Two Hip Replacements and One Happy Patient

Two Hip Replacements and One Happy Patient

By
Joel Streed

October 23, 2012

My name is Samantha Blythe, and the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota is a five-star medical facility in my book. Out of all the specialty clinics and hospitals that I’ve been to in my childhood and adult years, none of them match up to the quality of care that the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota gives to their patients.

I had been there for the hip dysplasia in my right hip in 2000, and Dr. Dan Berry, who is the best hip specialist who works with Dr. Trousdale, decided to do the hip replacement surgery. I cried happy tears when he looked at me, and said, “Can you stay longer?”

I was there again in March 2012, for severe hip dysplasia in my left hip along with a tear in one of my major hip muscles. I saw Dr. Trousdale for a consult during my visit, and he agreed that a hip replacement surgery would be the best option for me. When he left the exam room to go consult with Dr. Berry, I began to pray to have the hip surgery done while I was there because my hip replacement that was done in October 2000 had held up really well, and I was happy with how it turned out. I knew that a hip replacement surgery would be the best choice for me. Waiting any longer to do the hip replacement surgery in the condition that I was in would be torture.

I cried tears of happiness when Dr. Berry came into the room and said that we could do the surgery on Monday. I actually cried later that night in the hotel room because I was so happy that I wasn’t going to be in pain anymore. I was admitted to Rochester Methodist on Monday, March 12, on the day of the surgery, and discharged four days later.

When I had the hip replacement in October 2000, I stayed at Rochester Methodist for a week, and then moved to the rehabilitation unit at Saint Marys for two weeks before I was allowed to go back home. I loved the care that I got at Rochester Methodist both the first time and this last time that I was there.

I had a great view outside of my window, and the room had been decorated to look more “homey” and “warm” rather than just tacky, sterile white walls, as most of the hospital patient rooms I had previously been in throughout my life.

It’s now six months post-surgery. I’m doing great, and I’m happy that I’m pain free and don’t have to worry about my hips deteriorating anymore. I’m back into my activities that I can enjoy doing again. I would heartily recommend going to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for anyone that has a complex medical problem that their primary care doctor has a hard time diagnosing.

I remember an MRI technician at Mayo Clinic once telling me, “When the Mayo brothers first started this clinic, their philosophy was to provide the best possible care to the patients.” Kudos to Drs. William and Charles Mayo for starting the best clinic in the whole world and changing the lives of the patients who go there.