Hi Curt, Pat, Rob, Luanna, Chuck, WT, David, Hernanu, Dan, Aerial, WT, Mslendzion and the many others that have offered their best. It is amazing what a few wishes from some anonymous people can mean. I'm doing well and in good spirits with little pain an lots of hope.
So the the blessing and the curse of hooking up with Dr Kwon is that, if you ask, you are going to get a lot of detail about the impact of the metal on the body and the range of potential complications and recovery outcomes. I try to not go into this stuff with most folks just because I find it incredibly boring to listen to people talk about their problems but the focus of this list suggests that maybe details and information are exactly what people are looking for, so here are a few that may be of value to some people:
Base condition:
A 2 year old (Cormet) resurfacing on the right side had to be revised due to high ion levels, clunking, weakness and pain. MRI showed fluid buildup and damage to muscle and bone. No prediction was made on the time or extent of surgery. A minimum of 2 hours was set as the minimum, and a:"we'll know when we get in there" approach was taken to express the maximum.[/li][/list]
Outcome:
*Surgery took 4 hours.
*There was more damage to various muscles in the abductor group than had been visible in the MRI. He had to remove slightly more than what was observably damaged, as the nature of metallosis is that it current damage is not a predictor of future necropsy (I understand that this is always the case).
*There was less bone to work with in the pelvis than expected, as it looked like more bone than usual was removed in the original resurfacing. As a result, a bone graft was used to strengthen the area. This may have implications for future revisions.
*A considerable amount of ossification was observed but not removed due to the amount of abductor muscle that had to be removed as a priority.
*I did not ask about the specific device implanted. I am sure I will find out at my follow up.
*Restrictions for the first 90 days include the 90Degree rule, toe in and blood clot precautions.
*Crutches on day 2 and stairs and home (nice) on day 3.
*Woke up pain free on day 5 (go Pats!) Small doses of pain meds are effective (2 mg dilaudid) when activity is high.
Prognosis:
*Pain will be reduced but Dr. Kwon is not willing to make predictions about being 'pain free'. Ossification is an example of the possible contributors to future pain.
*The assisting surgeon suggested that they did not expect additional ossification to be a problem.
*The risk for dislocation is elevated due to the need to remove abductor muscle.
*Other 'complications' are possible but I am not clear on what they might be other than pain and dislocation.
*As mentioned above, future revisions may be complicated by the amount of bone removed from the pelvis during the original resurfacing. (This may also hold some implications for the pending revision to the left hip which was resurfaced and has been revised once already by the original surgeon)
So all in all things are good and progress is evident. I am told that it is not likely that I will be climbing trees to install tree stands, but if this is my biggest limitation, then.......it could be a lot worse.
My sincere thanks to those of you that took the time to think about my situation and to those that wished me the best in one way or another. If you are faced with similar challenges, my hopes that your journey may be as good or better than the one I am on.
Bon Voyage!
Topic: What are the odds: Five hips in two years (Read 6116 times)
Recent Posts
