Re: What to do?

[Guest guest]

For re-surfacing - try contacting JRI in LA and check the status of their program, Dr Vail at Duke Medical in NC for same. Any details needed - put up another message.

Brad B

-----Original Message-----From: Marthab Sent: Friday, March 23, 2001 11:30 AMTo: surfacehippy Subject: What to do?

Dear All,

Have posted several times on this site, and, like many others, have found the information so helpful. I have had one thr(3 years ago) for OA; since then, I have had two dislocations--reasons not clear--the prosthesis seems located correctly; not was I doing anything too strenuous. Anyway, I need another replacement in the other hip; and like many others, became interested in MM resurfacing. Saw Dr. Mont the end of Feb; he agreed that I was a candidate, but said that he was nearing the end of his allotments. For work reasons(I teach at a local college-Psychology), I could not do the surgery until around May. He thought by then this current round of testing would be completed and he would have more info about future possibilities. I should contact him then. A recent posting on this site suggested that it might be another 18-24 months before permission is granted to resume testing/Conserve plus. This is pretty depressing news. My insurance is PA BlueCross/Blue Shield, who apparently were paying for the Conserve plus surgery.

Recently, it seems that many are opting to go to England for the surgery. But with two kids in college, and another on the way, I am reluctant to have to consider this option--paying out of pocket when we have insurance that would cover it, at least where we live, or so I am told. On the other hand, without being to whiny, I'm just not sure I can make it another year. I am in my early 50's now, and each year becomes precious. I walk with a cane, live a pretty limted life, compared to what was before(tennis, walking, traveling) We baby boomers are not patient, I guess!!!

Does anyone have any thoughts on options? Your input would be appreciated. Thanks, Martha

[Guest guest]

When I went to JRI on 2/14/01 I was seen by both Dr Amstutz and Dr

Schmalzried. DR Amstutz has been done with his alotted components

for sometime now and he has a waiting list of at least 120 people.

At that time Dr Schmalzried had approximately 10 components left but

with pending surgeries the numbers were dwindling fast. When I spoke

to Chuck there he said they were going to be seeking permission

from the FDA to continue the study and obtain more components for

each doctor but that was not going to be until at least July. I

spoke to Carol at JRI last week and she told me that Dr Schmalzried

is out of Conserve+ but she thought that 3 or 4 scheduled surgeries

were probably not going to get approval. This is truly a case

of " first come, first served " when it comes to this procedure. If

you don't get insurance approval then you better have $27,000-$38,000

laying around to pay for it depending on whether you need one hip or

both hips done like me. That's why so many are making the trip to

the UK to have it done where it is less expensive and the doctors

have much more experience.

[Guest guest]

I would opt to do the surgery right away if possible. I had my surgery by

Mont in Feb and I was back to work in less then two weeks after surgery. I

know not everyone can go back to work this quickly, but I assume you could

get back to teaching pretty quickly.

Duane