C-Reactive Protein

[kimberly52]

Hi,
I am seeking another opinion with Dr. Phillipon in Vail, CO for an alternative procedure or possible confirmation that the HR is the only option.  Dr. P ordered bloodwork and I just received the results.  My C-Reactive protien is 1.0 and I see that the norm is below 0.5.  Of course it is the weekend and I can't call to ask. Is this something that I should be concerned with or is it possible elevated because my hip is inflamed?

Thanks,

Kim

[hernanu]

Hi Kimberly,

C-Reactive protein is used by the body to detect inflammation. It's one of the first steps the body uses to react to inflammation by the immune system.

It will bind to the surface of dead or dying cells of the inflamed area, marking it for the body's big guns to come in and clean the mess up. Specifically it grabs on to phosphocholine which is the expression of decline of cell surface, wrapping itself around it.

A level of 1.0 means that you have inflammation somewhere in your body. This means your body has recognized some inflammation and is rallying to deal with it. At 1.0, it is elevated - at 3.0 there should be concern.

I would think it's fine, what does the doctor think?

As far as second opinions, I think we all got several. It's part of the process to make sure you're making the right decision. Good luck.

[kimberly52]

Hi Hernan,

Thank you for your response.  You put my mind at ease because I surfed the net and found all sorts of things about raised numbers and incresed chances of stroke or heart attack.  All good information but they don't tell you specifically which elevated numbers are a concern. 

Doctor Phillipon's office emailed me today and said they recieved my results and will be in touch.  It is hard to believe they work weekends but my doc is now doing Saturday surgeries himself, that's how I got moved upr from July to April.  Business mist be booming.

Thanks again for the valuable infor.

Kim

Dr. Michael Clarke
4/6/13

[Tin Soldier]

Don't know anything about C-reactive P, well I didn't until Hern responded.  Thanks. 

I agree that it's a great idea to get several opinions, especially for different types of procedures.  Phillipon is one of or maybe the most experienced when it comes to arthro techniques on the hip, so I would think that if he doesn't think arthro will be very useful for you, then it probably isn't going to be useful. 

I went to an arthro ortho before landing on HR and he was fairly confident from the x-rays that the hip would become unstable if he carved too much of the acetubular rim away, which he'd have to do to get the ROM back.  In addition, there was not a lot of cartilage left between the acetab and fem, so it wouldn't have gained me much.  I suspect that might be one of the more common answers for the folks that have severe-enough OA to go with total/HR.

Good Luck

[lyn]

I remember mine was high as well before my hip was resurfaced.

[kimberly52]

Thanks for the responses.  I am still waiting to hear back from Dr. P. but still scheduled with Clarke in 2 weeks.  Arthro to fix it is a long shot but I just wanted that second opinion. Need to call him tomorrow because time is getting short.

Thanks again,

Kim

Dr. Clarke
4/6/13

[imgetinold]

I was always a decent student, so I have A-reactive protein.