In 2 weeks i will be having a second THR. The first was infected and had it removed in Oct. Has anyone had this type of surgery and what am i to expect? I just. Want this thong outta me. Pain rvrty day 24/7.
Hi Brenda, sorry to hear that . How did you or Dr.'s conclude it was infected? I had my 2nd THR in August of 2017. Everything is healing nicely. I have good days and hard days. Nothing like the pain of bone on bone OA though. Prayerfully after this next surgery you will be on the pain free road as well.Blessings! Teresa
Hi Brenda, what a bummer, does make me wonder how something supposedly sterile placed in somewhere that had not got an infection to start with becomes infected after.
I think it's time that they found the reason behind this phenomenon and eradicated it, having it done once is bad enough but having to have it done again is not on, at least you will be mobile for the summer, keep us posted and I hope they do it soon for you
Thank you. My incision was oozing when the dressing was talen off at 2 wks post op. I live near Boston so i was taken there to a specialist. They are #1 in the country for infection control. One OR for ortho. Separate one for cardiology, etc.
I am about to have a 4th surgery on right hip, I am 48 years old, and had left one replaced 2 years ago with no problems and now I can’t even tell it was done besides the scar “ anterior approach” but had RTHR done in October 2017 also anterior approach,but after two weeks was in horrible pain and my incision was swelled, turns out it had Staph infection, so back to hospital, doc took everything out but the post that goes in the bone and flushed it out and put another metal hip in sewed it back up and sent me home on IV antibiotics, well my incision wasn’t healing and was draining clear bloody fluid very badly,so back to the drawing board at docs office and he said that didn’t work,,he would now have to take all of that hip out including the the stem down in the bone and flush and open me up posterior approach to get that hip out and put a spacer in and send me home again for 6-8 weeks on IV and oral antibiotics for 2 weeks on the oral 6 more weeks on IV antibiotics,,well now it’s been 6 weeks, my IV picc line comes out this Thursday “thank God” and after having blood work every week to make sure infection is completely gone, I hopefully can get my final hip in place next month in February,, both incisions are healed up and I feel fine as long as I don’t over do things. Well that is my story, hope it helps,,let me know if you have any questions, it’s been a hard road to recovery, but I don’t regret doing it cause had I not had the infection, I would be fine and dandy right now with no pain but you are always going to have a risk and unfortunately it happened to me, as long as your doctor fixes your issues, it may take longer and a lot of pain and frustration, but in the end you will have your life back
Hi Brenda
Yes, there are a few of us on the forum at the moment who are either having or have had a two stage revision after infection.
My joint became infected (or so I think) while I was having treatment for bowel cancer some years after the original THR. I had the joint removed in March 2017 and a spacer put in. The spacer was replaced with a real hip in July.
As you say the spacer is not a lot of fun. I think I was quite lucky as I could put weight on it all the time and the pain was not too bad and gradually got a bit better. But it was still a relief to have a proper hip again.
Progress for me has been a bit slow. The surgeon had to remove some of my femur that had been damaged by the infection (which was probably there for 2 years) so I have a long stem on my new hip and a very long scar. But I'm getting back to normal, played 9 + 18 holes of golf (walking - no buggy) last week and walk the dog most days.
Hopefully your ordeal is nearly over and you can start on the road to recovery.
Best of luck
Mike
The original THR was such a positive experience. After 5 wks i was walking well without any aids and no meds and no pain. This not so much. I am anxious for someone to tell me what to expect. The surgeon says his patients comment "so this what it feels like to be normal"
Is that Boston UK or USA, I'm thinking USA as I know Boston hospital UK its called Pilgrims, probably because the Pilgrims fathers left from there to go to America.
Does that mean that your infection actually started in your incision, that's not great for you but it will be cleared up when they do the revision, there not putting a spacer in then