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Husband was told he needs to replace his TKR. Anyone gone thru this?
Joint Replacements | Last Active: 5 days ago | Replies (11)Comment receiving replies
@taillie I’m so very sorry to hear of your trials. This is just so very disappointing. Please understand, I’m not throwing stones here. Rather, I’m trying to share the candid conversations I had with my friend/ortho surgeon.
He specialized in hips and knees. When he was on call over the weekend, if he saw someone in the ER with a problem other than a hip or knee, he evaluated the severity of their situation. If they could wait until Monday, he’d stabilize them and wait for a surgeon who specialized in their particular issue. Believe me, this guy is not short of confidence in himself.
We should always ask around for “the best in town” for your particular issue. It’s not always the first person you see. Another way to look at it is the old adage of what you call the surgeon who graduated last in his class…..Doctor. Doesn’t mean you want him/her to operate on you. I’m a CPA but you sure don’t want me to prepare your tax returns. Not my specialty.
Another comment my friend would make is that, unlike many of his partners at the Ortho practice, he wanted to do revisions on hips or knees (his specialty) because he’d see what the other surgeon did wrong (or at least what went wrong). Many surgeons steer clear of revisions.
I live in the Midwest but went to Florida (where my friend lives) to have my 2 TKRs because I thought he was the best I knew of and didn’t want to settle for less and could do the travel easily.
Best of luck!
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@fwintracy
Great advice. I would also extend it to having to wait for appointments. I wouldn't want a surgeon who didn't have a waiting list. I had a magical surgeon (3 years ago a left hip replacement with no post surgery pain; 3.5 months ago a right knee replacement again with no post surgery pain and ROM at my first PT session of 122. But I had to wait to get on his surgical schedule.
During that time I remained in pain; but the pain for a few extra months was worth the results. I told my magician before the surgery that I wanted to be back on the golf course by the end of the fourth week (I am an 80 YO male). He said it was aggressive but he accepted. On the 27th day after surgery I was playing golf.
My brother had a knee replacement in the Midwest 5 days before me. He had a highly rated but traditional surgeon who used a tourniquet, cut the tendon to get access to the surgical site, etc. He had severe pain and was struggling to get his ROM above 90. He is an athletic person who does rock climbing for fun. His last comment to me was "I should have traveled".