Scott Ledbetter

I came to HSS for a second opinion having been told by my Memphis surgeon who performed my fractured femur surgery from a bicycle accident that I had two choices for my non-union after 1-1/2 years: first to have the same surgery again with no more likelihood of success or second, to live with the non-union "given my age." Dr. Westrich examined me and said I had "three terrible issues, but that he had one simple solution." He suggested I have a complete hip replacement so he could remove the non-union greater trochanter and replace it completely with a new hip. He discovered in surgery that I had two screws protruding 1/2" and 3/4" from the trochanter which were catching my IT band every time I moved my leg. He used the excess bone to complete a bone graft with my new hip. Instead of being in a wheel chair for a month followed by no weight bearing for two more months, like following the first surgery in Memphis, I was able to walk out of the hospital using only a cane in two days. Nine months after surgery I skied seven straight days in Vail -- one hard fall on my hip but absolutely no problems. I'm back in the game, including tennis and biking. Denise Palacios, Dr. Westrich's office manager, made everything operate smoothly before and after surgery which really helped for an out-of-town patient.