Infection after Hip Resurfacing

[Vicky]

Wishing the best for you tomorrow.  My thoughts will be with you.

Vicky

[sroberts]

Vicky, Bill

Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate your support.


spencer

[sroberts]

Hi Everybody,

Had surgery to clean up infection on Wednesday afternoon, Came home yesterday (Friday) afternoon. Feeling pretty good walking with one crutch. Much less swelling than HR surgery.

The ortho said that the hip joint looked pristine and did not have to dislocate the hip for the wash out, he only had to sub-lux it. He cleaned everything out with antibiotics and sutured me up/ That's the part that is the most sore.

I currently have a picc line in and am giving myself IV antibiotics every eight hours. It only takes avout ten minutes for the whole process. I'll do this until Sept 24th.

I'll also meet with the ID doc at three and six weeks. So far so good not much pain. Going for short walks. No intense exercise for 6 weeks. But I can coach my son's middle school cross country team. Practice starts Monday. No personal training or spinning for 6 weeks.

So far so good.


spencer

[Pat Walter]

Hi Spencer

That is really good news that they were able to clean things out. 

We will all keep our fingers crossed for you and hope everything will heal properly.

Have fun coaching your son's team!

Good luck and keep in touch when you can.

Pat

[John P]

Spencer,


Great to see you are on the road to recovery and all went well.


John P

[Big Bill]

Spencer ...glad to hear that good news via "email"....you had alot of "knee mail" (prayers) on this end!!!  ;D

           Big Bill

[sroberts]

Big Bill, John, Pat,

Thanks for the support. It's been a definite setback but I think we caught it early. I don't know if I mentioned it but the hypothesis is that the infection started in the IT band where the surgeon found a tear and some necrotized tissue. So the infection may have never made it to the hip.

take care,


spencer

[TomBuell]

Spencer -
That must be disappointing to have to hold off on exercising for so long. But good news that it wasn't more serious. I know that's something that all of us dreaded. You seem to be in good spirits, and I hope that continues.
Keep us posted - Tom

[CITY2SOUTH]

Spencer,

Been wondering about you and then I finally figured out how to get the 2nd page of posts. Glad things turned out well and that the infection didn't spread. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Lisa
Uncemented/Biomet/Gross/6-23-08

[Vicky]

Sorry Spencer, did not have a chance to check the posts on here since I was out of town visiting my grandbabies.  SO happy to hear things were not so bad.  Keep your chin up, you had an excellent surgeon and hopefully now, things will be on the road to recovery.

Vicky

[sroberts]

Hi Vicky, Lisa and Tom,

I got out of the hospital Friday. I'm optimistic and so is my ID doc and the ortho who did the washout. I'll see the ID specialist on Sept 2 for an update. Getting labs taken every Tuesday as well as a dressing change on my picc line--a nurse comes to the house. I'm getting used to giving myself the antibiotics every 8 hours. It's not too bad, I inject the medicine via syringe into the picc line. It only takes a few minutes. The picc line should be taken out on Sept. 24th.

The hip feels great and since the washout surgery last Wednesday, I can walk with one crutch.  I've been ordered only to take short walks for 6 weeks. Not a problem since cross country practice started yesterday. At least I can coach. Although I got a bit lightheaded and tired after the practice. Slept well last night.

Take care,

spencer

[Pat Walter]

Hi Spencer

That's great to hear you are feeling better and even able to coach.

We will all keep our fingers crossed that your antibiotics take care of the problem and you will have a painfree hip.

Thanks for sharing your information.  It may be very helpful to someone else with the same problem.

Good Luck.

Pat

[sroberts]

Pat,

No problem. It's pretty clear that the infection did not start in the hip but probably began on or near the IT band. And since it's the methicillin sensitive type of staph as opposed to mrsa, the chances of keeping the BHR are pretty good at this point. Thanks for your support.



spencer

[TomBuell]

Hey Spencer - I'm only telling you this so you know what you have to look forward to - I spent 10 minutes on the rowing machine yesterday and know that I will row again. There was enough strength and flexibility there - and none of the old pain - to know that I will be in a boat again before the end of the year.
And then, I rode my bike along the river, planning to meet my wife. But then it turned out she was delayed at her office, so I rode all the way home! A 90-minute ride with hills, turns, traffic, etc. The hip felt fantastic, although my butt was a little sore from the seat.
It was a big boost to my confidence, and a feeling I'm sure you will share very soon.
You go man - Tom

[sroberts]

Hey Tom,

Have you been watching the rowing events in the olympics?
Just got my first blood tests back since I've been on IV antibiotics: Sed rate and crp barely elevated. Looks good so far. Doc is very optimistic. Updates to follow. I still have til 9/24 for the picc line IV antibiotics.

[Vicky]

Great news Spencer.

Vicky

[TomBuell]

Spencer - Yes, I have tried to watch as much of the Olympic rowing as possible. It looks so beautiful and effortless when it's done so well, but you know that after 2000 meters those people are totally spent.
It looks so effortless that I wonder if people even enjoy watching it - six minutes of absolutely perfect repetition. Not exactly thrilling to watch. They added the cable-cam this year, which gives a fantastic close-up/overhead view, at least for a few seconds. Got me even more excited about doing it myself again soon, if not quite so speedily.
Many of the races also are available on the web at nbcolympics.com.
Glad to hear your beating that infection. Hang in there.
- Tom

[TomBuell]

Hey Spencer - How's it going? Bill Bill and I were commenting that we hadn't heard from you in a few days. Hope all is going well.
- Tom

[sroberts]

Hey Tom,

I was just waiting for a call from the doc on Tuesday's blood draw. His nurse did call me last night and indicated that my sed rate and crp were back to normal. I see the ID doc on Tuesday, Sept 2. I am now just over 2 weeks into IV antibiotics- giving myself syringe injections into a picc line every 8 hours. The only thing they want me to do right now is rest most of the day and coach cross country for 90 minutes, 5 days a week. I get to walk around the field we train on and am on my feet the whole time.

Tonight we have a jog-a-thon to raise money for our team. The kids will run for an hour around a track and some of these middle school kids will run 8 miles. We'll raise money for entry fees to meets and our annual trip to the state meet in Phoenix where our girls came in second last year.

I'll update any additional info I get from the doc.


thanks again for your support,

spencer

[Pat Walter]

Hi Spencer

Glad to hear things are going well. It's great you can get out to coach the cross country team.

Have a great weekend.

Good Luck with the jog-a-thon!

Pat