Hello everyone, it's ole FOGGY BRAIN Westy checking in. I am one week post explant surgery today. My mobility is severely restricted, and I'm one of those old guys who refuses to post on a forum via my "SMART" phone.
Even though it's got a generous seized screen, and great font adjustment, I could never get use to using the phone as a tablet. Meanwhile, my tablet has gone missing in my messy man cave, so I've been forum free for a few days as best I recall.
At around 3PM cst, the day after we arrived home from the hospital, my pain level was a solid 9 no matter what position I was in. The almighty Norco 10/325's which had worked so very well for me after the past 3 surgeries, was no longer even touching the pain. I was max dosing them @ 2 every 4 hours, and still I was in severe pain. I messaged OS via MyChart and they Said i had become Norco resistant and kicked me up to straight OxyCodone, 10Mg x 2 every 4 hours as needed. The pain is highly concentrated in upper left groin and radiates downward. It goes right down my left leg all the way to my ankle, and at its worst, it's a throbbing and sharp pain while sitting. When using the walker to get from my now famous BIG chair to the men's room or kitchen, the pain is almost unbearable. In addition to Rx'ing the Oxy, Doc also referred me to our local pain mgmt clinic, as I've been on and off the the Norco (sometimes at max dosage) since June 28th, the day after surgery #1 right through to the 4th surgery on 2-26-20.
I knew this day was coming, and it's particularly hard for me, because as mentioned somewhere in this or perhaps another thread, I quit drinking 26.5 years ago and have never looked backed. I was a guy with a huge capacity for wine and beer, but never much of a hard liquor drinker.
My question for the forum is a simple one. Have those you who've had the explant surgery done and had the spacer installed experienced this level of pain? Will it subside over time, during the 12 weeks that it's in there, or is this level of pain typical for this procedure. To articulate a bit, the OS said that in his experience, anyone with an infection as bad as mine was/is, has always resulted in at least a minor loosening of the implants, thus making it easier to get them out during the surgery. H e told me mine were still rock solidly in place which made the surgery much more time consuming, and as he put it, heavy duty. The heavy duty part being the amount of force and time needed to complete the surgery.
I know this fact can be a huge contributor to the post op pain, but folks, this version of pain is off the charts.
I know I'm only a week out and have to be patient, which I'm doing, but lordy, this pain just takes my breath away. Okay, enough on that question. Last time I posted I think I said I'd reveal the two new Antibiotics I'm on via the PICC line. They are Dalvance, once a week for a total of 4 weeks, with each infusion taking 35 to 45 minutes and being done at the ID Doc's office. The next drug is called Invanz. I get this from a hanging bag, at home, once per day, every day, for 6 weeks. The total infusion time on this one is 30ish minutes. Then of course there are the combination of antibiotics that are in the actual spacer itself. I don't know what those drugs are.
The incision seems to be healing nicely thus far. The drainage is going down by quite a bit as each day goes by. This is a good thing, in my mind. Lastly, my blood #'s are a bit confusing, but the team isn't worried about them at this point. The main one for me is the C Reactive Protein. it went from 1.03, to 1.40, to 11.8 (pre surgery) and as of this past Monday, that number was 25. something. Both ID Doc and OS said this is typical after this type of surgery, given the amount of force that had to be used to get the original implants out. I'll be curious to see what next Monday's numbers are.
I don't have much to add here. I'm kind of in the hurry up and wait mode now. Upcoming Dr and clinic visits are as follows. This weekend, into ID Doc's clinic for # infusion of Dalvance, Monday, home health care for a PICC line dressing change as well as my weekly blood draw, Tuesday, go to ID Doc for an overall after care update visit, and lastly, Wed, to the OS to have sutures removed (uh oh) and a general follow up. I'm going to request an X-Ray to see if spacer is still where it belongs as well.
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. This part of the recovery (being on the narcotic) is my least favorite. I detest the way they make me feel in the brain. If they were actually killing a good amount of pain, my inner self would be more willing to accept this state for the time being. But......
have a great rest of the week and thanks in advance for any thoughts, comments, or advice.
Best to everyone
Westy
6-27-19 TLHR
12-19-19 Repair of Glut Ned Tendon surgery on left hip
1-30-20 Clean up of infected joint with new ceramic ball and polyethylene cup
2-26-20 Explant surgery