Hip Infection* Westy's Hip Recovery Thread

[Laskyd]

Praying for a great recovery after such a long ordeal!!
Just want to add that 5 prunes a day worked magic for me after THR. Had a TKR for years ago and without prunes I suffered horribly.

 

[Fit4Family]

Sending wishes @Westy that your long suffering will finally be over and that in 6 weeks you get an ALL Clear results for infection. I am considerably more wiped out with my third surgery, so try not to worry. I think it’s just our bodies taking the energy we need to heal. I log lots of naps still at 6 weeks.

Digestive thoughts: I had luck with cooked butternut squash and pumpkin purée.

Sending healing wishes. Hope you can rest well this week.

 

[Elf1]

@Westy you have seriously been around the block and back! Considering everything you are keeping a good outlook and we're here to help you keep pushing through this. Hoping you get the all clear in 6 weeks and can get on with your life. Healing hugs coming your way.

 

[WestyII]

Hello everyone, and again thanks so much for all the thoughts, prayers, and advice. Today this EPIC disaster got almost too comical for me to even believe. The home health care nurse shows up at 9am. She takes my vitals and then says we'll change the dressing on your PICC line now. She proceed to get herself all sanitized and gloved up and we're both wearing masks, which is protocol. She starts to take the old dressing off and all of a sudden i see the actual PICC line coming out as it's stuck to the adhesive on the dressing. The nurse says, oh no, I have to stop now and just recover the area with the current dressing. The she asks who ordered the PICC line install as she needs to call that doctor so i can go to the hospital to have a new one installed. Yes, I'm serious.

I called the charge nurse in the Ortho recovery ward at the hospital and she says she'll get a message to the PICC line folks to call me back. Meanwhile, the infusion doctor's office calls back and says they're really busy at the hospital, you may have to skip a day of the infusions and go in tomorrow to get a new PICC installed. LOL

Lucky for me, I became fast friends with the nurse who heads the PICC line dept., while in the hospital. He called back within 10 minutes and says come on in, I'll get you taken care of right away. Whew, a lucky break. We were at the hospital for about 2 1/2 hours. He tested my current PICC, and then took some chest X-rays to make sure everything was still where it was supposed to be. I didn't actually need a new one, he just played with my current line, adjusted it a bit and after the X-rays were approved by the radiologist, sent us on our way. I'm serious when I say, the home health care nurse didn't have a clue what she was doing. She leaves her medical bag in her car overnight, as every instrument she attempted to check my vitals with wasn't functioning properly due to being left out in a car in 30 degree weather overnight. YIKES!!!! I'm calling the nursing company and requesting a new nurse for next week. It was kind of scary that she didn't even know the difference between a PICC and a MID PICC. I only know because I have one now.

The Prunes and prune juice are on their way now, so I got that going for me.

@Mojo333 I got a good laugh out of your relax and take a magazine in with you comment. My mom would have said the same thing. I can't tell you how much I miss her. Thanks for that, I needed a good laugh today. Hopefully, this comedy off errors takes a good turn when i see my OS later this week. Oh, i also had a blood draw today, so it will be interesting to see where the SED rate and C-Reactive Protein are now as opposed to pre surgery. From what i gather, those two play a big part in telling the tale of the infection. Of course the red count and WBC do as well.

Have a great week everyone,

Westy

 

[VSlowLife]

Absolutely!

I'm calling the nursing company and requesting a new nurse for next week. It was kind of scary that she didn't even know the difference between a PICC and a MID PICC.

We have to advocate for better care when needed.

 

[Laskyd]

Keeping fingers crossed on your blood draw!!
So very glad you got the PICC disaster solved today. You don’t want to skip a day without antibiotics and risk developing a resistance. Unbelievable incompetence by the home health nurse! I would dismiss her too
Tomorrow should be a better day!!

 

[BruceH]

Wow! I wish I had something better to say but at the moment wow covers it. At least the home nurse had a thought to stop when she did.

