ruth-johnson

My initial visit was in 2006. I had been having hip pain for about a year. It was so bad, that when I’d stand up my hip would pop and snap and hurt so bad that I’d cry out in pain. I saw my rheumatologist and she took one look at my xray and told me she couldn’t do anything for me, that I needed to see an orthopaedic surgeon, my hip was the worst she’d seen, she told me. I remembered Dr. Briggs had done my mother’s hip and shoulder replacements several years prior to that. I asked a nurse friend of mine who she recommended and she said “Dr Briggs is the best”. So I saw Dr Briggs early in 2006 and he immediately recommended that I have a total hip replacement. He was very kind and thorough and even showed my husband and I my xrays and pointed out what was wrong and how he intended to fix it. My surgery was scheduled for Feb. 2006. The surgery went well, they had me up and walking that evening. It wasn’t easy, I had to have a blood transfusion because I was anemic, I also have PD and prior back surgery so I had alot of other things to deal with. But the hip itself hurt hardly at all. PT came to my room and I learned how to move and not to move, how to get up and sit down, and exercises to strengthen my hip. After I went home my recovery was fast, my husband told me several times I needed to slow down and not do too much. But I was feeling so much better I wanted to be up and doing all the things I hadn’t been able to do. When I was able to I returned to the ymca pool to the water aerobics class that I’d had to quit months ago, due to the pain. Several months later, my left hip started to hurt, and it quickly deteriorated to the point that I went back to Dr Briggs and he gave me the bad news that I would need surgery on it soon too. Let me make it clear, he never told me I had to have surgery, he told me that when I couldn’t stand the pain any longer, when I was ready for the surgery they’d schedule. So in December right after Christmas 2006, I had my left hip replaced. It went even better than the first, because I’d been there before and knew what to expect and I knew what I had to do. I feel I have a much better quality of life now than before the surgeries. Before I had a lot of pain in my hips, I would wake up in pain during the night, I had trouble sitting down and getting back up. I would highly recommend Cardinal Orthopedics to anyone who needs orthopedic care. Since my surgery Dr. Briggs has retired. Last year Dr Feibel did surgery on my ankle, and I’ve seen a spine specialist there also. They are all great caring doctors.