I’ve Had a Titanium Rod in my femur for the past 20 years, and now having complications.

When i was 19 years of age I suffered a gunshot wound which resulted in a fractured femur, a titanium rod was installed in my right femur and held in place by two titanium screws, one horizontally at the bottom of the femur and one diagonally at the top of the femur. Over the years I've occasionally experienced one or at time all of the following; pain, discomfort and difficulty walking during cold winters. There were times were I needed to use just a cane and times when i needed to use crutches, but there were also times that I didn't experience anything, there was one time that for four years I lived without any of the complications, I was running 2-3 miles three times a week, riding my bike weekly for over fifteen miles, playing basketball and tennis at times. Then about three years ago the weather started to affect me again, once the cold started to go away so did the discomfort. Two years ago the pain came back in mid September and did not go away until June. that time the pain started from my lower back down my leg, I went to see several doctors and was only given pain management medicine, nerve pain medicine and a DP placard. After the pain went away I noticed that although I was not experiencing constant pain I could not stay on my feet all day without my knee getting swollen. For the next several months I took it easy trying to not walk far distances and trying not to stand for long periods of time. This year in mid January I started to get pain from my lower back to my femur specifically in the area where the upper pin is located, down the femur and swelling in the outer side were the femur meets the knee, continuing down the rest of the leg. I did not go see a doctor because I figured the pain would pass as it did the year before, plus I do mot have insurance. A month ago I started to lose some mobility in my leg by not being able to fully extend my leg and loosing plenty if sleep due to pain. Anytime I needed to stand it would be on my good leg, eventually loosing muscle in my right thigh. Last week I woke up in the middle of the night due to pain and my knee being fully swollen to the size of a melon and now I could not bend my leg nor could I walk, I took some medicine and tried to get some sleep, early in the morning I again woke up and saw that the swelling had not gone down and still could not bend nor walk. I went to the ER, they had xrays taken and took out lots of the liquids out from my knee which brought down the swelling, sent a vile of the liquids for testing, they gave me pain meds and sent me home with an appointment to go back and see their Orthopedic after the weekend. Four days later the orthopedic had more xrays taken and said he thinks the rod has loosened up at the top and that the screw on top was improperly placed which altogether may be causing the pain there and possibly could be infecting my knee. He then said they could not help at that hospital(MLK) and referred me to the county hospital stating he recommended they remove the rod and screws.

I'm now at the Harbor Hospital waiting to see what I'm told here, xrays have been taken again, blood work and a urine sample. Not sure what to expect and if they remove the Rod and screws I hope I never suffer from this agony again. My knee is again super swollen, my leg and lower back hurt a lot.

ANY SUGGESTIONS, RELATED EXPERIENCES OR IDEAS ARE KINDLY APPRECIATED.

Thank you for your time and have a nice day.

-CEZAR

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