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THR Some allowed to drive after 4 weeks, some after 8

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I am glad you are addicted to us and the new woman in your life (daisy) John... We want to hear more about the antics you two get up to :)
 
Shhhh..... I may soon dump Daisy. I left her in the waiting room when I saw my OS. Sort of embarrassed to be seen with her. But maybe she suspects, because she keeps hiding on me.
 
Oh John, you have a wonderful sense of humor... You put a smile on my face - thank you :)
 
This morning I saw the surgeon who did the gastroscopy after my stomach bleed for a follow-up. The biopsy for H. pylori bacteria was negative, so no new meds, just continue with the Pantoloc pills (antacid). She showed me scope pictures where my upper intestine had been inflamed. So that chapter is over and I should check with my GP whether I need to continue the Pantoloc beyond my current prescription refills. BTW, I'm still taking the cane with me when I go out, but I leave it in the car.
 
Good news on the scope John. I hope this finds you feeling better.
 
I have an appointment for a cleaning at the dentist today. Even though I've read about that stuff here, I'd forgotten all about it until last night. I called this morning and was told I should take some antibiotic pills an hour before the cleaning. (They were going to phone in the prescription to my pharmacy, but then found they had the pills there and I can just stop in there earlier for them.)

Funny thing, but I had never heard about needing antibiotics before dental work until I saw it here. Nothing when I was discharged, nothing from my OS and nothing in the info package I got before the surgery. That makes me wonder how great the chances actually are of joint infection. What if I get a scrape or cut and it gets infected? Would that be the same? I'm thinking it could actually be worse. Josephine ?
 
Hi John, 25 years ago I worked for a while as a dental receptionist - the only patients whose notes were tagged for prophylactic antibiotics before treatment were those who had previously had heart surgery, but then joint replacements were not as common as now (Hooray for medical advances!).
Josephine any thoughts?
 
Talking to the dental hygienist today, I learned that previously the prophylactic antibiotics were only required for hippies the first two years after the operation, but now it's for life based on new recommendations by OS's. I also have a medical history update form to fill out and mail back to the dentist. I don't recall ever having to do that before, so it's something they've started in the last few years. I've probably not been there except for a couple of emergencies since I retired because I no longer have any kind of dental coverage.

I did ask how come dental work exposes my bloodstream to harmful bacteria more than cutting my finger might and was told the mouth contains an awful lot of bacteria.
 
Hi John, I have asked and asked about this. GP, dentist and OS. The recommendation I got was no antibiotics for routine procedures such as cleaning. Pre meds are needed if you have serious procedures such as root canal or anything that involves a procedure that might cause excessive bleeding. I have never had any antibiotics for dental work since my THR.
 
Well, I guess there are differences of opinion among the medical profession. My guess is that my dentist was being cautious. It was I who volunteered ahead of my appointment that I'd had a THR, so it would not have been wise for the receptionist to say, don't worry about it. It's not like they were making money off the antibiotics, because they gave me the pills for free. I had not had a cleaning for several years and fortunately it wasn't rough. However, I know people in this situation who have had tartar not just below the gum line, but below the jaw line, and suffered a lot of bleeding during cleaning.

BTW, there's another thread here where a hippie asked about getting a tattoo. In the end, after considering all the responses and the pain he could go through if the joint got infected, he decided against it. Maybe those precautions date back to when only drunken sailors and circus freaks got tattoos in unsanitary establishments, but getting tats today is still not as mainstream as going to the dentist.
 
John, this is another one of those areas where the medical community is all over the place. For me, I'm doing the antibiotics prior to dental work...including routine cleaning....for two years. After that...I'm probably going to reserve them for the really invasive stuff, even though my surgeon thinks I should do it for life. I'm weighing what I think is a pretty slight risk of infection with the issues I have when I take antibiotics. Everyone has to do their own soul-searching on this.

Here's an article in the library about this:
https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads...tion-also-known-as-late-onset-infection.4868/

Sharon
 
All over the place, for sure. My OS wants me to pre-medicate before dental procedures.

My dentist and hygienist both told me it is more important before routine cleaning than before other dental procedures. Just the opposite of what Jaycey was told. They said more bacteria are released into the blood stream from working around the gum line during cleaning than when doing a procedure like a filling or root canal.

So far, I'm pre-medicating and will do so for a couple of years. I went through this a few years back, as I have a mild mitral valve murmur---first was told to mediate prior to dental, now they say not necessary.

I think it is all speculation. We each have to make our own decision based on: nothing much.
 
sissy46 said:
They said more bacteria are released into the blood stream from working around the gum line during cleaning than when doing a procedure like a filling or root canal.
Click to expand...
This is all explained in the article Sharon left a link to, Sissy. Obviously you didn't read it!

As for this prophylactic nonsense, I don't bother. After hearing Dr Maale's talk, I had my previous conviction affirmed that periprosthestic infections are due to another reason altogether. Otherwise why is the incidence of them so small?
 
Nannyannie said:
25 years ago I worked for a while as a dental receptionist - the only patients whose notes were tagged for prophylactic antibiotics before treatment were those who had previously had heart surgery,
Click to expand...
That is completely different issue. Actually also people who have had rheumatic fever as a child should also be included.
 
Yeah, after everything I'd been reading here about premedication, it didn't even occur to me until the night before my cleaning appointment, so I called in the morning.

Otherwise everything is progressing well. I no longer bother with the cane and half the time I don't even know where it is. I just have to watch it when grocery shopping to bring the cart out to my car instead of lugging bags or boxes. (Here on Ontario we have an anti-plastic-bag fetish, so most stores charge a nickel for them.) I go back for an x-ray and OS follow-up in April.
 
Well, I put the hip to the severest test so far; I blew out the driveway after we got a foot of snow. No problems, although my back aches. I had to do a bit of pushing in one spot when the snowblower couldn't bite through a two foot drift, but the toughest job was starting it for the first time this winter. So far there haven't been any really significant snowstorms here in southwestern Ontario, but this one was a biggie.
 
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