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Hello All,
Well, I'm "On the other side"! Here are some of my "post-op"
thoughts and ramblings...
I met Dr. Gross and his assistant, Lee Webb, for the first
time on
Feb 21. My resurfacing was performed the next day. Not
surprizingly, Lee and Dr. Gross were indeed both as
wonderful as the
many previous postings have reported. My surgery was performed at Providence Hospital Northeast. I
was
given a quiet, private room post-op, and I was very
satisfied with
the facility and staff as a whole. Heck, even the food was
decent! I stayed both pre-op and post-op at the Courtyard Marriott.
It's a
nice facility and very conveniently located next to
Providence
Hospital. (BTW, they have free wireless internet access.)
I flew into the Columbia Airport (CAE), and rented a car
from Alamo.
The Columbia Area map that I obtained from "Alamo" at the
airport
was pretty worthless. For that matter, so were the driving
directions--airport to hospital--provided by Yahoo Maps. There's a Longs Drug Store Pharmacy located directly across
the
street from Providence Hospital. I found the staff there to
be quite
friendly and very helpful. My post-op pain was very manageable, and I was able to cease
taking
pain meds all together at two days post-op. However, I still
have
quite a bit of post-op swelling in my left thigh and
buttock... Arrange or request "assistance" at the airport. I made my
request
when I drove into the rental return lot. A SkyCap was
summoned to my
rental car for me, and I was taken by wheelchair from the
rental
return lot, through security, and then all the way to my
departure
gate. I also had the flight attendants arrange "assistance"
for me
at the Atlanta Airport and my destination airport. (BTW, I
rented a
small SUV. I found it to be easy to enter/exit post-op.) For me, the leg room in Delta's "Coach" class seating was
way too
tight for comfortable air travel at just three days post-op.
(I'm
5'10" and flew to Columbia, SC, from the west coast.)
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to upgrade to First Class. It
was a
long, cramped, uncomfortable flight back home... In short,
go First
Class if you're going to be in the air for more than one
hour! Whoever invented the "Sock-Aid" was very clever indeed! Self-injecting "Arixtra" (used post-op as a blood thinner)
is "interesting" but painless. However, it did cause my
resting
heart rate to jump from 60 BPM to 85-95 BPM. I found it hard
to fall
asleep with my heart pounding away... Per Lee Webb, I've
discontinued the Arixtra... As for my post-op mobility, I was up and walking with two
crutches
one day after surgery, and with one crutch on the second
day. I'm
now using a cane and can drive a car (five days post-op)!
:-D Well, that's all for now. Hope "youall" find these notes in
some way
helpful! ~Phillip
LT-Biomet /Feb-22-06 /Dr. Gross
--- In surfacehippy@yahoogroups.com, "Phillip" wrote: Hello All,
I'm 47 years old, and I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis
in my
left hip joint back in February 2003. I was shocked and
devastated with the news, as I thought my groin pain was
only a
strained ligament or tendon in my hip. Like many of you, I
was
told by my OS to give up my active lifestyle, live with my
discomfort as long as I could, and then get a THR...
I joined the SurfaceHippy group last August. This is my
first "real" Hippy post, though I've had direct contact
with some
of you during the past few months (Thank you to Alan Ray,
Vicky
Marlow, and Christopher Sanders!). I've been reading the
message
board with much interest since I joined, and I've learned
very,
very much from your many thoughtful postings.
As a result, I decided to move forward and have Dr. Thomas
Gross
do my resurfacing. For me, it came down to two choices: Dr.
DeSmet or Dr. Gross.
I ultimately chose Dr. Gross because of insurance and
travel
considerations (Providence Hospital is "in-network", it's a
shorter flight to South Carolina, and I won't have to pay
up-
front in eurosand then wait for my insurance to reimburse
my
expenses). But, based upon the many postings that I've
read, I'm
confident either surgeon would have been an excellent
choice...
My resurfacing is scheduled for February 22, and I found
out today
that it's been pre-certified by my insurance (Aetna). So
for me,
the countdown to "the other side" is on!
Thanks to all for your contributions to this wonderful
forum
and service!
With kind regards,
~Phillip Rutan
PS. I live in Seattle, WA, i.e., the home of the Super Bowl
XL
bound Seahawks, but that's another story... GO SEAHAWKS!
;-D
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