Same difference.
Sucks having to get parts swapped out. I'm almost there myself but suffering suits me. Get well soon.
Well, don't suffer too long.
Today is the 17th post op day. I came back to the lake last Monday.
The discomfort is subsiding. The only bothersome pain is around the ilio/psoas flexor tendon by the anterior incision.
Yes, this was a total hip replacement. This joint went down hill fast starting in the Spring. I had a difficult summer and especially fall getting the work done, mine and others. Replacing the hydraulic pump on my 1958 JD 420 was five days hard work and painful. I also had a lot of night pain.
However I'm now back to cooking and all my activities of daily living. I am using a cane for longer distances, but I was before. I can now climb stairs pain free which I was not able to do since spring.
If you have yours replaced make sure it is done by an experienced surgeon with are good track record in these procedures. My surgeon only does hip and knee replacements. He replaced my wife's left knee in June and she has had an excellent result.
The care at the joint replacement center at Allina United Hospital St. Paul was absolutely first class.
I suspect in another five to six weeks, I will be pretty much back to normal.
The development of joint replacement by Sir John Charnley is one of the most remarkable stories in the history, not only of medicine, but applied engineering.
John Charnley was a frequent visitor and lecturer to Guys Hospital were I trained back at the time joint replacement was just starting. Patients were in absolute misery with no relief in site. The results of these early replacements were truly remarkable.
If any man's life and work is worth a movie or TV series it is John Charnley's.
Now in his writings Sir John was at pains to point out that if you make a bearing of two hard surfaces you will have rapid wear and failure. He warned again and again that it should never be attempted. You must have hard against soft.
So about 20 years or so ago DePuy a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson introduced the all metal hip implant! This not withstanding that DePuy had bought out Thackray's who worked closely with Charnley.
As Sir John predicted it has been a total disaster with thousands upon thousands of patients injured. The excess ware is causing heavy metal poisoning and embolization of shards of metal. The patients are also back in pain and disability due to the joint interface destruction from friction.
I fail to understand how the regulatory authorities including the FDA passed off on this. Johnson and Johnson are now knee deep in law suits and will likely go bankrupt in the end. I understand a criminal investigation is ramping up.
One of my hats at the time of introduction was technology assessment at our institution. I had a holy fit about it. I made damn sure they did not come though our doors.
I have a good friend a mix engineer and frequent visitor my studio who had one of these hips put in seven years ago. His Chromium levels are rising fast, and now at the critical point. He has joint erosion and is now back in pain.
I have steered him to the salvage/revision arthroplasty center at Mayo Clinic. He will be assessed Nov. 28.
Revisions are much more difficult than the first replacement.
This was a totally predictable and avoidable disaster. The cause human pride, hubris and a failure to look at the work done before. This disaster if attempted was clearly predicted by Charnley over a half century ago. There are just no excuses for this one.
