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Top tips for prospective hippies?

Posted , 7 users are following.

jason42777
jason42777

Hey all,

Despite having bestpart of twoyears waiting for my lthr, and my doing plenty of research and planning, there were still things i wish i'd known ( or realised) in advance. No.1 being save up more, unless you are retired or get full sickpay, ssp is not much in uk and i am in danger of running out of money before my hip is fully healed. I'm 4 wks post op now , paid 4 weekly so if i hoback to work at six weeks post, i still got nearly six weeks before gettin a nearly full pay monthsad . No2. Get a good form matress with no silly memory foam, it wraps aroumd your scar and irritates like mad. No3. Send your partner away for a month or so, all you'll get otherwise is told how you keep them awake at night!smile ok there may be easier solutions like kip on the sofa if it not too low to get on and off and you have a downstairs loo!.No4. Beware of your teenage boyz pranking you by altering the height of your crutch! Luckily o know my lads n saw em at it ... Frightened em to bits when i pretended to fall over:D No.5. Research your prospective surgeon... Not all are equal! Don't let just anyone mess inside you!smile if you dont like the look of his/ her experience ask for different surgeon even if you have to wait longer😐. No.6 ask questions of medical staff!!! It's your body!!smile NB. I cant speakhighly enough of my surgeon or the care i recieved at rugby st crosssmile good luck all. Jay

2 likes, 12 replies

12 Replies

  • barbara17317
    barbara17317 jason42777

    Posted

    You are hilarious.  You haven't lost your sense of humour anyway.  Just one point, I found my memory mattress really comfortable and hate firm mattresses which goes to dhow we are all different.  Good luck.
    • jason42777
      jason42777 barbara17317

      Posted

      😜 absolutely spot onsmile iguess top tip should be keep ur sense of humour youll need it and remember we are all different, dont try to keep up with the jones's :D
    • valerie48782
      valerie48782 jason42777

      Posted

      sense of humour is vital beyond all else - I found it hysterical when `my` toilet blocked and overflowed , flooding the bathroom, in my first week back home - strangely my husband didn`t laugh at all.......
    • jason42777
      jason42777 valerie48782

      Posted

      oh dear! dont tell me- " ooh, my hips playin' up, deal with that would you love..." :D tho I will admit i have to keep a mop in the loo while i've got the raised seat in a frame over the pan... there is a large gap between the plastic and porcelain rolleyes, redface,lol... "It wasn't me!" don't wash.
  • john6965
    john6965 jason42777

    Posted

    7. Check the reliability of the hardware that is being installed.I have had three surgeries where the first was later found to be unreliable. Ideally they should have 90% or greater. Some units have 40% failure rate. That means that if half a million people have surgeries, that 200,000 will have to have it done again. My first one lasted six weeks. The second was better, but failed at less than five years. This means I required three surgeries in less than five years because of bad designs and failed equipment. This is manageable because I am fifty, but as I get older and require subsequent surgery in the same place that the muscles will have more difficulty of being restored and survival rates decrease to about 57%. The most recent unit installed is an Exeter long stem that required changing the structure of the femur lengthwise and addition of rings. Two days in high dependency unit, seven days in hospital, six weeks partial load bearing and about four more weeks fully loaded.
    • Mikey123
      Mikey123 john6965

      Posted

      Hi John6965:

      I agree that we should know what parts of hardware are failing.  What types are failing -metal, ceramic, or plastic?  What are the failure rates of different companies involved?  And whose fault is the failure; the surgeon, the patient, or the device itself?  I don't think that the companies want us to know, but this is the information that everyone who cares should have.

      The only thing I can't agree with is an allowable failure rate. It should be at 0% device failure rate.  If a company can't do that they shouldn't be in business.

      Can you imagine flying in an aeroplane that had a 40% failure rate?  A 10% failure rate?  Not me, I'd rather walk.  And if I have to walk then I want to walk on a hip with a 0% failure rate.  

      I found a good surgeon, highly recommended.  but I told him that after the operation I never want to see him again.  He understood what I meant.

