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Hip Infection Infection, dislocation, revisions, & life beyond

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Thanks @Poppet . Are you saying that your friend is on antibiotics for ever now?

My surgeon said if I was 80 they would do that...keep me on antibiotics forever but because I am younger that surgery was the most likely outcome
 
No she had extensive antibiotic treatment when first diagnosed and then had surgery, IV antibiotics, then another course of antibiotics for a few weeks.

Now she is on the state infection register and is monitored for infection, each time coming back clear! I will check with her tomorrow as to how often she is tested. She is not on permanent antibiotics, just being monitored.

She is 3 years post and is as fit as a fiddle :) she has been on o/s holidays twice now for the last two years for months at a time. She looks wonderful and so will you honey :) @Vetgirl
 
@Vetgirl,

My mind plays tricks on me especially when I post late at night!:snork: When I went home, they switched me to oral antibotics. I only had iv antibiotics at home after the revision. My "mouth" sometimes engages before brain starts running!:rotfl: Sounds like they have everything under control. Just keep your doctor's appt. and don't be stubborn like your friend Sonja who is Finally having gall bladder surgery this week! My doctor wouldn't let me leave until I picked a day this week. He said it was bad.:sick: I told him"but I don't feel THAT bad! When I got home my hubby asked if I had mentioned all the vomiting and doubling over in pain I had lately!:what: Funny but I had forgotten all about that.
 
Thanks @Poppet @Josephine and @RestAssured for your help

I would love to hear more about your friend Poppet.....did she get a 2 stage revision???? How long after it was diagnosed? Do you. Have to stay in hospital when you are on the IV antibiotics? Do you go home with the spacer in and can you weight bear?

I read a few things about he antibiotic spacer but stopped reading as a few things freaked me out.

The waiting is hard...not knowing what's in the future.

Have been trying to rest but the family loves to congregate at put cabin so I don't get much and end up sleeping half the day!!!!! Yesterday was cool so I took advantage but today is nice so we are off to the beach soon

Thanks for anything you can tell me

Xxxxx
 
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Dear Vetgirl

I had a 2-stage revision of my hemi-arthroplasty, because of infection, in October and November 2012. I certainly would not presume to give you any "advice", as all our cases are so different, but I would definitely say that, in the whole scheme of things, for me it was no major deal. Josephine will correct me if I am wrong, but as far as I can make out these operations are not intrinsically more difficult than the initial surgery.

Bizarrely, although the infection was found to be very severe, and I had to have extensive bone grafts, I was only ever aware of very minor symptoms. A hip arthroscopy came up negative, various blood and other tests were only at most borderline, and even - extremely expensive - nuclear medicine only gave an inconclusive result. From the first suggestion of a possible infection, to making plans for the revision, was over a year.

To answer two of your points from my experience...

1) I was a private patient in a UK hospital. Protocols may well be different in Oz. As regards staying in hospital for the IV antibiotics, I did have that option. But I was anxious to avoid that, if possible. Here, sometimes it can be arranged for a patient's local health provider to come out daily to do the procedure - but my local authority were not playing ball with that one. So in my case I went into hospital daily for 2 weeks. It was an hour journey there, often 2 hours in the hospital (as I have titchy, wriggly veins), and another hour back. Worth it to me, though.

2) Weighbearing with a spacer? Please be aware that I have zilch medical knowledge, and everything I tell you is just stuff I picked up along the way, but as far as I can make it out there are 2 types of spacer. With one you can bear a certain amount of weight. For whatever reason my surgeon chose one which does not allow weightbearing. I have every confidence in him, and really, who am I to argue? I actually liked the crutches, though I found stairs very difficult. Other people seemed to master this much quicker than I did.

Overall, a 2-stage revision, in my experience, is not a terrifying, painful and scary ordeal.

