Guest guest Posted November 27, 2003 Report Share Posted November 27, 2003 Thanks, Sharry, I appreciate your support. I am very seriously considering your guy. I still think that Treacy is an excellent surgeon (I wouldn't have chosen him the first time if he wasn't), and I am certainly grateful to him for his role in developing the BHR. But even the best surgeons occasionally have less than optimum, or even tragic, outcomes. No one bats 1000% at all times. And every patient presents a unique morphology and different set of problems that have to be taken into account. My point in airing my situation was to seek input and advice (yours, like Cindy's and some other patients, has been most helpful and appreciated), to alert newbies to the possibility of length lengthening, and to give some prescriptive steps on how to avoid the same fate. I think in my case he added a few extra millimeters to the hip, and that, with the slight pre-existing differential in my tibia, put things over the top from an unsensed difference into a lopsidedness that is a real pain in the. . . . you know. Had the surgeon measured me pre-op, I'm sure this could have all been avoided. And had I known that leg lengthening was a possibility, I would not have consented to being operated upon unless he took five minutes to do so. I just now received an e-mail from his secretary apologizing for the most recent runaround & mismanagement of my e-mails. She says he is willing to speak to me on the phone. (Which made me wonder if they're following this thread.) I am now mulling whether to forgive and work things through or to plunge into The Belgian Option. While reluctant at first, I have gradually warmed to the idea of getting my second hip fixed in a different country and by a different surgeon so that I might compare the experiences. I'm sure newbies comparing the Belgian-English choice would welcome a comparison! Thank heaven for such an array of options. I just spoke to a 35 year old who got a THR at age 25 and is facing a revision because the polyethelene is degrading. (Her surgeon, interestingly enough, is now participating in the FDA resurfacing trials.) I only wish she was fortunate enough to have the same choices we now have. At age 10, she fell down and dislocated her hip. For the next 15 years, the docs here told first her mother, and then her, that the resulting pain was wholely imagined and her limp a psychiatric symptom because they couldn't find anything wrong with her knee. (She had a lot of referred pain there.) Finally, she found an ortho who did a whole body scan and pinpointed the problem. Just goes to show that as patients, we are best advised to be proactive and our own advocates. Sorry for going on so - all the very best to you, Sheila > > > In a message dated 11/19/2003 12:35:05 PM Pacific > Standard > > Time, > > > david.vale@b... writes: > > > These are the two who jointly developed BHR and (I believe) > > both have > > > done more of these ops than anyone else, ever. > > > > > > Choosing between them would be like deciding whether > your > > hospital > > > dinner should be cooked by Gordon Ramsey or > Le > > Blanc. You > > > cannot make a bad decision. > > > I agree with this sentiment, and I had both of mine done by > > Treacy. > > > > > > Des Tuck > > > 10/01 and 5/03 > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 28, 2003 Report Share Posted November 28, 2003 Hi Sheila It can't hurt to get an opinion from Dr De Smet, even if you decide eventually to go with Treacy again. I find that just being able to compare what the different docs say helps me enormously in my decision making. Comparison shopping....that's the ticket.. Sharry Re: BHR/Sharry/Newbies Thanks, Sharry, I appreciate your support. I am very seriously considering your guy. I still think that Treacy is an excellent surgeon (I wouldn't have chosen him the first time if he wasn't), and I am certainly grateful to him for his role in developing the BHR. But even the best surgeons occasionally have less than optimum, or even tragic, outcomes. No one bats 1000% at all times. And every patient presents a unique morphology and different set of problems that have to be taken into account. My point in airing my situation was to seek input and advice (yours, like Cindy's and some other patients, has been most helpful and appreciated), to alert newbies to the possibility of length lengthening, and to give some prescriptive steps on how to avoid the same fate. I think in my case he added a few extra millimeters to the hip, and that, with the slight pre-existing differential in my tibia, put things over the top from an unsensed difference into a lopsidedness that is a real pain in the. . . . you know. Had the surgeon measured me pre-op, I'm sure this could have all been avoided. And had I known that leg lengthening was a possibility, I would not have consented to being operated upon unless he took five minutes to do so. I just now received an e-mail from his secretary apologizing for the most recent runaround & mismanagement of my e-mails. She says he is willing to speak to me on the phone. (Which made me wonder if they're following this thread.) I am now mulling whether to forgive and work things through or to plunge into The Belgian Option. While reluctant at first, I have gradually warmed to the idea of getting my second hip fixed in a different country and by a different surgeon so that I might compare the experiences. I'm sure newbies comparing the Belgian-English choice would welcome a comparison! Thank heaven for such an array of options. I just spoke to a 35 year old who got a THR at age 25 and is facing a revision because the polyethelene is degrading. (Her surgeon, interestingly enough, is now participating in the FDA resurfacing trials.) I only wish she was fortunate enough to have the same choices we now have. At age 10, she fell down and dislocated her hip. For the next 15 years, the docs here told first her mother, and then her, that the resulting pain was wholely imagined and her limp a psychiatric symptom because they couldn't find anything wrong with her knee. (She had a lot of referred pain there.) Finally, she found an ortho who did a whole body scan and pinpointed the problem. Just goes to show that as patients, we are best advised to be proactive and our own advocates. Sorry for going on so - all the very best to you, Sheila > > > In a message dated 11/19/2003 12:35:05 PM Pacific > Standard > > Time, > > > david.vale@b... writes: > > > These are the two who jointly developed BHR and (I believe) > > both have > > > done more of these ops than anyone else, ever. > > > > > > Choosing between them would be like deciding whether > your > > hospital > > > dinner should be cooked by Gordon Ramsey or > Le > > Blanc. You > > > cannot make a bad decision. > > > I agree with this sentiment, and I had both of mine done by > > Treacy. > > > > > > Des Tuck > > > 10/01 and 5/03 > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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