I need a shoulder replacement

[Drdogface]

I live about an hour from Sacramento and am at a point where I need a surgeon for shoulder replacement. I've been dealing with the pain for quite a few years and its really become intolerable. This shoulder has been cut on too many times and its now bone on bone in most areas of the joint. I know there's a lot of Docs on this forum and would appreciate advice on which hospital in the Sac area would be the best to get this done. If you know any specific Doc or Ortho Group that would be really helpful.

I know that rehab from any joint repl is long and grueling cuz I've done it three times already. I do have a great PT to go to and have asked him too.

Thanks guys...this fraternity alway comes thru. .

Oh...I've also heard that Ortho-Visc is a possible good alternative but dunno if it would be appropriate for my advanced joint condition

[john70t]

Your health plan might allow travel to participating leading facilities/specialists in other states, with follow-up PT locally.

What are the options according to the plan?

[Zeke]

I had to first read about Orthovisc. Sounds like a hassle, 2 days of no movement and you need a shot weekly.

I was in the orhtopod's office 2wice in Feb thinking this is it, I'm going under. He gave me a cortisone shot. I'm good now with reasonable activity. If you haven't had the cortisone, consider it.

Another thread once pointed out that depending on your insurance, you can do the surgery in Oct/Nov, go to therapy thru Dec and be able to start more therapy the first of the year. Find out how much you are eligible for annually to work this scheme.

If I have to do it, I can wait.

[sc_rufctr]

Your condition sounds awful. You have my condolences.

Wishing you the best.

[Drdogface]

My health plan is Medicare and a supplement. I may be able to get it done thru the VA but this problem is not service connected so there may be a co-pay.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

A replacement sounds...horrible, given what I know--not much--about the shoulder joint.

I've had one surgery on each shoulder (impingement repairs that my doc described as "the six-inch putt of shoulder surgeries"). My ortho has a very good success rate in his surgeries, and is considered the shoulder specialist in the area. I'd be happy to pass along his contact info, if you like--but he's in the Phoenix area and that may not be of much help.

I can sympathize with you. When my shoulders were giving me problems, anything I did just HURT. I couldn't sleep comfortably, I couldn't sit comfortably, and I couldn't stand comfortably. I was having to get cortisone injections more and more frequently, and my doc finally said it was time to bite the bullet. I'm glad I did--I'm back at 100% now.

I wish you the best of luck with this.

[madmmac]

Sounds horrible. I would get a couple of more opinions before a complete replacement since there is no going back.

I can give you the name of the "shoulder guy" in Seattle if you want. He did my repair on 2 torn rotators and an open anterior acromioplasty. The results were excellent +.

Good luck on your direction and results.

[notmytarga]

The surgery is common enough so that any medium size town (50-80 K) will have a surgeon doing a few a month. My medium sized town serves a wide area and we have 4-5 of our 7-8 orthopods doing total shoulders. The others concentrate on the hip and knee replacements.

Going to a big referral center only really gets you travel and housing expenses and perhaps fellows/trainees doing the case under the direction of the guy you wanted to do it - who might have designed the parts, written a book, marketed himself and may not have great skills.

Sacramento will have dozens of capable shoulder replacement surgeons. The surgery is done for arthritis and when the proximal humerus is broken in a bad way - so general orthopods get experience with it. Sometimes the best way to find a surgeon is to ask the physical therapists - they know who communicates well AND has good results.

All that being said, Steve Weber in Sacramento is the name given to me by a sports ortho friend. In SF, Tom Norris gets the nod. But then again, they may just give great lectures.......

Speaking of marketing - here is some info to take with salt grains Orthopedic Treatment Stories - A Nation In Motion

[Drdogface]

Thanks for that last post. I live in Grass Valley which is only about 25000 population. It's pretty widely accepted that if you need something serious done you go to Sac. My PT guy also gave a nod to Stephen Weber so I'll be trying to reach him. I've been seeing an Ortho guy in SF but he doesn't do total shoulders. I sure don't look forward to the long painful rehab.

[Tobra]

Yeah, I think he is the guy for shoulders. I know a couple first rate vascular surgeons too, hopefully that never comes up.

I will come visit you in the hospital when you do it. If you wait a while, they will have the giant new addition on the hospital, but you will still be in the old part.

I would encourage you to do some exercises prior to surgery if you are able. They have these shoulder shaped gel ice packs that are pretty groovy.

[Drdogface]

Thanks Tobra

I'll try to reach his office next week and set something up. It is always good to get several recommendations for the same person. There's no one up here I'd trust...to many bad stories although the Hosp itself has gotten better.

Thanks for the offer to visit..it's high time we met. I knew we were kindred spirits the other day when you said something about "Real Doctors"....LOL...I've heard that kind of thing all my professional life

[9dreizig]

Mark, you need to do what I did before my first hip replacement.. Research the device you need (Zimmer, Stryker, Meditech, etc) Call the SALES guy who handles your area for those devices.. Those are the guys who sit in the operating rooms and you'll get no BS as to who is good..
Also with complete shoulders aren't there two types of replacements ? Meaning traditional and reverse ???

[Drdogface]

Todd,
Thanks for that idea..I never would have thought of it. I have read that there are two methods.

How do I find these reps ? They actually sit in the OR....or did I misunderstand you ?

[9dreizig]

No they ACTUALLY sit in the ER and give advice to the Docs.. go the the websites.. for a start.. Hell you're a Dr !!! they will call you back!!!!
The scary thing is the horror stories these guys tell about the hack Drs there are out there and the systems (and their cronies) protect them...

[Drdogface]

Thanks again Todd. I had no clue about them... We used to get reps visit all the time, they'd buy lunch, sell you ***** and leave. I'll ferret these guys out... Yes, they will call me back and likely tell me what I need to know. Would there be a separate rep for each brand ? I would suppose so...

[Tobra]

That is a good idea

Biomet used to have the most screamin' hot little gal as a rep. There is this one pathology lab that has been trying to drum up business that has this 6 foot tall redhead that comes around periodically, good golly. You contact the company and ask for the local rep. I suspect if you were to call and say you are contemplating this surgery and are doing some research they would put you in touch with their rep PDQ The last one on the list, Tournier, is just resurfacing I think, which is not really what you are talking about. I think they use a lot of Zimmer joints at Sutter. I would have asked this morning, but I was at the wrong hospital, they hardly do any ortho at Sutter Memorial

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