| John Sansom 74 year old Resurface 08-12/08 Dr. De Smet |
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Last year at 74 I was diagnosed with a heart problem. This was a big surprise to my cardiologist as I had no family history, do not smoke, no weight problems, went to fitness 3 times a week and am a vegetarian. An angiogram showed 40% occlusion in two main arteries plus completely blocked small artery. I got a second opinion which concurred with initial diagnosis with exception that a flow test could have made. I searched the internet for a hip surgeon to get a second opinion and after discarding some surgeons using minimum intrusive techniques came across Koen De Smet who specialised in resurfacing. We exchanged a dozen emails before I went to see him at the beginning of July. He told me I was a candidate for resurfacing but this depended on my bones. He told me you have to be operated in the next two months. My son said you mean two years. Koen said two months else the bones will be damaged and I will not be able to resurface. He showed me the Conserve Plus he planned to use. The private room in JP turned out to be almost a cupboard with no shower. The food was atrocious. Compared with JP my local clinic is a four star hotel. The operation on August 12 went smoothly the last thing I remembered was being lifted onto the operating table the next I was back in bed wearing a corset. The following day an attractive lady physiotherapist came to get me to walk in the corridor. I asked when can I go to the Villa. She said as soon as you show me you can use the stairs. I said lets go. She said tomorrow. The following day after demonstrating my prowess on the stairs I was taken to the Villa just in time for lunch. Imagine a luxury hotel with a great restaurant that is the Villa. I thought my insurance is never going to pay for this and I was right! My wife said look upon it as a holiday. That afternoon I was exercising in the special swimming pool. What joy to walk without crutches. That evening Koen demonstrated his versatility. The air conditioning was not working properly, the technician had gone home, so Koen, who was waiting for a video conference with the US, came and fixed things. He said every surgeon should be good handyman. I told him he would be a very expensive plumber! Every day I had a session with a physiotherapist in the morning and in the afternoon an hour in the pool supervised by another physiotherapist. The only event of interest was my falling down the steps coming out of the pool the second day forgetting to hold on to the hand rail but luckily I did not do any damage. The next five weeks I spent house bound exercising four times a day then walking on crutches in the garden or in the veranda when it rained and using the exercise bicycle. I had been given a booklet with a program to follow. Koen is against using physiotherapists who are not experienced with resurfacing. My son had raised the bed with wood blocks and also a stressless relax chair which was fantastic. During this period I did not touch the computer or drive. I was not interested in anything. Koen had told me that at my age the recuperation would take longer. When I finally opened the computer I found hundreds of emails and a stock portfolio that had been ravaged by the credit crisis. So I had plenty to do answering emails and resuscitating the stock portfolio. A friend had told his wife John is offline things must be bad. |
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