Had my Ortho consult today, and he told me pretty much what SiG and a few others have said. I've got some arthritis on top of pretty thin cartilage inside the joint, and a torn up Labrum around it, and it's not going to get any better. The muscles, tendons, and ligaments look to be in good shape outside of the inflammation, and there's no sign of bone-on-bone contact yet.
We didn't discuss setting a date for hip replacement surgery (more below...), but we did discuss the procedure, after care, and my overall medical condition, which he rated as good enough to withstand the procedure. My cardiologist appointment is in two weeks, and this procedure will be the #1 item to discuss with him. My primary care Doctor is also very happy with my overall medical condition, and she hasn't raised any concerns about the surgery, so now it's grinding through the process. I'd expect my next step will be to review this all with her, and do a GO/NOGO, and then talk about dates.
I'm getting a feel for the bureaucratic process of our local medical system, and was just joking with my SLW that it reminds of the Boeing "Problem Reporting" (aka "PR") system, and how rigid it was.
I'm the originator of a PR (or 'squawk', if you will), which starts a long, predictable, highly-scripted, chain-of-events, leading to a conclusion. Along the way, you "Convene", "Collaborate", "Reconvene", and use several other terms which I forget.
And the process MUST go step-by-step or the Quality people will go completely bonkers and abort the flight/launch/deployment.
Anywhoo....the medical system out here reminds me of that a bit in that it's precise, predictable, and reasonably fast.
I see another "Reconvening" with my Primary Care provider to go over options and details.
BTW...the Ortho Doctor I met with today is a U.S. NAVY Doctor. Not only that, he's a USN DIVE Doctor, and he was stationed on Coronado Island working with BUDS and SEALS. I wore my BB-61 USS Iowa hat today, and that triggered quite an interesting conversation between us, lasting a good half hour.
And he's not only the Ortho Doctor there, he's also the Surgeon who would perform the operation, and I feel comfortable about it. It's a one-hour operation, they keep you overnight, and you go home the next afternoon. Leaves about a 6"~7" scar, and has an extremely high success rate.
So in the meantime, I'll do the PT exercises, take the recommended amount of Naproxen with a bit of Tramadol for "those days", and let the mills grind away.
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What I've Been Up To....
Started this post on Monday, then came down with a head cold, which is now progressing South. Feeling better, but still a bit woozy...... To...
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You might try a couple of spoonfuls of ground flaxseed daily. Helps keep the inflammation in my knees down and it is cheap! Not a replacement for your other plans but a way to lessen "those days".
ReplyDeleteI'll look in to that.
DeleteI take glucosamin daily and it definitely helps my knees. Guess it don't do squat for hips.....
Sounds like a good day!
ReplyDeleteWhen I met the doc who did both of my wife's hip replacements, I figured this is the guy to keep in my phone book in case I ever need it. Then he was the victim of a hit and run while riding his bike and left disabled. Now he teaches surgery instead of doing it.
A regular Doctor Steven Strange. Except for having superpowers and jumping between parallel universes. That I know of.
Yeah, it was rewarding. He'd go through the slices and explain what was good and bad in the picture, and he cracked up when I mentioned it was too bad I didn't have a zerk fitting there.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I was scared to get the surgery before, but talking to him about the after care was very enlightening. But then I was in-and-out almost as quick when I had the stents installed.
That's about all you can do, and having that 'link' with the surgeon IS a good thing! :-)
ReplyDeleteHe's a pretty cool guy, and was very patient with me explaining things.
DeleteJust about knocked me over when he said he was Navy, and had been stationed in SoCal!
Small world.....
You are making headway, and it sounds like you got a surgeon you can connect with. All good going forward.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely waiting until this Kung Flu thing settles down before I go in to have it done. Even though the Ortho center has it's own surgical facilities, I'd just feel better if this mess was past before I go for the surgery.
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