Author: Sigrid Macdonald,

 Published by AuthorHouse
 Genre: Non-fiction / Health
 ISBN: 1-4184-7837-7

The following review was contributed by: S.V. SWAMY & CLICK TO VIEW S.V. Swamy's Reviews

"Getting Hip" is the first person account of Sigrid
Macdonald, who went through a Total Hip Replacement
Surgery and felt the need to share her experiences
before, during and after surgery.

At places poignant, at places serious and at some
places humorous, the book gives a detailed account of
what is involved in a Total Hip Replacement Surgery,
including the decision to go in for the surgery, type
of implant to be selected (given a choice) and what to
expect in terms of pain, restrictions on movement and
post-surgery life style etc. The author has referred
to several books on the subject and has added her own
wisdom to the subject.

One interesting feature of the book is the chapter
dealing with the experiences of other people who
underwent similar surgery. The widely different
experiences of these people confirm the author's own
experience that when it comes to a major issue, each
individual has a different experience and while
other's experience has some educational value, that
does not and cannot form a benchmark. That is the
message of this good book.

The bibliography and electronic references given at
the end of the book add value to the book. The last
chapter dealing with the Future of Hip Replacements is
a little speculative and should be taken as the
author's perception of various bits and pieces
collected in the course of her extensive reading and
interaction. I felt that brand names of drugs should
be acknowledged as such and wherever possible, generic
names of the drugs should be preferred.

The book doesn't deal with alternative or
complementary aspects of health care in detail since
the author is totaly dependent on the Canadian Health
care system, which is dependent on the main stream
medical knowledge. Several people are however trying
out alternative systems like herbal supplements,
Homeopathy, Acupuncture etc. because of the adverse
side effects of the main stream drugs.

The reviewer found some sentence usage patterns in the
book rather odd, but probably these are country
specific and in any case there is no difficulty in
understanding the text.

If you are considering a hip replacement or if you
need to support a friend or relative who is
contemplating such a surgery and are looking for a
layperson's perspective of what is involved in a major
surgical operation like Total Hip Replacement, this
book is certainly recommended.

This book is also worth taking a look at if you are in
the health care profession, since it gives you the
perspective from the customer's point of view.