|
I just had a bilateral resurfacing in Belgium Nov 15 and 22, through
www.direct-healthcare.com at St Rembert in Torhout. To say that I'm pleased is
an understatement. The level and quality of care was extraordinary.
I was doctor and surgery adverse also and tried everything over years until I
had no other option. In retrospect I should have gotten it much earlier but that
is easy to say now.
I had to have 6 units of blood, so blood screening was important and I believe
the Belgians have the highest standard. ( I am not saying others don't). Also
there was some concern about mrsa and the Belgians seem to have that under
control.
Just a note, on the plane home we met a lady who was returning from India. She
had spent 8 months in a hospital in Mumbai, not for hip resurfacing but other
problems. She couldn't say enough good about her experience.
It is definitely good to have a friend or S.O. along. I was fortunate in that
regard.
Anyway I am astonished that there is no pain in my hips and the metal joints
don't feel alien at all, in fact they feel like the joints I had before all this
started.
I am about 3 weeks and 4 weeks out of surgery and I can actually walk without
pain and without a crutch but I am using one crutch because I want to be
conservative and cautious. Since I wasn't conservative and cautious is a large
part of why this happened. And I don't want to screw up this second chance.
hope this is helpful.
James
More About Dr. De Gendt
Dr. F. De Gendt, the initial consult was done by Dr.Schoeliner
I believe he has done over a thousand maybe well over a thousand.
I was in the hospital from 12 Nov to 3 Dec which is the length of time we were
in Belgium.
Physio begins on the day after and was done in the hospital. In the morning you
do therapy in a little gym they have with a physiotherapist who I thought was
sharp and knowledgeable. In the afternoon you do what they refer to as
occupational therapy, which consists of walking and stairs. This is also where
you get cautions and such things as getting in and out of cars and stuff like
that. You can also go to the gym anytime for the bicycle or to work on a program
they have. The occupational therapy people were also very good.
We arrived in Brussels late afternoon on 12 dec and were met by a taxi, the taxi
took us to torhout and the hospital. I could basically not walk even with the
two canes I had. We were taken to a room where you stay the night and your S.O.
can stay until you leave. I got a mrsa test that night and a heparin injection.
The next day was a consult and x rays and that night they took me to a hospital
room. I don't really remember the 14th but early in the morning of the 15th they
wheeled me out of the room for the surgery. All I remember is getting a shot in
the room, saying goodbye to my S.O. and I don't remember anything after that
until I woke up back in the room.
At some point Dr. De Gent came in and said you have a successful resurfacing.
The first two days after are real but not real fun. The nurses were all without
exception really good. As were the hospital staff. I had once upon a time an
encounter with a U.S. military hospital so I wasn't expecting anyone to be
pleasant and kind. But they were.
I had to have 2 units of blood on the third day after the first surgery.
I was doing well and then of course had to have the second hip done. So on the
morning of the 22nd they wheeled me away. There was some trepidation because by
then I realized that hey, this is major surgery. But I thought that it might go
better afterwards because I knew what to expect. At least that is what everyone
told me. It did go better, except that this time I woke up freezing in the
recovery room getting two more units of blood. I would have preferred waking up
back in my room. I wasn't lucky with that.
After a blood test I had to have two more units of blood.
The rest was doing the physio. At one point I was standing between those
parallel bars lightly holding on to the bars and I couldn't get my legs to move
without putting weight on the bars. They just wouldn't respond. There are
moments of mild panic.
But the amazing thing is every day you get better.
I never really felt pain in my hip joints, it was all in the cuts.
I did a lot of pilates matwork before I was forced to quit and then I did a lot
of bikram yoga before I was forced to quit. I did those because I could no
longer run or even walk for exercise. So being forced to quit the yoga plus the
fact that I needed two canes made me aware that perhaps I should do something,
like immediately. My point is, I think having done these regimens is helpful to
recovery. Because one thing they both do is work on the little helper muscles so
to speak.
I don't presume to give advice but I would say don't wait as long as I did. I
didn't want anyone to cut on me and tried, like most people, everything I could
to keep from being cut on. But in the end there is nothing else to do.
If you wait to long you might not be able to have a resurfacing and might have
to have a THR.
I was very pleased with direct-healthcare.com and recommend them highly as a
medical tourism provider. All of the arrangements they made held up and one
problem with the return they fixed right away.
We left the hospital by taxi to Brussels in the early morning of dec 3rd. The
cost all inclusive was 31,654. That included roundtrip airfare to a city 3 hrs
from home. Not insignificant to us but I feel fortunate.
During our time there we met several people mostly from Britain. It was very
interesting talking to them and that plus an afternoon trip to Bruge made the
whole trip worthwhile.
I know this is likely meaningless to most people but aside from the fact that I
didn't have insurance I at least know I won't be in a data base in the U.S. I
realize that privacy has a different meaning these days however.
|
