing that is!
I do not like the idea of ceramic on ceramic.....seems like a bad engineering choice given that unlike in a car engine there is no proper lubrication in place. Mine is titanium ball on poly cup. The original lasted for twenty tough years when the poly wore out. The revision is the same except the sizing has been increased.
Hi Richard, I also heard that ceramic tends to squeak. I believe there is a ceramic/poly version available but do not know anything about it. The titanium and poly seems tried and tested and is also very popular with orthopods with lots of successful ops over the years. Having had problems with metal on metal, I hope the same does not happen with ceramic on ceramic.
I, like Pat, want to eventually get back to surfing. I'm 57 and I live in the US and from what I've read in the various posts on this message board is that everyone seems to have had a different experience with their THR. What I did, and what I recommend, is that you do some research to find out as much as you can about the different approaches, materials, what to expect pre and post surgery, etc. I took that information, got my surgeons email address, he was happy to give it to me, and I put together a list of questions for him. If they won't give out an email address, many of them have a portal that you can use to pose questions and other messages. I specifically asked him what type of material was to be used for my prosthesis and he answered exactly what I wanted to hear based on my research. He used a DePuy Pinnacle Acetabular component, made of titanium with a porous coating on the outside that mimics cancellous bone. The bone grows over the implant and is able to attach itself to the bone in as little as 6 weeks. The liner between the ball and socket is called Altrx which is a highly cross-linked polyethylene, which from my research was said to have the best wear properties. I asked him if this is what he would use if he was to have the surgery and he said, "without a doubt". So I guess my point is, even if you don't have a choice of components, at the very least educate yourself as to what you're getting and why. I had my anterior approach LHR 4 weeks ago and I'm walking 5 miles a day, mostly without a cane, hardly use any pain killers (just Celebrex and Tylenol) and have no issues putting my shoes and socks on. Believe it or not, that's been my biggest hurdle being able to reach far enough to put my socks on. Anyway, I consider myself very lucky but I was in shape before the surgery and am continuing that trend post surgery. Best of luck to you and if you'd like to know specifically all the questions I asked, I'd be happy to share them with you.
I have two different hip replacements by two different surgeons , I got transferred from the first surgeon not really sure why had the op cancelled and then told the surgeon hadn't got enough operating room time to fulfill all his patients asked if I wanted to change to another surgeon and said yes. Don't know if it was true what they were saying or if it was for another reason but happy with bothe surgeons
I have a plastic head on my radius (elbow - broken playing squash) and that used to squeak. My daughters friends used to like me demonstrating the squeak. But sadly it is now silent. My spacer used to creak which made both adults and children shudder but that, fortunately, is now in the bin and my new hip is quite silent
Mind you none of it was loud enough for someone to hear unless it was very quiet in the room.
That's interesting. Mine was loud enough for everyone around me in the street or supermarket to hear. It was due to it being metal on metal due to the plot cup having worn through. Not really surprising given the hard life I had given it over twenty years. Surprising that it wad not picked up two years earlier when I saw my GP about discomfort on my hip after walking about one mile. rays failed to identify that the plot cup was cheating the end of it's life.