My resurfacing experience inJapan

[Guest guest]

Hi

First of all I would like to thank the group for all the wealth of

information shared on this site.

I underwent resurfacing surgery (LBHR) on May 14,2004 in Japan

(Dr.Sugano, Handai Univ. Hosiptal). I just want to share my

experience with you as I kept a record some major events.

May 11 : Admitted into the hospital (Most of the time is used

for orientation ang getting acquainted with the staff,

practicing wheel chair... )

May 14 : The day of surgery; I went under the knife under general

anaesthesia. The surgery took around 2 hours.

Post operation my feet were wrapped in A-V impulse straps

which pump air to stimulate blood circulation. No blood

thinners were used.

May 16 : Allowed to move to a wheel chair under supervision.

Also the Physio Therapy starts. The PT did a 45 minute

session a day to strengthen the muscles and worked on

improving the gait.

May 17 : Full weight bearing allowed for short durations.

May 19 : Allowed to use a walker to walk the corridors.

My first bath allowed post-op with water proof bandages.

May 25 : Walking with a cane; But my left leg muscles were weak and

walking with a limp. PT was working on the muscles to

improve strength, balance and trying to make me walk

without limp.

May 27 : A few moments of anxiety as there was slight discharge

from the incision. Cause was determined as one of the

satples loosening up. This was repaired with tapes.

May 31 : Allowed to walk short distances with out cane.

June 2 : Cane removed and walking without any support.

June 4 : End of 3 week PT sessions. And also the incision sealed

neatly.

June 5 : discharged from the hospital.

All the restrictions were off by the time got discharged from.

Now I am 5 weeks post-op and started working. But I still continue

to have slight fever (37.1C to 37.3C i.e 98.7Fto 99.1F) for a couple

of hours in the evenings. This is attributed to the recovery process

and nothing to get alarmed.

Now I am happy to be back to the normal pain free life. I would be

happy to share my experience if you have any specific questions

about Japan.

Ramana

(LBHR May 14,2004 Dr.Sugano)