Become an Insider

Revision THR An Incredible Journey

Status
Not open for further replies.
I've not had a psoas release. My surgeries were the result of a hip fracture and I don't think you and I have much in common there.

FWIW and since you asked, my THR is fine now. I'm very active, with playing outdoors and gym time taking 10 to 15 hours per week. Yesterday I did a Boot Camp class at the gym. Today I am planning a 2-hour bike ride and tomorrow I'll be out on the bike for about 4 hours.

Back to you...
I think revision specialists can be difficult to communicate with because they are used to seeing problems. They tell you the worst-case scenario, which is good because you need to know. I feel like my OS added to my distress by being so pessimistic though.
 
TiredHippy said:
dr. called soon after receiving the films and wanted to work me in, and said I was loose just after Jo did.

We discussed all the various pain patterns and what they could mean, but he hasn't confirmed the cup is loose, although it sure feels like it.

So he told me I may not have great results - only better, perhaps. I am supposed to pay attention to the pain and where it's coming from as a guide.
Click to expand...
You know, I'm really bemused by these guys who appear to lay the burden of diagnosis or treatment on the patient.
 
TiredHippy....bless your heart! You have done a wonderful job of researching to find a good revisionist and I'm so pleased to hear that! It makes all the difference in the world to have an excellent surgeon that you can trust. It's unfortunate that doctors cannot always make a completely perfect diagnosis from the imaging processes, but sometimes they just must go in and see first hand.

I know this must be a lot for you to deal with right now. Please lean on us when you need someone to talk with or maybe even just rant to a little. Things like this are NOT fair, but they happen. The important thing is that you are pursuing whatever it takes to make things better. It is worth it. YOU are worth the effort. So don't give up! Your entire BoneSmart family is right with you each step of the way.
 
TiredHippy, not much to add except support :)
 
Thanks everyone for all your kind words! And once again, Josephine is right about how Dr's put the results back on you. I really like this guy, and I'm sure he's being cautious until he gets into the hip, but I also don't think anyone takes that much time to review test results. I watched an exposé on Radiologist's and how they used a sort of "crib cards" or study aids to get through the tests to substitute for real knowledge because the testing was so rigorous. All their write-ups are so damn ambiguous. Then again, I've also heard that what they give the patient and the Dr. are different reports.

I've been taking it easy and pain is coming down. I just moved and have been very sore. I hired as much out as I could, but who can do all the boxes? Especially the personal ones.

I was upset after my last OS visit, but will relax until it's closer to surgery time. And will pay attention to what my body is telling me.

Thanks again everyone. I really appreciate this forum more and more each day!
 
[Bonesmart.org] An Incredible Journey
Know it's got to be tough. But YOU CAN DO IT!
[Bonesmart.org] An Incredible Journey
 
Hi TH

Had The Big Appointment yesterday, and have agreed to 2-stage revision, with the first operation on October 2.

Quite calm at present. Might be a different story on October 1.

Glynis
 
What do they do in a 2 stage revision? Sounds like 2 surgeries. So they did decide you needed a revision.

You're a brave one so far. Now when did you have the first THR? It's not in your info. And what were the signs your replacement was failing.

Please keep us posted as to how you're doing. One of the nice things about this forum being on multiple continents is that someone's always awake.

Thanks for the update,

T.H.
 
Our story begins on New Year's Eve 2009, when the sexy and beautiful Lady Glynis - for it is she, and still only 59 at the time - falls out of an aeroplane in the Atacama Desert in Peru. "Easily done," I hear you say.

Hauled onto a stretcher (the first of 8) she is carried across the airstrip, filmed by paparazzi (in the form of one young chancer), and is Item No 1 on Peru's national news that evening.

At the local "hospital", two pieces of broken glass are glued together, to make a plate for the prehistoric X-ray machine. Marie Curie is spotted behind the machine, winding it up. Held up to a naked light bulb the X-ray shows... the hip is broken! How to get Lady G to Lima? There's the puzzle.

First, she is loaded into a small plane. Not strapped in, as the plane lurches its way across the turbulence of the Andes, our heroine levitates from stretcher No 3, like a magic act. The plane lands at a deserted military airfield. Somewhat reminiscent of Humphrey Bogart and Claude Rains walking out onto the misty runway at the end of Casablanca. What now? Oh, just a 5 hour journey in the back of a van, to Lima.

In Lima, the story re-enters the 21st century.

Briefly, job done on Jan 3.

On Jan 16 her ladyship embarks on the journey home. 24 hours from leaving the hotel to arriving home to an ice-bound UK. Lady G is now 60, by the way. 60th birthday celebrations in hospital, with sparkling wine and Ferrero Rocher. (So much better than the lunch party for friends already booked in a restaurant at home, I'm sure you'll agree.)

Things go more or less OK till May 2011. Large lump appears on incision. Is it? Isn't it? An infection? Lump drained twice. Does not appear again. A mystery. Shadowy lines are seen on X-rays. Fluorescence. Almost always a sign of infection.

Further problem surfaces. "Ball" bit of prosthesis is pressing against wrong bit of "socket". Wearing away the bone.

Prosthesis must come out. Then massive doses of antibiotics. Could be 8 weeks. Then new prosthesis goes in.

Simple!

Yeah, well, we'll see about that. But basically that's how things stand - or lurch, or limp, or stagger - at present.

Well, you did ask!

