Surgery? Consider it Scheduled.

So I finally called today during lunch to Dr. Sampson's office. I told her that I had seen Dr. Sampson and that he had wanted to do a Right Hip Arthroscopy on me. So she said she was scheduling into July right now and I told her that was perfect. I wanted it in July. Early July would be nice.

So she gave me...... July 1, 2009 at 1:30 pm.

I've got mixed feelings, but who wouldn't after having one surgery under their belt? I think that the risks definitely out weigh the benefits. I feel very confident in my surgeon. More so than my previous one...

Now, I am awaiting a call regarding pricing and what my benefits actually do cover. Thank you Sutter for giving me CRAPPY benefits. Luckily, I've been told Dr. Sampson is very flexible. Thank God for this nice long weekend I have ahead of me. Fun plans with great friends can make any one's day a little brighter!

Hmm...

Ok, so..yeah.. It's been a little while. I've been busy? That's my only valid excuse. Working from 9-6 has its advantages, but one of the disadvantages is that after I get home around 6:30-7:30 depending on overtime I eat dinner and just lie down on the couch. My poor computer hardly gets used by my anymore.

But I have an interesting update. Last weekend, was the anniversary of my first hip surgery....and I got rear ended. It was a wonderful day...can you hear the sarcasm in my typing? haha Sweetie and I didn't get hurt too bad. We're still sore and I'm experiencing persistent headaches. It's awful. I get to go see my doctor again to complain. I can't carry my purse on my shoulder for too long, it starts to hurt :(

ANYWAY, enough poor me.

I saw my new surgeon today. I LOVED him. He's Dr. Sampson in San Francisco. He was very nice and personable. He was basically complete opposite of Lazzarini. Not just in personality, but it approach. He was explaining to Mom and me that many surgeons will resect the labrum and it has been shown that sometimes this isn't the best approach. Also, many surgeons don't take a look at the femur to make sure that it's completely fine. In my case, it's not. It kinda flattens out and still causes impingement, leading to persistent pain. This should be corrected, he said, much like shaving off the acetabulum trying to make it as natural looking as possible.

He explained that there are different feelings and ways to do this, but he assured Mom and me that if he were to go through with the surgery with me, he wouldn't just do what Lazzarini did. This obviously did not fix the problem. He explained that he would shave off the flattened part and also look inside the hip joint capsul and make sure that everything is normal. He told me that he would check the anchor that Lazzarini put in to see if I was having a bad reaction or not.

He seemed very competent. He's older than Lazzarini and was saying that he's done over 800 hip arthroscopies since 2001. He regularly attends conferences, gives lectures, and keeps up on the latest news. It comforts me that he isn't going to just do what Lazzarini did. That he has a different approach and noted that especially with resections that need to be revised such as mine. He even said I might end up on one of his lecture slides!

As far as scheduling another surgery goes, I need to figure out work. It won't be as easy this time since Doc isn't in private practice anymore. At least I'll have some Paid Time Off and Extended Sick Leave to help supplement State Disability. Sampson did tell me that it is up to me as far as scheduling. Wish me luck...