 

[Elf1]

You just can't seem to catch a break! Happy that the nurse in the PICC line dept get you in and squared away. Hope the new blood work comes out good. Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers and hope this is the last of the craziness!

 

[WestyII]

Hello Hipsters,

My blood work came back looking very decent and the ID doc didn't call, so I'm going to assume they're satisfied with what they saw. Tomorrow I see my OS for my first post op visit. I'm guessing they'll remove the sutures and take an x-ray to see if everything is where it's supposed to be.
I still have a fair amount of pain, but then I'm not even 2 weeks out from my last surgery, which as mentioned was a about a 3 hour ordeal. I am concerned with the amount of drainage I'm still getting from the incision, but we'll see what doc says. last time, after the 12/19/19 procedure (#2 surgery that is) he referred me to the wound care clinic at the hospital to address the drainage issue from that surgery. That didn't work out so well, as a few weeks later I had surgery #3. The staff at the wound care clinic are amazing, but I don't think they truly understand the gravity of how bad these implant infections can get in a very short amount of time. Pleasant dreams all.

Thanks for reading,

Westy

 

[BruceH]

All good news. My experience is that the medical crew that deals with serious issues keep a game face on all the time, with the hope it will help with some of the anxiety you feel. It just makes me more anxious but I'm not the normal patient, lol.

Once again, I'm glad to read that things are going well.

 

[Mojo333]

Hi @Westy
Hope all goes well at your appointment and that no news was indeed good news on the bloodwork.

staff at the wound care clinic are amazing, but I don't think they truly understand the gravity of how bad these implant infections can get in a very short amount of time.

My sister has severe diabetes and has unfortunately had to utilize the wound clinic many times and they SHOULD certainly be aware as infection can turn into a horrible situation very quickly, not just for implants. I understand how upset you must be about having the surgeries in such close order.
Keep eating well and keep that immune system cranking.
Continued healing mojo coming your way...

 

[WestyII]

Hi @Westy
Hope all goes well at your appointment and that no news was indeed good news on the bloodwork.

staff at the wound care clinic are amazing, but I don't think they truly understand the gravity of how bad these implant infections can get in a very short amount of time.

My sister has severe diabetes and has unfortunately had to utilize the wound clinic many times and they SHOULD certainly be aware as infection can turn into a horrible situation very quickly, not just for implants. I understand how upset you must be about having the surgeries in such close order.
Keep eating well and keep that immune system cranking.
Continued healing mojo coming your way...

Good morning @Mojo333 ,

I have Type 2 diabetes that is very well controlled using 2 daily doses of oral Metformin. I've had it for about 10 years. In the hospital, they use insulin pens as opposed to Metformin, and during my 5 day stay, I only required 2 units of insulin over the course of the entire 5 days. Each one of those Insulin pens has 250 or so units of Insulin in them, just to give you an idea f how small an actual unit of Insulin is. May late father's, dad, passed from diabetes at age 59 or maybe he had just turned 60. Both him and my late father literally never went to the doctor. My grandfather was a guy who loved life to the fullest. He owned the largest beer distribution company in Chicago back in the day and needless to say, he knew every barkeep and restaurant owner in the city and burbs. I was very young when he passed, but I still remember him as this super happy, always jolly, very vibrant man. The diabetes runs in the family, but fortunately, so far none of our adult children have it. My GP is a specialist in Diabetes, and I'll never forget the day he told me, John, keep it under control as best you can, because if it let's loose, it's a miserable, nasty, MONSTER of a disease. (He's a former Naval doctor and such a great guy, I absolutely love this doctor) I'm not always perfect, but I make the effort to do what I'm supposed to 98%+ of the time.

Now, I say, good morning to all my hipster friends here. I went to my OS this morning. They removed the sutures and did an exam. Everything appears to be "good" so far, but it's way too early to say if the protocol is going to work or not. I was kind of surprised he didn't take an x-ray, but he knows better than I. He did look through my blood work, and stated, this is all good stuff, every item is headed in the right direction so far. So, fingers crossed, maybe I can catch a break this time around. he was a bit concerned about the drainage, but said, lets keep an eye on it. If it gets worse, meaning I get more drainage than I'm getting now, I have to call him.

