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11 am rolled around quickly…

This was the first time I had met the private orthopaedic surgeon and I was very pleasantly surprised at his openness, approachability and professionalism.

We reviewed my X-rays and confirmed the osteolysis and bone loss. The health of the bone at the top of the femur is a concern and I am going to have a nuclear medicine bone scan tomorrow morning to see what is going on with the blood flow to and around the bone.

I had a biopsy taken later in the day at the hospital and there was not much in the way of fluid – more a greyish fibrous capsular type of tissue – now with the pathologist.

The movement of the prosthesis, or lines suggesting movement within the femur where obvious (it seems?).

Regardless, the hip pops and clicks in and around audibly a few dozen times a day as I move, standing and sitting.

So – bottom line, for whatever reasons, this hip is not performing and so the surgeon is intending to remove it in a few weeks and put a lovely Smith & Nephew Ceramic on Ceramic hip in its place.

This is from the Smith & Nephew website:

It is the 99% ceramic in ceramic that is going to do the job…

They go on to say:

Ceramic on ceramic

Another option for extending the life of your hip replacement is ceramic on ceramic. These implants reduce wear by 99%3 in laboratory testing when compared to traditional metal on plastic. With ceramic on ceramic hip replacements, both the ball and socket are replaced with ceramic. These implants have an excellent reputation for reducing wear, but have limited flexibility in design options due to manufacturing limitations of the ceramic material. Therefore these implants are not suited for all patients. Talk with your surgeon about this technology and if it is right for you.

Not a Small Job…

It is going to the a biggish operation as the press-fit acetabular cup will have to come out and a bone graft will be required to fit the new cup plus a few trusty screws...

And then he will need to dig out the femoral implant but the way it looks that should come out very easily – but he will then have to dig out the old cement and the cement that spewed down the femur when the last surgeon did not use a glue cup.

A longer femoral stem will be required and he may get away with a press fit – time will tell.

Bone Scan

So tomorrow – bone scan and then back to see the surgeon Thursday 28th July….

Will keep you posted.

Cheers

Earl

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