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I had my right hip resurfaced by Dr. Rogerson on 12/6/07 and
have the left scheduled for 2/18/08.
I was thoroughly satisfied with Dr. Rogerson and his team
from beginning to end.
Dr. Rogerson is a great surgeon and a very nice man. I
immediately felt confident in his abilities after I met him. He and his
PA (JoAnna) were exceptionally thorough in their explanation of
the procedure and in answering my questions. The office staff is
also extremely efficient, friendly and very easy to work with.
His office also has you tour the Meriter Rehab facility where you are
sent to rehab for 3 days after leaving the hospital. I talked with
many people at this facility who were both involved in the rehab
and those who weren't. Once I told them that I was being resurfaced by
Dr. Rogerson, all (including the parking cashier) raved about
Dr. Rogerson and how impressed they were with the quick progress
of his patients. This was the same theme during my stay at the
hospital and my actual stay at rehab. Every time I mentioned my surgery
and Dr. Rogerson, everyone had something positive to say about him.
While I know not to take the word of those that are not directly
involved in the procedure, I was quite taken aback by all the
unsolicited positive feelings towards Dr. Rogerson.
The actual surgery went quite well. I immediately woke up
with no hip pain. The surgical pain was also not too bad. Probably
my toughest problem was general fatigue and headaches. By the
day after surgery, I was off the Morphine pump and felt no need for
Vicodin. At this point I just started taking Advil, as my headaches
were the biggest problem and Advil has always been successful in
treating this problem. On this day, they also had me start rehab. While it
is quite nerve wracking to get up less than 24 hours after
surgery, it ended up being pretty easy and they had me walking
immediately.
The next day, I had another rehab session in the morning. In
the afternoon I was released and sent to the Meriter rehab
facility. Dr. Rogerson has a program set up specifically for his
resurfacing patients. This program was based on Dr. DeSmets (Belgium)
program. This program includes both land and water therapy. The
physical therapists were also wonderful and are very knowledgeable
about resurfacing. They quickly had me walking on one crutch. The
water therapy was very helpful. I felt that I made the greatest
progress after my water therapy sessions.
At the rehab facility my worst problem was still fatigue and
a general, but bearable leg ache. My leg was slightly swollen,
but not to bad. One funny aside - The rehab facility is located in a
retirement home. When riding the elevator, the residents
don't like to miss their ride. Many residents have walkers and wheel
chairs. One resident who was pushing an empty wheel chair decided to
try getting on the elevator, even though there was absolutely no
room. He kept trying to jam his wheel chair into the elevator. Unfortunately for me, my operated leg bore the brunt of his
wheel chair. After one or two hits, I was able to get my crutch in
front of my leg. He did manage to get his wheel chair in and my
leg was fine.
I was told by everyone involved to call them or email with
any problems. This included the PA, the PT and Dr. Rogerson. Dr.
Rogerson even gave me his cell phone number. I did not call
Dr. Rogerson, but I have called his PA's a couple of times and
received very timely responses.
I am currently 7 weeks out from my first surgery. I have
been walking without assistance of crutches since about week 2-3.
The general fatigue quickly faded and I have been fully at work
since about week 3 (I do work from my house, so that made it
easier). I still have a slight limp, but I think it is more out of
habit. If I concentrate on walking, I can do it without limping.
I am sure everyone has high thoughts about their own
specific surgeon. But I can't tell you how satisfied I have been with
Dr. Rogerson and his staff. I have to go through this process
again in February for my left hip. I find this kind of weird, but I
am almost looking forward to it a little bit (probably more the forced
time off).
Dave
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