I went in for my total hip replacement on June 6th of 2013. When I awoke I had a tingly numbing sensation from my knee down to my foot. It turns out I ended up with what is called foot drop. My surgeon Dr. Gallagher said he was pretty sure he didn't cut my sciatic nerve but he might have stretched it some. I had physical therapists come and strap a foot brace on me and walk me around the hospital. When I was time for me to be discharged the physical therapists didn't send me home with a foot drop brace instead one showed up at my house later that week. I wore it only when I was out shopping or at therapy. It felt snug on me it felt tight. I went walking with my girlfriend one day and kept the brace on for 2 hours by the time we made it back to the car my calf where the brace strapped on was really red and sore. I went to the ER and was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. I also was diagnosed with diastolic dysfunction stage 2 peripheral vascular disease and atrial fibrillation. Almost 2 months after my hip replacement I am back in the hospital. When I got out my physical therapist told me of a place that custom makes AFOs so me and my girlfriend went there. The guy that worked there said he don't know why they bordered the over the counter foot drop brace because he knew it would be to small. Well my life was ruined. I had a great job with awesome insurance. My weight was good. Now I am 85 lbs. bigger and draw permanent disability. When you are sitting there listening to your surgeon say that you will be back to work in 3 months and you will be playing gulf and dancing. Lol don't always believe what you hear.
Wow..sorry for you! Hope you are doing better. Take it one day at a time. D
That's what I'm doing. My foot drop is permanent and I do draw disability. I'm only 43 and had a very active life.
So sorry, now going on 4 yrs next month post op with Anterior, I now know anything can happen with these barberic surgeries.....yes I called them traumatic but another member uses barberic and they sure are when you really think about was goes on.....
I have a lot of damage and who knows if I'll ever be in better shape.....
Again, what a shock for your outcome..... j
I feel badly that anyone, let alone someone so young, could come away from THR
with the complications you describe. I hope you can find someone that has some
answers and you can improve your situation. Are you in the UK? I am in California.
Yeah it's learning how to live all over again. I fall a lot and with the blood thinners I'm on its always scary. My surgeon played in the NFL all his life guess he wasn't rich enough so he wanted to play doctor. I think they should've had me a foot drop brace that fit. I am furious over my surgeon blowing me off like it was nothing and I'm nobody. That's the bummer of it all.
No I'm in Jackson Co. Indiana. I did sign with a lawyer that is representing me in a malpractice claim but he said it could take up to 5 years to settle. I truly don't know if I can make 5 years. THR ruined my health
Have you had additional Dr's opinions on your condition? Is it possible to get a
check from a large teaching hospital, or better yet--Mayo. With multiple problems
you need a real hot-shot team on your side. I'm all for the lawyer route as a last
resort but what you really want is your life back. Exhaust all your options.
I would be totally happy with my life back. The heart failure is the worst part.
And we only hear from handfuls of people here, can you imagine the number of cases that are not successful... we were all counting on success....
Hello Don, OMG!!! Same thing happened to me I went in Oct 24, 2013 of last year so its almost been 1 year I had toral revised hip surgery . When i woke up my foot felt weird i told my surgeon. He said it will go away with time . Well im at 11 months and the pain in my calf and foot is numb still, I went to see nerve doctor I have nerve damage sciatic nerve damage and he says its from the surgical site. I didnt get foot brace . I did try to go back to work modified in april of this year at the end of my shift i could hardly walk to my car , So im back on disability lost my manger postion at so no job Im in physical therapy 3x week my surgeon didnt even know what i did for living. Im in pain every day I have the worst back pain and unable to sleep at night . I feel for you Im just beside myself I also have gained weight 20 pounds . My first hip replacement i didnt have any problem
Anyways hopefully there light at the end of the tunnel for us
Take care
Jackie
I would be totally happy with my life back as well
Amen to the light. Its nice to know I'm not alone out there. It really is terrible. I have a good team of lawyers on my side. I just want to get out of this bed
So bloody distressing these complications are a high price to pay. Especially when the emphasis is on the positive outcome of the THR My surgeon didn't exactly say how devastating the outcome of surgery going wrong can be on our lives. I think a more balanced view should be given when discussing the surgery. I have sympathy with all who are suffering on this website. On the positive side I am determined to live with this disability and not let it get me down. I do have my down days but spending time with my grandchildren brings me a lot of joy.I am having further nerve tests on 30th sept to see if any improvement since February tests. I know myself without the test that my numbness and pain is as bad from the time I woke up after surgery last November. Although my muscle strenth has improved as my leg does not wobble as often. I have femoral nerve damage and possibly some sciatic but not with foot drop. I use a leg brace if I am out for confidence but am using it less often now. It is better if you can try and loose some weight otherwise your health will get worse. It is difficult but not impossible. I have put on weight due. to not being so active. when I do put it on I watch what I eat until my weight gets to a healthy level. I have had to do this since I had a car accident 22years ago which made be disabled I knew the weight was not good for my damaged hip joint. I wish you all the best keep fighting to get some degree of happiness despite your difficult situation. We are among the very unlucky hip replacement patients.
The worst thing is that the AFO gave me a blood clot which messed my whole cardiovascular system up. I walk 20 feet and I'm out of breath. I am bed ridden most the time. I love sports I was very athletic and love to hike. Southern Indiana Orthopedics took my life away and my surgeon don't care. He still goes home to his million dollar mansion and continues his daily life while I lose my great job great insurance because I am totally disabled. 3200 a month went 782. My depression is the worse
Don, just curious could you share the reason for replacement at such a young age.
I could not agree more with the previous writer said.
Plan for,at least 3 months for, various degrees of disability and pain. My experience, the pain is horrendous, I had a pain management physician. Plenty of very strong pain meds. Even with Diuladid, and demeral..drugs can do only do so much.
As far as getting back to normal activities, try hard, but be realistic. 4 to 6 months should be allowed for real recovery.
Best of luck.
I went to see a surgeon to operate on my back because I have severe stenosis. He wanted an xray of my hip when the results came back it showed I had severe arthritis in my hip. He referred me to another surgeon who told me that my pain was most likely coming from my hip. He told me I needed a total hip replacement. So here I am 15 months later. Totally disabled
Hi Don, Did you by any chance have disabililty with work?? like met life I took out longterm so im on state disability and metlife im so glad i did you just never know
Yes I did until I used it up. I'm on Social Security Disability now. I get the Obama care insurance now. It stinks because a lot of Doctors don't except it.