I tore my ACL recently and have been recommended surgery. I went to Tokyo Sports and Orthopedics Clinic for my MRI to confirm the injury. They suggested surgery since I’m still young. I’m on international medical insurance from Aetna, so I need to confirm how and if that would cover medical costs here.
One other thing to note – it sounds like the surgery is inpatient here in Tokyo. The doctor said I would stay a few days or a week in the hospital afterwards. In the states, it sounds like it’s outpatient, and you would be discharged same day. As such, i think it would be okay to be alone in Tokyo without someone to take care of me since I’ll be in the hospital during that time. Is that the norm for acl surgery here?
Has anyone gone through ACL surgery here and willing to field my questions? Also, any thoughts on doing the surgery here versus the states?
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In my experience, inpatient is the norm for most surgery in Japan. Usually one day before and at least one day after for observation. Of course, you can always discharge yourself after the surgery, but that’s a bit of a headache.
I’ve had two operations that would be considered outpatient back in Canada. In Japan they were a 3 day and 4 day stay.
The inpatient aspect does not sound concerning. The extra cost is not so much. Of course you might not be able to sleep well. And it will be boring.
I didn’t have ACL surgery, but I did have a major knee surgery here. I had two knee surgeries and spent over a month in the hospital. If you have any questions about it let me know.
I had 2 ACL surgeries,but not in Japan (sorry, not helpful with this).
The reason why I am reacting to your post, though, is that I would be more concerned about managing all by yourself once you are released from the hospital instead of when you are released ( outpatient on Day 1 or Day 4).
Recovering from my 1st surgery took some time ( standard ACL replacement). My second surgery took much longer ( bone-to-bone where they cut out patellar tendon for ACL replacement). Nevertheless, I was bedridden and couldn’t do much by myself – you’ll definitely need help with groceries, cooking, etc.
Edit- also, check how your recovery and physiotherapy will be done – you’ll need to learn how to walk again, exercise and so on. Do not underestimate this as you want to be as much much functional again as possible.