Going to NC to confer with Dr. Attarian at Duke re: hip replacement

[Maryka]

In less than a week, I am packing up the dogs and heading to North Carolina to meet with Dr, David Attarian at Duke about my bad right hip. I will be staying with my friend (who has MS and loves dogs) in High Point. My hip situation is related to my general connective tissue problems. If he says yes to the hip surgery, then I will go home to DC for a couple of weeks and get things in order for the big stay down in NC for surgery and recovery. Advice, anyone?

 

[Ross]

Nothing more then we've already talked about. It will be nice to move pain free, but it'll be a while before that happens.

 

[sylviayasgur]

a friend of mine just had a hip replacement done in nyc by dr. meere : http://www.drpatrickmeere.com/
she was up and around in no time. it seems he has a special method and has had tremendous success with it.
good luck in NC and pls keep us posted.
stay well,
sylvia

 

[COLLEEN S]

Good luck Mary. Hope you can get relief. Let us know how it goes.

 

[Demonic]

Is it a total hip replacement or a resurfacing? I had a THR on my left hip back in 2000. The difference is amazing. I was on crutches for two years before they decided to do the replacement and they waited that long due to my age, I was 34 at the time. I hadn't had my AVR at the time so I can't comment on issues relating to that. I am now regularly to be found in the gym (or I was until my aneurysm hit 5cm and now I just don't have the confidence in my body) on the running machine or bicycle.

I hope you get the relief from the pain that I got through my surgery.

I'm sure you've been advised of the precautions to take in relation to your surgery but the general ones are to avoid sitting too low where you have an excessive bend at the hip. So have a chair and a bed with a decent height and get an adaptor to fit over your toilet seat. A walking frame helps in the first week. All of this is provided to us through our National Health Service in the UK but I don't know how you go in the USA so forgive me if this is all stuff that you already know.

 

[Maryka]

I am packing now. I found the papers my cardio had faxed to Dr. Attarian. I also found my prescription for Lovenox (or, see the antioagulant thread here, the new generic version). I sure am hoping for a quick recovery! ( I am 62 and, although this may be on the young side for hip replacements, I have had a bad hip from birth and arthritis long enough to require full replacement.) I read somewhere that you heal quicker if you walk, walk, walk. I am now psyching myself up to do that. Quite a switch from my current hobbling-with-a-cane-and-a-groan life! I keep hearing horror stories about some surgeons installing the wrong size replacement prostheses. This is one reason (after I realized I would have to do it in NC) that I chose a highly experienced faculty member at Duke University to "fix" me! I hope that I will be able to do a bit of ballroom dancing in the next year!