Hip Hip Hurray
Beryl's New Hip
24.04.2024 - 24.04.2024 77 °F
Just as Beryl cannot recall the precise moment she fell in love with Paul nor when it became certain to her that Donald Trump would defeat Hillary Clinton, she cannot tell you exactly when the pain in her left hip became unbearable. All that did come to pass; she’s just not sure when her tipping points arrived.
Tomorrow, at West Palm Beach’s HSS (Hospital for Special Surgery) she submits to general anesthesia and surgery. She will cast out a worn-out body part and replace it. This is something to which she is unaccustomed. Nothing is thrown out by our girl; nothing. I have seen her store a half dozen leftover peas in a Ziplock Bag. She has determined, however, to not keep the hip joint that Dr. Spencer Summers of the Hospital for Special Services of West Palm Beach, FL, will remove from her 73-year-old body. Were it up to me, it would be encased in Lucite for the fireplace mantel but we have no mantel and she, of course, is not me.
Dr. Summers, is “a fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon specializing in minimally invasive, complex, and revision hip and knee replacements.”
“At Vanderbilt University, Dr. Summers graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with honors in Spanish and Pre-medical studies.” Muy bueno. “He has a particular interest in anterior hip replacement, hip resurfacing, robotic-assisted or computer-navigated surgeries, and revision hip and knee replacements.” HSS at its location here and in the New York City tri-state region did 5,170 hip replacements last year, two-and-a-half times more than the next leading hospital. This ain’t their first rodeo.
This is the doctor who persuaded Ms. B to abandon two other surgeons of great repute and close proximity for an 80-minute drive to an unfamiliar place. That, my friends, is a substantial achievement. How did he do it?
Two things really. First, he displayed her two hip x-rays on a screen and using a computer aided measuring control and showed her that one hip—the good one—had 6.1mm of cartilage while the other one—that one soon to be discarded—had but 1.6mm. (Those measurements may or may not be accurate but there are directionally correct) He explained that she could get another cortisone shot but that would delay the inevitable and possibly contribute to a potential bone fracture. Then, he delivered the pièce de résistance. “Think of your hip as a car tire,” he said. “Yours has a slow leak. We could patch the leak but it would recur. You’d fill it with air again, it would leak again and you would fill it with air again. What you need is a new tire. That ought to be now.” Bingo. She signed up.
The past year has been a progressively irritating and, ultimately, painful journey. She has difficulty sleeping. Strolling a formerly acceptable distance has become impossible. Beneath a facial grimace, she walks with a cane in her right hand.
Tonight, after dinner at the West Palm location of Chef Lisabet Somma’s Elisabetta Restaurante (where I suspect she will order the calamari fritti and the market fish of the day) we will spend the night at The Ben Hotel, “once one of West Palm Beach’s original homes. Byrd Spillman Dewey gave her 1892 Victorian home the name Ben Trovato, literally meaning “well invented” or “well found”; the name is derived from Se non è vero, è ben trovato, an Italian phrase which, loosely translated, means “Even if it isn’t true, it’s a good story”. Now, it is a boutique hotel on the intercoastal waterway near to the Hospital for Special Surgery.
Paul will be posting updates to this URL (B4Hip.Travellerspoint.com) from time to time as conditions warrant. There will be no push notifications when a new update is posted; there just isn't time to set that up. So, check back from time to time when you are wondering how she is doing. Think of this site as a 24-hour news channel covering only a single subject.
