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Hip Infection* Westy's Hip Recovery Thread

Westy said:
Have those you who've had the explant surgery done and had the spacer installed experienced this level of pain?
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:wave: Westy.

I do not remember experiencing any pain as such with my spacer which I had in place for five months during which time I took oral antibiotics. It was awkward as my leg was 5cm/2ins shorter, I had had my knee replaced 6 months earlier and I had muscle atrophy in my legs ... I like to cram in as much at one time as possible to get things over with! :flabber: The new hardware put in was a larger ball and 30cm/12in stem for stability. Being as I am only 5'2" tall the tip of the stem is only a few inches from the top of my knee prosthesis.

Without going back through my blood test results, one of my CRPs last year was 66.9! My last one in September was 3.8 and I go on the 23rd for my year checkup/bloods/X-ray so am keeping my fingers crossed.

I sincerely hope you / they get your pain under control.
Best Wishes3.jpeg Izzy xx
 
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Hi @Westy
Sure hate to hear this stage is so painful for you.
Hoping pain management, though becoming known for a monitoring process for patients at risk for addiction, will be a resource that can truly help you manage the pain...with different opiates and/or other strategies. :fingersx:
Regarding the elevated CRP, I have also heard these levels rise and often peak a week or more after major surgery.
This is certainly why it was expected and not concerning to your team.

I wish you didnt have to go through all of this...I seem to remember @Billymac described this period with the antibiotic spacers as being mostly miserable also.:sad:
Hope the pain lessens and I'll be sending continued healing mojo your way.:friends:
 
Darn it @Westy I sure hope your pain gets under control soon, Imagine worry isn’t helping as it elevates inflammation. Sending all my best wishes that things settle down very soon, so you can at least rest comfortably in your trusty chair. Take care.
 
Bless you @Westy U remember 7 years ago ish when i had my first infection,i was in the same amount of pain as you,it wascrippling and i was dosed on everything possible,on days i had to go to hospital i was sobbing with pain,i remember the consultant puttinng his head in his hands and feeling so much for me. On the last month of my spacer they took me into hospital and put me on traction, it was like winning the lottery, the nurses said i started to recover that day i had felt so very ill. Try not to worry too much about your crp i know its hard mine was 400 when i was admitted with sepsis,they do not worry as much as the patient, i was constantly asking researching and just never relaxing about it.

. Thinking about you,keep strong and positivexx
 
Westy said:
Full disclosure, this was written while I was under the influence of Max dose of Oxycodone, 2- 10Mg tabs taken at 4:50PM cst. If anything seems out of sorts, that's why. I'm not myself right now due to these narcotics.
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You did remarkably well with all the details you offered. I am so very, very sorry you are in this much pain.

I keep you in my prayers everyday, and I think that is the best I can offer you. Glad you have some experienced people from the forum to offer their experiences.
 
Aww, Westy...it’s difficult to imagine you in such pain. I hope they’re able to get it under control for you soon. Prayers continue for your comfort and healing. Thanks for keeping us all in the loop. Many here care and are following your story.
With any luck today feels a little brighter than yesterday. :SUNsmile:
@Westy
 
Wow, Westy, wow.

after a bit of an absence from the forum, I just read your entire thread from beginning to end, and I am blown away by your ordeal, and your guts. I cannot begin to imagine the pain you describe or the stress of experiencing this type of ongoing trauma. You are obviously have immense mental strength and fortitude. I want to wish you strength and comfort, and hope for an end to your pain. I will carry on following your journey with awe, admiration and sympathy in equal measure . Healing vibes from South Africa.
 
So sorry your pain isn't under control, hopefully something comes around for you soon. I continue to keep you in my thoughts and prayers and send as much healing mojo your way as can be sent! Gentle hugs, we're here for you and will continue to be throughout this ordeal. :console2: :angel::fingersx:
 
Oh my westy, what an ordeal!! You are incredibly strong but I'm sure it's taking a toll on you physically and mentally. :blackcloud:I pray that your pain can be controlled asap and you can move to the next step of healing from all this trauma. The only words of solace I can give are courtesy of Nietzsche: 'what doesn't kill us makes us stronger'. Stay strong. We're behind you, rooting for you. :thumb:
 
Good evening ladies and gentlemen,

The Doc upped my Oxycodone dosage on late Friday afternoon. Sadly it wasn't much help. The amount of pain is immense, and I feel some pretty hefty swelling deep in the joint. Today I reached into the BoneSmart playbook and "iced" heavily. I have these pretty neat, large ice paks, with straps that i bought on Amazon. They seem to be helping and I do feel a tad better. YESSSSSSSSS
One of the other problems I've had in the past surgery was the amount of drainage from the incision. It seems this time, the drainage, while still there, is going down at a nice pace. Fingers crossed that this trend continues.
I go to have my once a week 30 minute hang bag of antibiotics infused tomorrow. Following that, I go for an X-Ray of the joint to make sure it's still where it's supposed to be. Monday is PICC line dressing change day, along with a blood draw. Tuesday, it's off the ID doc for a review on progress, and finally as mentioned earlier, Wed, is suture removal day.
If by chance the joint is dislocated, they send me to the ER and the on call Ortho Team will put me under a twilight anaesthesia and then "manipulate the joint" back into place. I'm the one who suggested it felt like it might be dislocated, and Doc said he highly doubted it, but the X-Ray will tell the tale.

I'll be back later next week to update the tread, and I hope it's all good news. Meantime, i read through all the responses and again say thank you all very much for the kind words, good thoughts, suggestions, and prayers. They mean a lot to me.

Sincerely

Westy
 
You have a busy week coming up.. wishing you comfort tonight as you try to snag some sleep.

Glad the icing is helping a bit.. it's such a big help for many of us.. maybe tomorrow is the day where you find some relief.
 
So sorry to read about the pain you’re dealing with, Westy.
Thankfully you found a bit of relief through icing. It sounds like the next four days will be busy ones for you. Will be thinking of you and wishing you comfort as you travel to and from appts. I hope today is a good one! :SUNsmile:
@Westy
 
Happy to hear from you Westy, and so glad your pain is a bit better. Also happy to hear the drainage seems less this time.

Ice helped me endure my car ride home, too. :ice:

Good luck with all your upcoming travels! May it all go well.
 
Good to hear from you @Westy, sorry you're still dealing with a lot of pain. Keep using the ice, plus make sure you take some ice packs with you when you go to your appointments. Hoping the pain starts to let up, the drainage at the incision stops and there's no dislocation. Keeping my fingers crossed :fingersx: that you get a break here pretty soon. Hope you're having a restful night.
 
Wow soooo much pain. It sounds unbearable ! I truly feel for you and hope your on top of it sooner rather than later. Maybe something will show up with the x-ray and it can be resolved pronto for you...if you know what I mean.

I’m now 4 weeks post op with my spacer and yes my experience was insanely painful in the first couple of weeks. I’m happy to say it is well under control now.

My surgeon pre planned and did an extended trochanter osteotomy so to reduce operating time and for ease and less force of removal of the stem. The only con so far is I’m non weight bearing for 6 weeks on that leg, which I’m slowly adjusting too.

Unfortunately I need to go back in on Friday to have the incision washed out as It’s still oozing a bit. He said that the antibiotic beads that were put inside the joint during surgery can cause the extra oozing.

Anyhoo......wishing you pain free soon.
 
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