Hip Infection* Milo2012 Recovery Journey

Milo2012

new member
Joined
Feb 8, 2022
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8
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49
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In July 2020 I had a bad auto mobile wreck, I ended up in the hospital for 15 days. Long story short my hip went through my pelvis. One year and a day later my bone died on my hip. Now I have to have a total hip replacement July 9 2021. Recover was awesome till 3 weeks later when I ran a fever all week end the week I was going back to work. It ended up being an infection in my hip, I was admitted that day and did surgery the next morning.
He found staph in my leg, I guess I got it from the implant or something, so he changed out all the removable parts. That was august 19 2021. Recovery was rough for that one from all the work he did in surgery.8 week with I.V. Antibiotics and oral.Now it’s December and started having pain when I was walking. Doc.did blood work and found my white blood cell count was high so he put me back on 2 oral antibiotics till January by then I was using a cane again and still hurting. He told me he we was going back to surgery to remove everything and put in a antibiotic hip spacer in, during surgery he removed my cup in my pelvis and he said it started oozing puss out, staph again or it has been there since 2nd surgery. So now I’m on I. V. antibiotics again for at least 8 weeks. This is almost week 5, never have been this miserable till this surgery. The recovery is taking forever, my incision closed up except for a a 1/2” hole that is taking its time closing up. This time the fluid draining out of my leg is finally down to 2 small dressings a day. I’m using a cane to get around but it’s still painful and not a lot of range of motion. All this started when was 45 now going on 48. Just wanted to see if anyone else is still in pain with spacer. That makes 4 hip surgeries since the wreck, still have one more to go hopefully soon.
 
@Milo2012 Hi and Welcome!

You have certainly been through a lot and still more to come, in this healing journey. I know more about knees than hips, so I’m going to let the hip staff and members come to talk with you.

I moved your post to a thread of your own so you would get more replies and support.

We’ve had many members, both hip and knees, have good outcomes after an infection, so try to have faith that you will, also.

I will leave you our Recovery Guidelines. Each article is short but very informative. Following these guidelines will help you have a less painful recovery.

Just keep in mind all people are different, as are the approaches to this recovery and rehab. The key is, “Find what works for you.“ Your doctors, PTs and BoneSmart are available to help, but you are the final judge as to the recovery approach you choose.

Hip Recovery: The Guidelines
1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary

2. Control discomfort:
rest
elevate
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)

3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.

4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these
BoneSmart philosophy for sensible post op therapy

5. Here is a week-by-week guide
Activity progression for THRs

6. Access to these pages on the website
Oral And Intravenous Pain Medications
Wound Closure

Pain management and the pain chart
Healing: how long does it take?
Chart representation of THR recovery

Dislocation risk and 90 degree rule
Energy drain for THRs
Pain and swelling control: elevation is the key
Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

BIG TIP: Hips actually don't need any exercise to get better. They do a pretty good job of it all on their own if given half a chance. Trouble is, people don't give them a chance and end up with all sorts of aches and pains and sore spots. All they need is the best therapy which is walking and even then not to excess.

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask the at each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.
 
Hello and Welcome to BoneSmart. Thank you for joining us.
Wow, you’ve been on quite the journey, from the misfortune of the accident, resulting surgery and now infection. I’m so sorry.

We ask that you please clarify surgery dates and which hip you‘re experiencing all with. We will use the information to create a signature for you, making it easier for those stopping by to see how far along you are from surgery and what you’ve experienced to date.

I will leave a link to threads of others that experienced the same. Many have successfully dealt with infection and moved forward. That is my hope for you also. Stick with us, you’ll find lots of support here. Until next time…wishing you comfort and all the best.
 
wow, my heart goes out to you! I truly wish you a speedy recovery and an end to the mind numbing pain, but there's nothing speedy about almost 3 years of this.
 
Thank you the kind words, it’s getting better. I have been going to physical therapy, it’s helped with the pain. I have been using crutches that has helped the pain be manageable. I gave an appointment on April 21 hopefully to discuss surgery since my last labs looked good to the doc.
 
I too can only offer sympathy for the long trials you have been through. It is great to read that you are finally seeing progress, with PT reducing pain, some good lab results and an appointment soon to discuss surgery. I wish you all possible good luck that this one will go smoothly and be the one that fixes things at last.
 
