SHUT OUT

Twenty weeks to get a new hip, or knee, is the goal of the new Orthopedic Centre planned for Royal Alexandria Hospital, in Edmonton. The Edmonton Journal has editorially embraced the protocol.

(Note: the link may not be live, as Journal does not 'permalink' its’ stories)

Prematurely, I say! I got my new hip in 12 weeks. That is impressive. I am quite pleased; I got in and out that quickly.

There is a problem. The current program is, myopically, focused, on the front end of the process. Twenty weeks from pre-operation to surgery is fine. Then what? The surgeon is done. The patient is not.

Capital Health, may want to talk to some patients. Patient feedback could prove enlightening. Six hundred orthopedic surgeries, a month, are performed, at the Misericordia and the Royal Alexandria hospitals. That is a massive database of patient experience begging to be tapped!

Hip Flex 24 hours after sugergy

Here is a summary of my post operation experience. Support from the Hip and Knee Clinic is sparse. My two-week post operation appointment was a perfunctory, fifteen-minute, visit to remove stitches. I expected a physiotherapy assessment of my progress, then.

I entered the program active, healthy and determined to shorten the rehab cycle, as much as possible. My pre operation preparation has morphed into a self administered, home based, convalescence, bereft of professional guidance. Program sponsored physiotherapy has been denied. I will launch my own post operation exercise plan, shortly. Watch for it.

Rail Walking 24 Hours after Surgery

Contrary to my current experience, all orthopedic patients need a professionally designed, personally managed, four week, postoperative rehab program. It should include; a progressive exercise plan, physiotherapy, and a dietary advice, recipes even!

Eating the right food, in appropriate portions, provides the energy to heal. I found it hard to eat, for two weeks. It took that long for the operational drugs to depart my system.

There's an important soical interaction component to convalescence. It is acceptable to be shut in, for two weeks. After that, there's a keen desire to 'get out' and socialize. Social interaction is a panacea a key element in the healing process.

The proposed new Hip and Knee Centre could be just the place to facilitate post operation interaction. It could become a 'patient experience ' laboratory. Information gathered could be catalogued and "paid forward". Use patient wisdom to benefit patients. That will only happen when "convalescence" is recognized as a key component of the process. Currently it isn't!

What is your experience? Let's talk.