Revision THR Has anyone ever heard of late onset metal hypersensitivity in a ceramic on ceramic hip

[C Mac]

I'll be sending up some healing vibes, thoughts and prayers for you tomorrow John.

Take care and check in when you feel up to it,
Cardie

 

[RestAssured]

Z15,

I am from the knee side but have battled and won the 8 infections of MRSA that I had! I know it has to be discouraging but an elevated CRP can be a "simple" infection that they can get to with washout debridement, and antibiotics. I will be praying for you!

 

[Jamie]

Oh my, Z.....the good news is your surgeon is right on top of things. I'm so glad. I know this wasn't what you planned, but I'll be praying that things go well for you in surgery tomorrow. Keep the faith, my friend!!

 

[Jaycey]

Not the news anyone wanted to hear Z15, but the good news is your surgeon is on top of things. Please keep us updated. You are in our thoughts my friend!

 

[Poppet]

As always we are sending healing vibes from down under to you John.. and hugs, well at least from me and a manly handshake from hubby here...

 

[Z15]

hi folks...a quick update from my phone and hospital bed
Tuesday eve they opened my hip and cleaned out a lot of guck.

the tissue looked good but there was some corrosion on the stem that connects the neck to the stem two plus days after trying to culture the fluid out of the hip it had not grown anything. they are and we are looking at the possibility that this is not bacterial but my body dealing with debris in the hip capsule.. they're planning to try to grow something for up to 2 weeks and if nothing cultures the plan will be to get permission to use a titanium neck... and that will be ANOTHER revision.

I'm getting around well and they put in a mainline today do that I can get IV antibiotics at home until we are sure that it is bacteria free... oh yeah, they also took a tissue sample wick they'll try to culture too.

just wanted to drop a note and let you know I am alive... more to follow when I get to a computer

 

[Jamie]

Glad to hear you're okay. I've certainly been thinking about you and wondering how you were doing. Take it easy and update when you can! We're all rootin' for you!!!

 

[nerdgrrl]

Wow, Z, that is quite a story. I just stumbled on it this evening. I hope this can be resolved for you. ...sending you healing vibes from over on the left coast.

 

[Jaycey]

Been thinking about you Z15! Hang in there - sounds like they are doing all the right things.

 

[Poppet]

Z15, so pleased to hear from you.. One step at a time buddy, hugs from down under

 

[Elizak]

Hi Z,

So sorry to hear of your complications. My thoughts and heart are with you.

Best,

Courtney

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

 

[C Mac]

Hi John,

I hope you are resting comfortably. I'm sure it's hard to, again, be in the waiting mode. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that your cultures are bacteria free!! Keep up your pro-biotics while you are on that line.

Take care,
Cardie

 

[VThereandnow]

Holy guacamole Z! I was just emailing you and thought since I got back on bonesmart today would see if you updated. YIKES you sure did. So they opened you up, and does that mean they dislocated you to see what was going on? You gotta know I am sending healing vibes your way with the rest of your bony peeps. Forget my whiny email and let us know when you can how u r doing.
Hang in there, as I know you will
Cathy

 

[Z15]

Cathy,

Thanks for checking in. The good news is that with this hip they never dislocate. They lop off the femoral head and remove it while it's in place without a dislocation. In this case they removed the ball and stem.

We're solidifying a plan of action based on what the surgeon saw and the test results that are still being finalized but I will likely be getting some new parts in 1-6 months. I'm voting more like 1-2 since I don't want to ROCK this healing effort to only have this chopped up again.

PT was in to see me today and they said that they would never guess that I just had parts swapped out, my crutches free walk is that solid.

But, I'm glad that my situation allows me to work thru this and I have great folks looking after my best interests. I'll bop over to your thread and hope you've added some current updates!

Be well,

Z

 

[Jaycey]

Hi Z15, just wondering how things are going. Hope all is well!

 

[Z15]

Hi Jaycey,

I'm really boring at the moment.

My revision just barely qualifies as a revision in my mind as none of the bone connected parts were touched. Opened me up, did their due diligence to ensure we were not dealing with an infection, examined the crime scene. swapped out some parts and closed me up till we can get approval for a titanium neck.

I am REALLY GOOD at these exercises by now. But I do them. My OS wants me to wait six months to do the next swap. He would like the muscles and tendons to be as recovered as possible before traumatizing them again. And I am thinking DO IT NOW so I don't have to do the full rehab twice. At the moment he doesn't have the titanium neck anyway, so I'll be a good patient.

I stopped using crutches after a few days and enjoy walks in the mountains to enjoy SOME of this lovely Fall weather. I'm very fortunate that I can take the time to this whole drill a couple times in 6-7 months and I don't overlook that.

Given my insurance deductibles and out of pocket maximums this little adventure (back to back revisions) is going to be pricey tho. We saved for rainy days...and it's coming down pretty hard right now!

I'll share more as the detailed timeline emerges. For now just imagine me doing the hip exercises A L L T H E T I M E.

Thanks for checking in,

Z

 

[Jaycey]

Thanks for the update John. You are not boring - just bored! All this is teaching you endless patience. Keep up that exercise and stay focused on the future.

So sorry about the price of things. Having lived in both the US and the UK I can safely say our system is much kinder to your pocket.

Please keep us updated!

 

[BarbieJ]

Hello John, Z15. You have a lot of company with your modular THR. I have a similar system, but mine is a smith and nephew. I have a titanium modular/ bone sparing titanium stem with a cobalt chromium trunnion attached to a ceramic/zirconium ball with a plastic liner. I have quite a number of problems but so far I do not have any answers and I will be following your thread to learn about your situation.
I am so glad your initial recovery went so well but sorry to hear your problem now. Did you have the metal allergy test done through the lab in Chicago? My surgeon at Mayo told me they have been removing those co/cr trunnions due to the problems of fretting but I guess so far my body is not waging a big enough immune response for it to show on any tests.
I had one aspiration which was a dry tap so nothing to culture and it was painful.
Can you explain to me and others, did they replace the trunnion with titanium yet? Did your surgeon want you to get your blood tested for allergy or did you do that on your own?
Are you still on IV antibiotics?
We want to know how you are doing. Please give us an update.

 

[Jaycey]

:iagree:

 

[calikat]

Really sorry to hear about what you have been going through. But you have such a great attitude. It's inspiring.