A little update on me May 9,2022 I had a hip aspiration done, I will find out results this Thursday. A good note my blood work showed that my white blood cell count is finally normal.
I have been off antibiotics for almost 2 months now.
 
Thanks for the update. Great news on the WBC. I hope you receive more good news with the results of the aspiration tomorrow. Let us know. :)
Hope you have a peaceful day.
@Milo2012
 
I found following my ESR/Sed rate and CRP in addition to white blood cells important in knowing the antibiotics I was taking and through my PICC line were working. I found WBC did not tell the whole story but if ESR/SED rate, CRP were normal- it was unlikely the infection was in my hip. It is still a scary journey. Hang in
 
A little update, Sunday morning I had surgery because they found another bacteria in my leg. He took everything out of my leg and packed it with Bacteria killing gauze. Wednesday I’m getting my permanent hardware put back in.
 
You have had a tough road. All my best wishes that the upcoming surgery goes well and you will soon be back to good health.
 
So sorry to hear your infection returned. Fingers crossed it is resolved and the new hardware works for you! Please keep us updated!

You will notice that I merged your newest post with your original recovery thread. For several reasons, we prefer that you only have one recovery thread:
  • That way, we have all your information in one place. This makes it easier to go back and review your history before providing advice.
  • If you keep starting new threads, you miss the posts and advice others have left for you in the old threads, and some information may be unnecessarily repeated
  • Having only one thread will act as a diary of your progress that you can look back on.
Please post any updates, questions or concerns about your recovery here. If you prefer a different thread title, just post what you want and we will get it changed for you.

If you need an urgent response to a question, just tag a member of staff.

Many members bookmark their thread in their computer browser, so they can find it when they log on.
 
Oh gosh, that is indeed a "little update."
At least they are getting more aggressive and you can get back to a good recovery.
Please keep us updated?
 
Best Wishes for surgery today and a prayer that the infection is soon gone for good. :prayer: Keep in touch, we’re here for you if you need us.
@Milo2012
 
Thanks for stopping by to update. Things are looking up, brighter days are on the way!
Woohoo for good results on blood work. Best wishes…stay in touch!
@Milo2012
 
Wow you really went through it! Now you seem to be on the other side. It’s such a relief to have that hip pain gone. Wishing you the rest of your recovery uneventful
 
Hi Milo,
I identify with you because I also have a longstanding infection. But first I must tell you that I really sympathise with your truly horrendous history.I really hope things are turning around for you at last.
Mine is a long story - apologies in advance.
Nearly 2 years after an apparently highly successful thr I also discovered that I have a staph
infection. Two years on (over 4 years after the operation) It is definitely still there around the scar but not definitely around the hip replacement. Because the infection kept returning even after 2 weeks of intravenous in hospital, 4 weeks at home with a pic line, my consultant (who did the operation) said I had to stay on antibiotics for life to keep it suppressed. He is an expert on operations with patients who've had infections. That is all he does now and he writes about new techniques in international journals. But he has said up to now that he thinks I should not risk an operation because it might well reduce my quality of life. Except for when the infection started and I couldn't walk and was in great pain I have always been able to walk quite far - a couple of miles most days and sometimes much more without effort - and have not had pain in my hip.

I have been on doxycycline for 2 years and it has always made me ultra sensitive to the sun (painful skin rashes, some swelling and redness etc). I wear factor 50 all the time on any exposed skin and around the scar under clothes. But the last 2 months the infection is out on the surface of the scar and liquid has been oozing from the scar for about 5 weeks. I feel very uncomfortable physically and some pain but can still walk quite well. Each deterioration seems to have coincided with a heatwave. However except for a few days my CPR has been normal so it is a bit mysterious. I have had an X-ray and an MRI and they seem to show that the infection is not down by my hip implant. I have been waiting about 6 weeks for an aspiration which will really show where the infection is. It was postponed for lack of a room (the state of the British NHS). Im still on doxycycline because my consultant thinks it shouldn't be changed until Ive had the aspiration.

So I dread having to have an operation - which will probably happen if there is infection down by the implant - but I have tried various oral antibiotics and found the side effects unbearable long term. Up to now I tolerated doxy the best but it doesn't seem to be working now.

It is interesting that people on this site seem to be generally positive about their revision operations. My fear of it is confounded by the fact I have a friend who, due to a mistake during the revision op, can walk only a few steps and is can constant pain.
 

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