OP
OP
Z15
graduate
United StatesHi Folks, (apologies up front for the length of this post....you may want to go get a coffee or other beverage before you start)
My recovery goes well. Probably better than it should...meaning I'm doing a lot. I've gone on numerous 3 mile hikes in the mountains and yesterday I spent 4 hours doing the dreaded FALL CLEANUP wearing a backpack blower on our (steep) hillside, dragging tarps full of lawn debris and my most leastest favorite RAKING. I will admit, the rocking motion of raking bothered my current hip less than it has in a long time. This time it bothered my SHOULDER (for which I am seeing a surgeon on Thur...but that is a different story!)
Barbie, I did have my blood tested in Chicago and that was just not the issue. I showed no sensitivity to any of the metals present. It's a very clear report and that was not it.
They pulled my PICC Line and stopped the killer antibiotics after 2 weeks of nothing growing in the Petri dishes. After 4 days of nothing growing they were confident that this was not an infection. After 2 weeks they were positive.
But I had corrosion in the taper and if my surgeon had had a Titanium neck at his disposal when he went in he would have installed it. Given my White Blood Count IN THE JOINT of 157K they were unwilling to wait even a day. Funny, just like you my first aspiration a month earlier was essentially dry...and as you know too well, that means they keep poking and prodding and DRILLING FOR FLUID (that was when I really started sweating on the X-ray table). In my case they finally injected a fluid for guidance and withdrew that, and then cultured it. Not as good as getting free floating fluid but better than nothing. My second aspiration was quite significant and "noteworthy" per the doc drawing it.
So, anyone who knows about me and my activity level is probably correct in presuming that the added torque and friction from mountain jogging exacerbated the corrosion. Given the rarity of this issue in my doc's practice using the same hardware I'm guessing that is the key difference. I *DO* figure this has been a problem brewing for awhile. I've always had some tightness in the joint which I could not shake. It may have been some initial minor reaction and the start of what bloomed into a big problem.
So I see my doc on Nov 6 and we'll discuss options. The current Plan of Record is that he gets permission to get a Titanium neck of which there were zero in the U.S. when I had the surgery, and installs that around March. Now, I've ready plenty of studies (like this one: https://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2474/11/3/) that indicate that Titanium necks cannot take the forces that Chromium Cobalt necks can. My thought is that my surgeon may say that when they switch me to Titanium my running days are over. If that is the case, and I figure that it was the running that really amped up my corrosion, I will ask how he feels about leaving what I have (which is a shiny new Chromium Cobalt Neck in a "cleaned out" largely corrosion free environment. Basically, if I'm not torquing on this in the mountains, can it be an ok solution for me just like the other 99.7% of his patients.
OR...he gives me the green light to be active on a Titanium Neck. Two factors are in my favor for this potentially working out.
1. I'm relatively light. (160 pounds, 73 Kg) If you look at this chart from the study above (https://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2474/11/3/figure/F3) you'll see that not many Titanium Neck failures occurred with folks in my weight class! (this MAY be more about how few men weigh what I do and LESS about how well Titanium Necks survive our forces....not sure)
2. I have a short Femoral Neck. Originally he put in the shortest one that Wright offers. If we go back to High School Physics and we think about the forces applied by a lever, the shorter the moment arm the less torque and in the fracturing of femoral necks, low torque is good.
SO....way too long of a post. But I am up for some discussion with my surgeon. Unfortunately, this is booked as a 6 week check up on the LAST surgery and I view this way more as a discussion of my NEXT STEPS. We'll see. He's always been good about making sure that my questions are answered.
I'll keep you posted after the meeting.
Z
but more than a couple of my family members are regularly annoyed with the amount of thought and research that I put into things.... 
And WE are the smart ones!!!! 
I say, good for YOU!!!!! But I did get a chuckle picturing those loving family members shaking their heads at your diligence.
I may be heading in for pre-op testing and giving a pint of blood to receive during the surgery. I felt like getting the extra pint gave me a boost the first time...I was a fan. My surgeon does not feel it's necessary given the nature of the surgery but I am opting for the little energy boost. 
