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Dr. Eric M Heinrich in Austin, Texas did the resurface of my right
hip last May 14th and it was a very positive experience as far as
bone surgery goes. I think he is terrific. He had done 60
resurfaces by May 2007. So he is over 100 by now. Both my legs are
the same length. Everything went smoothly and he visited me in the
hospital every day sometimes twice. He is very kind and considerate.
He is good with drugs (no reason for pain) and very pro PT. Plus the
hospital (St. Davids) has a pool and he had me in it on day three. It
felt very good. He will call you at home at night and answer any
questions you have. His staff is tremendous and considerate.
He was recommended to me by his professor Dr. Paul Peters in Dallas
who did the reconstruction and cup and ball replacement of my left
total hip in May of 2005 and the original TLHR in 1993. Dr. Peters
was one of the only surgeons that would do a hip replacement on a 39
year old woman (with a two year old child) back in 1993. They had
only been doing them on 70 year olds previously. He turned out to be
one of the top 10 orthopedic hip surgeons in the country for eight
years running after my surgery. Now he specializes in
reconstruction. I had interviewed over 10 orthopedic surgeons by the
time I found him. I'm kinda picky I suppose. In 2005 I interviewed a
whole bunch more but chose to go back to Peters in Dallas which
worked great for me.
When it came time to do the right hip I interviewed a bunch more but
when I met Dr. Heinrich and his staff, plus with Dr. Peters
recommendation, I scheduled resurface surgery for 10 days later. He
teaches resurfacing and wanted to use my case to teach because he
considered it unusual. That was a whirlwind 10 days getting ready.
Regarding resurface vs total hip replacement. I think resurface is
going to be the norm really soon. I noticed the huge, gigantic, nay,
remarkable lessoning of the impact to my body when I woke up from the
resurface vs the replacement and of course the reconstruction. With
the resurface I was out to eat in a week, the recovery has been
really easy comparably. I was at the beach jumping in the waves at
two months. Keeping the femur makes an undeniable positive
difference lessoning the impact on the body.
Let's see, right at two months I was back delivering Meals on Wheels,
climbing stairs, walking all over. I'm starting post op month five
and I just got back from a two week vacation to visit family in
California with my 16 year old son. No way I could have even thought
of doing that at four months with the total hip replacement. Plus
with no restrictions on my right hip I'm still free to bend and squat
and do all the normal stuff with that leg. This alone is a
tremendous benefit of resurface vs replacement.
Shoot me a line off list and I'll give you my phone number if you
like. It's a wonderful life, walking!
Eric Matthew Heinrich (MD)
1015 E 32ND ST STE 200,
AUSTIN, TX 78705
Phone: 512-476-2830
Enjoy! And a heart felt and true thank you to all who contribute to
this list. It soothed me so before and after my resurface. You all
rock!
Beverly in Austin
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