      Could you please tell me more about the failures you mention?

      Mikey  

    • Mikey123
      Mikey123

      Posted

      In additon to my search for a good hip joint, I decided to opt for a larger diameter ceramic ball (36mm).  This choice was to increase the range of motion and also lessen the possibility of dislocation.  Unfortunately the the cost went to $4,000 CDN from $1750 CDN.  So that is on hold while I look into it further.

       

      I checked - 'fretting'.  Fretting is wear caused by the small stem fitting in a small hole in the large ball.  Every time weight is put on the ball and released, like walking, there is metal wear in the hole.  This releases a metal slurry into the joint area and causes pain, swelling, pseudo tumors and bone loss among other things.  A smaller ball may create less fretting particles?    

      The other issue is 'crevice corrosion'.  It is the small crack where the stem fits the ball.  It can also happen where there are two dissimilar metals in the ball and stem.  Unfortunately this happens in both types of bearing surfaces... metal or ceramic.

      Now hippies can expect a revision sooner rather than later, just from the two problems I mentioned.

      For the sake of our own health and that of future generations, we need to contact Government Health Care and the Manufacturers to request better solutions for artificial hips.  

      One option is to design a single piece stem and ball of a strong material that is inert in the body and a cup and ball combination of low wear whose particles are inert in the body.  If they can't find that then it is just a down hill slide to the end.

      Perhaps the focus has to be on naturally repairing what we already have.  The Government needs to be encouraged to spend money on that research.  Perhaps even a special lottery that could provide funding for this research that wouldn't have to come out of the public purse.  When someone put up a large prize for 'man powered flight', it encouraged the engineers and designers and they did it.  It could work here too.

      Mikey 

      If you have good ideas that may help, add them to this discussion                  

  • john6965
    john6965 jason42777

    Posted

    You can do a Google search by using hip implant failure rate, but one of the articles is located here :  http://www.orthojournalhms.org/volume9/manuscripts/ms11.pdf

    It would appear that Depuy resurfacing were very bad, metal on metal has resulted in ions in the blood that can lead to a range of symptoms, but some metal on poly produce very good rates. The Exeter units have enjoyed a very high success rate and haven't changed in design for decades. A much beefier unit I can attest to. 

  • john6965
    john6965 jason42777

    Posted

    I blocked two hospitals and my house. In fact, when the nurse came around to ask the common question 'have you opened your bowels', I coyly pointed to the DO NOT USE, BLOCKED TOILET sign on the door. 
  • ali2301
    ali2301 jason42777

    Posted

    Jason you have a mean sense of humour and that's essential for getting through the days when things aren't perhaps going the way we had hoped. It keeps us positive and keeps us pushing onwards.

    I have the Exeter implant and I'm pleased as it seems to have a good record.

    Do you know, I think you and John would make a great double act cool

  • jason42777
    jason42777

    Posted

    Got new advice for prospective hippies, seriousley, get your current posture as good as possible ... walk as properly as possible exercise your legs with joints in correct alignment to your best abilty. I spent years , walking with my left foot pointing outwards ... quack, quack... due to my hip socket and femour rubbing and thus pushing my leg round. Now the hip allows the leg to point forwards my knee and lower thigh are completely knackered. i'm at week 10 post op, hip is great btw... pain free for first time in years... just cant walk very well, painfull even with walking stick. Not good at 47 yrs old and i need to be back at work... went back at 7 weeks, for two weeks then had to stop again cause of pain in hip n leg. Physios and surgeon and nurse practitioner just go " ohh, it'll take time...".

    Enough moaning , sorry, seriously like I said, new hip is great , skeletal adjustments not so good... yet. wish id worked at my posture over last few years...

    peace out hippes, Jay.

  • Oh2bhappy
    Oh2bhappy jason42777

    Posted

    Brilliant. :-)

    I have a list of things I need in place before I have my second hip done. 

    My youngest is 16, but my lot were using both sets of crutches (one upstairs and one down) to have a slow motion sword fight! 

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