Glynis
 


My surgery is Monday, so less than 48 hours. I'm scared, but have good support. I haven't been on Bonesmart, as I've been buried in the details of preparing for surgery, e.g., paying bills, stocking up on food and other things, and making my home walker friendly. I'm also packing my "just in case" rehab bag. Feels like I've been preparing to have a baby.

I've also been trying to distract myself with Home decor ideas and other things, as I can't keep looping about how helpless I feel. I hope some other people will get answers for their ongoing problems when I know what went wrong with my Hip, and I'll check in as soon as I'm able after surgery.

It's hard for me to dwell too much on how I feel, because I am scared. The latest x-rays are still looking like a stem revision will take care of my pain and problems walking, as they show more bone loss and signs of stem movement. I sure hope so. My ability to ambulate has really decreased while the pain has gone up, but the Dr. said they do several stem revisions a month due to osteointegration failures, and many have pain and other symptoms like mine.

I hope my other January surgery friends are doing well, and others are moving towards finding answers to their challenges.
 
[Bonesmart.org] An Incredible Journey
are being sent your way. And keep in mind TiredHippy that

[Bonesmart.org] An Incredible Journey
So put on your happy face and march forward to a successful revision.

Take care of yourself and keep us posted. We care. [Bonesmart.org] An Incredible Journey
 
TiredHippy, I hope you will soon be ExuberantHippy. Counting down the hours till tomorrow with you and looking forward to your post-op story.
I want you to know that I took your caveats to heart, and you caused me to back off on pushing the PT to the limits, and may have saved me a great deal of trouble. I doubt if I'm the only one who could say that---so thanks for sharing your experience.
I know you're scared---who wouldn't be?---but you couldn't be better prepared, and it sounds like you have a great surgeon who knows just what to do in your situation.
Keep us posted, okay?
 
Hi TH,

We'll be thinking of you tomorrow and awaiting your return here to the other side with your new stem piece.

Fingers crossed that this surgery will be the answer to you pains and problems.

Take care,
Cardie
 
Good luck tomorrow! I'll be thinking of you and looking forward to your first post-op update when you feel able.
 
Sissy46, glad to know I was of some help. It's so easy to want to get back to life quickly with a vengeance. I remember repeatedly asking my PT where I was in comparison to other THRs, and was always shooting to be in the top 10%. And I was for maybe a month :). I'll be better this time, and my best friend/ helper chastises me when I overdo. And I'm told I may be ExuberantHippy within a week, as this should solve the deep pain rapidly.

C Mac, we've both been around here awhile. I appreciate your kind words and support.

Alex, you've given me some very good advice over this ordeal. I haven't been here that long in the grand scheme of things, but this is 3 years from my original surgery. Whew! And it started hurting at 4 months. My first x-rays do show my orthopedist erred on the side of caution, and put in a too loose stem instead of risking a fracture. There was at least 1 mm space around the femur implant, and the wrong angle. So, it wasn't so much the Anterior approach, as surgeon error. The Dr. explained this in pre-op without saying surgeon error.

This time they'll likely have to cut the bone to get the stem out. So I'll be a "fracture" too. How does that impact recovery?

And Alex, the advice to focus on other things (paraphrased) really helped me get through the last few weeks. I had all the info I needed, so a break from fretting was very therapeutic. And I've made some lovely changes to my home (not counting the bath bench and toilet riser!).

Bottomshollow, thanks for the positive vibes. I can use them!

Ilovefall, thanks for the luck. I can tell I'm on pain meds because I had to look at your nick twice to get it. I was thinking "Falls are very bad things," then realized you meant the season. I'm in the Pacific NW, which is much like London from what I've heard. We don't have much Fall, and a gray and drizzly 7-8 months, starting in late Oct. through May. So I love summer. So you must live where the Fall is a lovely season. And I'm getting this over with now, because who wants to walk around in cold rain?

And I want to thank everyone else who's provided support, advice, and kindness. Being in chronic pain can really wear someone down, and I appreciate that BoneSmart exists for those of us who are searching for our own personal answers.
 
Wishing you on the best of everything tomorrow with your surgery. I know you will be awesome when all is said and done. Take care and and see you on the other side. I follow you on Tuesday.
 
TiredHippy, didn't realize you were here in PacNW! Wishing you and your doc the best tomorrow. It's hard to tell what your restrictions might be with the intentional fracture-possibly a period of non-weightbearing. Did the OS mention that at all? Anyway it will be dependent on what they find and what they have to do to make it right. Post when you feel up to it!

:friends:
 
Tiredhippy, good luck tomorrow. I'm 10 weeks (on Tuesday) from my surgery. I've felt better everyday and am able to do things I thought I'd thought were done for good. I've been pain free from day 2, that alone feels great. That throbbing pain that followed me everywhere is gone and replaced with a feeling of youthful invigoration. To be sure, there was discomfort near the incision, the fear of having the catheter removed was real (but didn't hurt) and the muscles in the operated leg have had some discomfort, but not much. I'm glad I went thru with the procedure.
I thought about my procedure as going on a trip (in reality, to the hospital), all I had to do was be there on time. The doctors and nurses had all the work to do. The actual procedure was the culmination of many doctor visits, extensive testing and planning. I've told many that I slept thru the whole thing (I did). I feel great (I've been back at work 2 weeks), and afterwards, you will feel great also. This board is an excellent source of information and support. Good luck and keep up informed of your progress. We'll be rooting for you.
tom
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Corganics CBD

Staff online

Members online

Total: 682 (members: 2, guests: 680)

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom