Hi Sally,
I think it might be wise to consult with DR. Lippitt. He is the surgeon who really pioneered this surgery AND trained Dr. Amaral. He is in his 70's and retired from surgery, but he still gives consults. He works in the Body Mechanics PT office right next to Dr. Amaral's office. I flew there frm Pennsylvania as I am so desperate. I did not realize that Dr. Lippit was still giving consults, so I missed out on meeting him. There is a weird set up at those offices. Apparantly there is some drama between Lippitt and Amaral. Wen you mention either of their names to the staff at their respective offices, they give a word of disapproval. I picked up on this immediately and asked why? They said that Lippitt used to use the Body Mechanics PT staff to allign the joint just prior to surgery, but Amaral chooses to do it himself (or maybe not at all). Lippitt is the godfather of this surgery and maybe he can advise you best. He may tell you to go back to Amaral and honestly, if I am in as bad pain as you (which sounds like I am I spend most of my day in bed and can not work), I would go back to Amaral to get fixed. At least meeting with Lippitt can give you an expert 2nd opinion and you can bring that with you to see Amaral. I am sorry you have to go through this. I am sorry for myself too. I fear that the surgery will be botched and I will be worse off, but I am beginning to think that is not possible. If I do get the surgery, I will likely use Amaral too since he is an "expert" and most ortho surgeons simply do not have enough of these surgeries under their belt for me to feel comfortable going with them. I am not crazy about Amaral....he was about 1 hour late to my consult even though I flew in from PA and had to fly back out the same day! He blamed his "girls" for not telling him. Well, I let that slide, but then I said something about "needing surgery" and he says to me "no one NEEDS surgery...it's not like you have cancer and are going to die". I looked him straight in the eye and told him I am referring to QUALITY of life and he just interrupted me and spoke over me. Very arrogant. He also told me the surgery only has a 70% success rate. Lippitt used to claim 80-85% (just look at the website). Maybe the percentage of success has fallen off since Amaral took over?? Also, if you go on the testimonials on the website there are all these old letters thanking Lippitt for "giving me my life back". Not one recent letter to Amaral. That scares me. Lippitt retied just a few years ago. I wish I had not missed his boat.