The biggest downside for me was tiredness. I remember the first time I went out on my own, after the second op, when I was on two sticks. I drove 20 minutes to the shops, had a pedicure (I still have trouble bending), did 2 more errands, and drove home. I was exhausted. I think the tiredness is just something you have to work through. I don't know of any magic short-cuts through it. You're young. You no doubt have reserves of energy which long since abandoned me.


All the best. Think of it as an adventure... Sort of.
 
@Vetgirl, as the information is private I will PM you with the details from my friend.
 
Thanks so much @glynis and @Poppet

It is so great to hear stories that remind me that this will be behind me soon.....

Glynis...is there anywhere I can read your story???

Good luck @RestAssured for your surgery
 
Here is Glynis's recovery thread.
 
One thing to remember Sally, @Vetgirl is that the medical protocols for treating infections vary between countries. xx

As discussed, contact me when you are back from your holiday and I will hook you up with my friend :)
 
Thanks for the thread link @Jamie I started reading it but can't get onto the second page!!!! This has happened with a few other threads I have searched for too. Any advice????

Thanks for the advice @Poppet ....makes sense!!!
 
Thanks, Jamie. Reading that back now just makes me realise how confused I was at the time, as much of the information I gave was incorrect. Couple my lack of anatomy knowledge with the language barrier, and you have the perfect surgery storm. It's quite possible there isn't a second page, Vetgirl, but I can't remember now.

The story of my accident is on Butterfly's Pre-Op thread, page 8 of the thread as a whole: New Here and Terrified. It starts around post 145. Incidentally, I notice you came into the thread later, when the conversation had moved on to kangaroos (well, of course it did!) My husband and I love wildlife trips, and we are looking forward to Papua New Guinea in March this year.

I didn't have a thread for my revision. By that time I was settled with a highly-regarded hip revision surgeon, and I have every confidence in him, so I decided it would be best if I just stuck with his advice.

No doubt with the best will in the world, I feel there are contributors to this forum who are too ready to jump into everyone's story with their "advice". Comments such as "that happened to someone in my office, and it turned out to be..." can be a very iffy way forward, it seems to me.

I still have several questions to which I have never been able to get a clear answer. Most prominent, I suppose, is the question of why I had so few symptoms, when the infection turned out to be so extensive and destructive. Can any medically-qualified professional give me any ideas about that?

All the best.

Glynis
 
glynis said:
No doubt with the best will in the world, I feel there are contributors to this forum who are too ready to jump into everyone's story with their "advice". Comments such as "that happened to someone in my office, and it turned out to be..." can be a very iffy way forward, it seems to me.
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You don't expect other members to offer the benefit of their experience? Albeit second hand? :scratch:
glynis said:
I still have several questions to which I have never been able to get a clear answer. Most prominent, I suppose, is the question of why I had so few symptoms, when the infection turned out to be so extensive and destructive. Can any medically-qualified professional give me any ideas about that?
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I probably can but this is Vetgirl's thread and we don't want to derail it, do we? Post the questions in your own thread and tag me and I'll be delighted to do my best to give you answers.
 
Oops.... @Vetgirl...... That's what happens when you're working along and don't take time to fully check out the links you're providing to someone! So sorry.....that wasn't much of a thread and as Glynis says, it definitely wasn't a recovery thread for her! I apologize to both of you! Thanks @glynis for clearing that up!
 
That's ok @Jamie it's a shame I would have loved to have read that thread.

Thanks @glynis for all your insight I appreciate it
 
My sincere apologies, Vetgirl and Josephine, for having hi-jacked this thread.

I did feel that my question about symptoms of infection was relevant here, but as it is deemed not to be, then I readily accept that.

As always, Vetgirl, my best wishes.

Glynis
 
Hey @glynis I really valued your Input and thought your questions were valid and relevant....thank you!!!
 
Hello Sally! @glynis I would be very interested in reading about your story. How did you determine you had an infection if your symptoms were mild etc.? I am trying to limit my typing because of recent hand surgery, but I would like to read about your experience as I am having my own issues and being tested for infection among other things. Maybe you could post a synopsis of your experience in a new thread?
 
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