WELCOME TO OUR FAMILY!

Hi to all the new folks out there - we're sorry you had to find us this

way but you have now joined a new family that is here to share your

story with, provide support, supply oodles and oodles of information,

and just plain be here for you when you're having a bad pain day.

So, you [will] have access to all the vast resources of our

organization including such info as doctors, facilities, medications,

pain control, pre- and post- op surgery info and expectations, the

latest treatment options, and our members experiences with those

options. When you're new, there is so much you're learning that, if

you are like me, you don't even think of checking the thousands of back

posts [from our old] Yahoo site. I regularly repeat (and update) part of my

post from a conference I attended at Penn Orthopedics in Philadelphia

where I had my own Total Hip Replacement (THR) performed. The

following comments in the welcome by Dr. Craig Israelite were an eye

opener:

"The best patient is the educated patient. You have on the average 15

minutes to present your case to the orthopedic doctor on your initial

visit. Be sure to write your questions down and do your research. Of

special importance are these key descriptive words:

1) Pain (location, type, and duration and is it during movement or at

rest)

2) Swelling

3) Locking

4) Catching

5) Loss of motion

6) Stiffness

7) What makes it better or worse

8) When did it start and how long has it been going on

9) Was an injury involved

Be sure to ask questions. If the surgeon doesn't answer your questions,

then move on to a different surgeon." (Docs words, not mine).

As Marie our President is fond of saying, we must be our own best

patient advocate.

So hang in there. We can't tell you what to do but we can share our

experiences with you, good and bad, and how we deal with them. And we

will listen to you and try to answer your questions as best we can.

And you may have some information to share with us that will eventually

help another member of our AVN/ON family. ‘Cause you're family now,

and we are with you in our hearts and in our prayers. God bless.

Blessings and a hug,

Fr. Michael, AVN/ON Chaplain (aka avnchap, aka Chappie)

PS - Be sure to check out the iGive program. Every donation helps each

and every one of us by keeping this site available for all of us in

need of this wonderful support and to support our efforts for the

research project at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.