Thanks for everything to all you wonderful folks. You have no idea how nice it is to be able to come here and share my tale of woe with people who've been through the same thing. I appreciate all of you very much. Have a great day everyone. Next visit is to the ID doc, next week. I will report back after that.

Westy

 

[Elf1]

Keeping fingers crossed that you are finally catching a break!

sounds like good report with OS and hope for an even better one with the ID doc next week.

 

[Layla]

Happy Thursday!
Sure seems as though things are looking up, Westy.
I pray it continues. We're here for you. Thanks for sharing your journey with us.

 

[VSlowLife]

I keep you in my prayers, @Westy Glad all appears well at this point.

I am glad you have such good control of the diabetes. It will serve you well. My family over the generations, has had the same story, too, but for some reason it is only on the male side.

 

[Fit4Family]

Unbelievable @Westy I am so glad you had made a friend at the hospital to get you sorted out. Scary! Keep advocating for yourself. My younger brother has type 1, and we all knew his serious infection could be.

Thankfully it seems like everything is going well now. Seriously hope your next nurse is very professional and keeps you safe. Thinking of you.

 

[WestyII]

Good day friends, I have one little, almost too funny story to add to my thread. This past Wed I went to the OS for my first post op visit. Before seeing doc, one of his M.A.'s removed my sutures from the incision. While doing that, she was sharing her own story about a bad knee replacement surgery with an infection. Very nice lady, but you all won't believe this. Thursday morning, my awesome wife was changing my incision dressing and all of a sudden she starts laughing. I asked what was so funny? She said I really can't believe what I'm seeing. Okay I give up, what are you seeing? She says, I see at least 4 sutures still in the incision. All I could do was laugh, it was in keeping with the whole character of this tale of woe, LOL.
I messaged the OS's M.A. that has taken really good care of me since day one and informed her of our discovery. (she's not the same one who removed my sutures) Within 10 minutes of sending the message, I hear back from her. She states how sorry she is that this happened and tells me to pick a time on Friday morning or afternoon, and she will personally take care of the problem. We went to the OS's office at 8am this morning, and she removed the 4 sutures that were showing. Then my wife asked her about the "odd looking scabs x3 that had formed on the incision. She looked at them very closely and says, OMG, I can't believe what I'm seeing, these are 3 more sutures that the other M.A. just plain missed. She proceeded to attempt to remove them and was having trouble. She went and got the OS and had him come in. He looked at them and told her to get one of the nurses in the office to come in and assist. (Being an OS, of course, removing sutures is way under his pay grade ) So the nurse comes in and gives it a go. She tells me, I'm afraid these are a bit too deep to grab with either the scissor or our tweezer, so I'm going to get a scalpel, and I'll have to dig just a bit to get in there. I said, whatever you to do, I'm fine with it. About 25 minutes later, they had finally removed a total of SEVEN long sutures that were overlooked by the original M.A.
I'm telling you all, this week has been a comedy of errors, but tonight as I type this, i am feeling a bit better. I think the side effects from all these IV antibiotics are starting to work in harmony with my body. I hope this trend continues. Anyway, what a week, almost unbelievable. First the PICC line kerfuffle, and then the sutures. WHEW, let's see what next week brings.
have a great weekend all, and thanks again for all the comments, I sincerely appreciate each and every one of you. This was a rough week, and you all helped me through it with your posts. I'm grateful for that.

Westy

 

[Eman85]

You've got a great attitude! I think you have a book or a movie there or at least a documentary on health care.

 

[Laskyd]

Incredible story!!! Crazy!! So glad you finally got all the sutures out. Hoping next week will bring you boringly predictable, routine and most importantly very positive outcomes.

 

[FCBayern]

Being able to laugh at all you've been through is great medicine @Westy. Here's to hoping your past the hills and valleys and that your road forward will be smooth.