Surgery Day

After an early call to report to the Clinic at 9:30, Larry was taken to Pre-Op.  At 10:30 I spent an hour with him until the “limo” aka Cedric arrived to take him to the Operating Room.

At Cleveland Clinic there is a large electronic board listing all the patients there that day for surgery and their progress.  It reported that Larry went to the Main OR at 11:57.  However surgery did not begin until 1:15.  Our discussions with the surgeon indicated that the surgery was a 2 ½ - 3 hour surgery but eventually it was 7:15 before he was released to the Post-Operative Recovery.  It was finally 9:45 until I was able to see him; he was transferred to his room shortly thereafter and midnight before I got back to the hotel.  Hence, the reason this is being posted this morning.

The surgery was more than just a simple replacement of the cup the ball joint rides in.  The bone was lodged around the cup and the bone was paper thin.  The regular jumbo size replacement cup did not fit so the doctor did a 300 cc bone graft in the area, put in a larger “cage” with 9 screws.  This will take longer to heal.  The femur bone had pulled away but was not loose, so he cleaned out around it and decided it was not necessary to do more. 

The surgeon was very happy with the results and said it was just a normal re-do surgery.  This extra will require 3 months on a walker.  There was talk of going to a rehab center but we already have the “rehab” set up at our house.

We will probably be going home Saturday.  We will get more info today when we see the doctor.

Off to begin another day at Cleveland Clinic.  High praises for their expertise and care of patients.

Judy