Good afternoon all from West of Ireland. I wonder if anyone has similar experiences or could offer some advice. My husband had total hip replacement end of May 2014. After op there was haematoma (excuse spelling) inside and wound had to be opened and cleaned out and restapled. It was done and started to ooze so in total, he was taken back to theater for wash out about 7 times. He developed 2 infections in hospital and eventually was put on a vac which over the past months has closed the wound, but he is left with a gaping hole which will be there for some time. The surgeon doesn't want to get plastic surgery on it and so we have been told the hole will be there for some time to come. Husband is absolutely fed up plus he gets quite a lot of pain in his hip, either in bed or after walking or sometimes sitting. Apologies for being long winded but we just don't know what to do. We know that the Surgeon makes as light as possible of it, which they are known to do, but he is thinking that another year will pass and he won't be able to do very much and be at the mercy of changing this dressing for the rest of the year. he is not diabetic just in case anyone thinks that. Any info or advice would be very gratefully received and I thank you all for taking the time to read this. Blessings
Hi Linda , so sorry to hear of Hubbies prob , sounds dreadful!
the only thing I can think of is to ask for a second opinion even if you have to pay consultation fee .
Good luck and keep in touch with forum
Mary
South Wales
Hello Mary. That is very kind of you to take the time to read and reply to my post. Thank you so much. You are of course right in what you suggest. The thing is that Ireland is such a small country and every Consultant is friends with other consultants throughout this small island and I wonder if we would get an honest response as they will of course, ask who the surgeon is. But that said, a thought has just come to mind Mary. Maybe I could try someone in the North of Ireland, which is classed as the U.K. Thank you so much once again and I hope life brings all good things to you
Didn't know where you lived Linda .
Same prob in South Wales but it's worth a try .
goid luck
mary x
Hi Linda,
Awefull for you and your husband. As Mary mentioned I would definitely get a second opinion and push hard to get your husband wound properly and finally sorted ad treated. Good luck and very best wishes.
Hi Linda where in the west of Ireland are you?
That is terrible Linda and totally unacceptable. I hope you and your husband are able to get it sorted before long. I am 4 weeks post op now and knock on wood have not had any serious issues. Good luck. This is a wonderful site with so many caring members.
Hi Linda,
Greetings to you and your husband. That wound sounds bad. We live in the bush in Canada. The doctors are far away so we have to try our own remedies. I have personally used them all with success.
1) At the pharmacy you can buy a special wound dressing bandage. It has nutrient rich gel attached to a large bandage. You don't have to change it everyday. I got an unintentional large dog bite to the back of my thigh, while trying to separate two large fighting dogs. It was a deep wound. I put the wound dressing on and left it there for a week before changing it the first time. The dressing creates the perfect medium for healing. It worked for me. We also treated an elderly bedridden uncle with the same type of bandage for bed sores. They healed beautifully.
2) I also use a hot water bottle on wounds and on my hip. The heat speeds healing for me and it is all I use for hip pain at night. At night I can hardly walk, but in the morning I am able to move again.
3) I have also used a silver dollar (pure silver) taped under a bandage to kill infection. It works well. In fact if you are interested there is a book 'The Body Electric' by Robert O. Becker. He was able to heal diabetic ulcers on the legs of people who were facing amputation. He also was able to cause an amputated fingertip to re-grow. His technique was to use silver in the presence of a small electric current. Apparently the silver turns every cell into a stem cell; it is amazing research.
Hope this gives you some help. 11 months with no healing from the doctors means that you'll have to take responsibility for your own healing yourself. You would also benefit from some natural products ( like vtamin C and D and E) to boost your immune sysem. Check out the dosage amounts on the Internet, so that it will do some good for you.
Mikey
Hi Kevin. How very good of you to take the time to read my post and respond. You are right and as I write this I will let you know that I have contacted a couple of Ortho's in the (North of Ireland) We are south, to try and get an appointment with one of them. They would be unbiased, but of we were to go in the South, they are all good friends so no good. Thank you so much and we really are grateful. Good luck to you also and very best wishes.
Hello Christine. I hope that you are well. We live near Knock airport in Co. Mayo
Hello Isabelle. Firstly I am so glad that things are going right for you and I hope they continue along that good road for you. Thank you for your encouragement and already I know that the people on this site are so very kind and genuine. Thank you and I wish you every good luck.
Hello Mikey. You are so kind to read and respond with such a lot of information. You are obviously a very wise man with a lot of knowledge and I am so grateful to you for going into such detail, all of which makes perfect sense. That was a terrible experience for you with the dogs and you did so much to help the healing. The silver is already on the dressings we use and they have a nice padding in them. The difficulty we have, which I am sure is not confined to Ireland, is that every doctor has a different opinion and every nurse has a different way of doing things, and of course ''they are all right''. I say this tongue in cheek because I find it somewhat arrogant but we are at the mercy of their expertise. But what you said about taking responsibility for his own healing is absolutely correct. It has to be done and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the excellent information you have provided. We wish you very much good luck Mikey and I will look forward to reading your posts on this site. Bless you