My Hip Saga…..

My Hip Saga started many years ago.  I am a life-long athlete. I played three sports in high school. I then went on to play Division 1 Field Hockey on the way to earning a degree in Physical Education and Health.   I always lacked flexibility in my hips and shoulders.  During my Junior and Senior years I had multiple orthopedic surgeries on both my shoulders for dislocations and rotator cuff tears.   I remember my hips being vaguely bothersome at times but never severe enough to seek out medical help.

First I took care of my back
In the fall of 2004 I began to experience back pain.  I had an MRI which showed a herniated disc at L4/L5.   I tried to treat it conservatively, but the pain only worsened until I had difficulty with daily tasks and began to exhibit more severe neurological symptoms.  Ultimately in March of 2005 I had a L4/L5 lower lumbar discectomy.  I recovered uneventfully from the surgery. 

June 1, 2009

Sorry to say, the BHR did not work for us... :-((

Claire had it put in left hip in Dec 2006, it worked at first, easy recovery, no restrictions on activity, she was rock scrabbling in the west less than a year after surgery. She has had increasing difficulty walking for the past year, blamed it on her known bad right knee. She just had a total knee put in Mar 16 2009, it is working well now, maybe 105 degrees flex, she still has a lot more PT to do. However, the hip hurt increasingly as she increased her exercise activity, and at surgeon's follow up visit yesterday for the knee, she reported the hip problem, xrays revealed a shortened femur neck compared to original xrays...obvious even to my untrained eye. Diagnosis is avascular necrosis in the bone under the sphere covering the femur head, treatment is emergency revision to a large ball MOM total hip using the same acetabular cup as placed for the BHR. Claire goes into emergency revision surgery Monday morning, is quite bummed about it, as she did NOT want a THR.

My problem first stated in 1989 when I broke my back in a riding accident.  I finally had the broken bits put into a Wray cage and my L4 L5 pinned and plated in 1995, so my pain tolerance is quite high!  In 2003 I broke the pins and plates and had them removed. In 2004 I broke my left foot, and subsequently put unequal weight on my right leg for 3 months.  At the end of this period I began getting groin pain in my right hip.  GP's prescribed pain killers and a pain management course. They were convinced it was a return of the back ache, but I kept pushing and eventually in 2007 I saw a hip specialist. The hip problem was probably caused by the back problem as I have spent so much of my life walking funny. By this time it was too late to do any other work and a hip replacement was the only option.  He said I was a prime candidate for the new Hip Resurfacing, so on the list I went.  In the summer of 2008 I was offered a transfer under the NHS to the local private hospital. I jumped at the chance, thinking I'd won the lottery.

The complication rate following hip replacement surgery is low. Serious complications, such as joint infection, occur in fewer than 2% of patients

The most common causes of infection following hip replacement surgery are from bacteria that enter the bloodstream during dental procedures, urinary tract infections, or skin infections. These bacteria can lodge around your prosthesis.

Following your surgery, you may need to take antibiotics prior to dental work, including dental cleanings, or any surgical procedure that could allow bacteria to enter your bloodstream. For many patients with a normal immune system the AAOS and American Dental Association recommend dental prophylaxis for 2 years after a primary total joint replacement surgery.

Warning signs of a possible hip replacement infection are:
• Persistent fever (higher than 100°F orally)
• Shaking chills
• Increasing redness, tenderness, or swelling of the hip wound
• Drainage from the hip wound
• Increasing hip pain with both activity and rest

I took this disclaimer right off a website for hip replacement. We all have read this disclaimer and most of us pay little attention to it. Only 2% of the people, certainly that couldn't be me!  After a hip resurfacing, the euphoria of returning to a normal life is so overwhelming that we spend little or no time considering what might go wrong.

How it began
3-20-06   Left hip resurface.  Unremarkable surgery, no problems at all recovery progressed very well. Almost pain free, incision healing well. 

4-18-06   Was walking slowly down stairs at 4 weeks post-op and heard loud "pop", felt intense pain, like an arrow piercing my thigh from the inside of my thigh outward.    Xrays taken the next day showed no detectable problem.   Pain quotient was now much higher than before the episode. I was convinced something serious happened at that point. 
 
I wrote to surfacehippy…. Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:32 am
Hi all,

Does anyone know how to tell the difference between pain being generated by unhappy muscles and pain generated by something going wrong with the operation? I'm pretty sure that what I'm feeling is just normal post-op healing, but it's not getting much better and it's been 5 weeks.

I still experience pain when I put weight on the leg - not just when I move it, and that's what kinda has me concerned. The incision is healed and looks great, there's no swelling, but this other pain has me a tad anxious. Last time (first hip resurface), I was virtually pain free at this point.
Thanks!
Birdie