i am afraid i can/t join this club

[peteuk]

hi, had my surgery on the 4 .3. 08 and was back home  on the 7th, things just did/nt go to plan , i had the best possible chance in that the surgeon has done around 500 bhr/s ,he was using a new robotic 3d imager to precisley locate the hip cup ,because of the extra info he had with the ct scan results i asked him just before surgery was there any chance of a thr and he just shook his head so i was confident that my worst fear was not going to be realised,

during surgery the cup was implanted ,the femural head was ground back ,the plastic trail cap was fitted for size but when the metal cap was hammered on the pin bent and the surgeon could/nt get it on any further or remove it so had to revert to a thr ,

so i am 51 with a thr the very worse thing i could have imagined has happened and for no medical reason  , the surgeon said my bones were so hard it tipped the cup to one side,

i come from a mechanical background and its just impossible for something like this to happen in my mind ,the very last part of the procedure ,the easist, the tea lady could have tapped it all home square and true, 

i am tryng not to think about it just to get back to health again and see what i can and can/t do ,

on a brighter note the sugery was painless and i am off pain killers after 5 days but because the procedure started as a bhr i had the ganz flip which means no weight on the leg for 6 weeks and sleeping on my back  for this time which is quite hard,

i hope i hav/nt put anyone off ,the chances of something similar happening to someone else just is/nt calcuable , pete

[Pat Walter]

Hi Pete

It is not the worse thing in the world to have a THR, many people do.

I have heard of people with very hard bones.  It takes a really experienced surgeon to handle that.  Dr. De Smet had one that took a very long time to grind down the femur bone - he said it was almost impossible - but managed.  He has done over 3000 hip resurfacings and that expreience helps in difficult situations.

So maybe your doctor did you a favor by getting you the best solution for your problem.

You should be able to do just about anyhting with a MOM.

I will be happy to post your story on my Total Hip Talk and  http:www.hipsforyou.com  website about THR.  There are a handful of people over that on Total Hip Talk that ended up with THRs when they wanted hip resurfacing.  So you won't feel alone.

Please feel free to post here if you have problems or want to talk. 

Hip surgery is major whether it is a hip resurfacing or a THR. We are happy to talk with you and have you post.

Anyone of us could face a revision at some point in our lives and have a THR. We all hope not - but hip don't usually last forever.  We all hope it will be 20 years down the road - but who knows.

I wish you the very best of luck. You are out of pain and will be mobile again soon.  That is what counts.  Getting your life back without pain.

It is important for people to know things can go wrong with a hip resurfacing and you might end up with a THR.  Most of the time it doesn't, but statistically there are always a few problems and someone has to be the statistic.

I don't know anyone with a Ganz flip.  I had full weight on my leg right after surgery and off my one crutch at 4 weeks.  I would like to know more about the Ganz flip and why you can't be weight bearing.

Let us know how you are doing.
I wish you the very best.

Pat

[peteuk]

hi Pat, thanks once again for the quick reply and words of comfort,
the surgeon explained the ganz method to me as he takes a piece of bone away from the femur with the muscle attached which gives better access to the area ,the bone is reattached after which then takes 6 weeks to heal ,he does/nt have to cut through muscle and his own words were short term inconvinience for lond term gain, the bone is screwed back to the area and they are left in after, pete

[SusieQ]

Sounds like your surgeon did the same as mine with the ganz thing (surgery date 1/2/08).  My piece of bone has become detached.  He did not screw it on, but wired it.  See my previous posting.  So I'm left with this bone floating around who knows where.  I feel ok, but what happens in the future remains to be seen.  Have a recheck xray in a few weeks.  I dearly hope you are doing ok.  I feel your despair at things not turning out as imagined.  But you will most likely be just fine.  Time had made me mostly forget about it and just enjoy not having my previous pain.  I hope you will be the same.