I was born with a congenital hip dislocation and had 3 surgeries between the ages of 2 and 15. At the age of 26 (1985) I had a THR. There were 3 revisions, the last in 2006 at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. In 2013 I was admitted with sepsis, a massive mrsa infection which later mutated into visa. March 2014 the prosthesis was removed and I spent 2 1/2 years in a wheelchair and on IV antibiotics most of that time. Last summer my case was taken over by another surgeon who deemed it unwise to try another revision and we agreed. A new infectious disease doctor changed antibiotis and I am now mrsa/visa free. I have no hip and no spacers, the femur is significantly shorter, leg length difference is 3 1/2 inches. The new surgeon has me walking with walker and crutches and a 3 inch lift on my shoe. 3 months physical therapy to strengthen muscles atrophied from so much time in the wheelchair. I am about to move to one crutch, and the goal is a cane. Xrays show excellent build up of scar tissue supporting the leg. My original question was wondering if there are others having the same experience.

@dzoneill I'm so sorry to hear of all of your hip problems. From your post, it appears as if you have been dealing with this issue since you were a child. Congratulations on being infection-free. Overcoming those two infections had to be quite a task, I'm glad to see that you and your doctors were successful. Keep us posted on how your strengthening exercises are working for you. Moving to one crutch or a cane will be quite an amazing achievement. Best wishes! Teresa

@dzoneill, thank you for telling us more about your hip issue. You have overcome so much already and I have no doubt your perseverance will be empowering to some of our other members.

While my initial search has not found anyone who has experienced something exactly as you, but I will keep looking. I would like to invite some members who have had hip replacements and hip issues who will have some shared experiences with you in the meantime. @amber67, @beatricefay, @mnpat @grandmacheryl @popolopo @bobg10, @tallteri, and @sma1952 have all discussed hip replacements

Thanks Justin, I would be happy to hear from other hip replacement patients.
Diane

I am so happy to see that you are making such great progress with physical therapy. I would be very interested to know what PT exercises you have been doing. I had cancer in 2006 and I received massive radiation to my left hip area. I did not realize that this damaged my bones. In 2012, I stepped backwards off the second rung of a ladder and fractured my hip socket and pelvic girdle. The bones would not have broken if they had not been weakened by the radiation. The fractures did not heal with traditional PT. We decided to avoid surgery because of possible complications; my bones were not healing, the tissues were also damaged from the radiation, and I had lymphedema due to lymph node removal. In 2016 I went to the hospital with a high fever and disorientation. Turns out I had developed an infection in my hip even with no surgery. At this point I was septic (MRSA) and they did a joint clean-out surgery. I had an antibiotic spacer for a few months, and after that was removed and the antibiotics were done, I developed another infection. I had another clean-out surgery. My specialist suspected that I had infection in my bones, so in 2017 I had another surgery where more of my femur and part of my pelvic girdle were removed. The femoral artery was also damaged and could not be repaired, so they put in an artificial vein. I came out of surgery with 3 large incisions instead of one. The doctor said no weight bearing for 3 months. It has now been 3 months since my last surgery. It has taken me this long to feel sort of OK. It's been hard coming back from this last surgery. Now I am having the same question; how do I learn to walk now? I've been primarily in a wheelchair since April, but have to use a walker to get through my bathroom door. My muscles have atrophied so much over the last year. And the floppy leg is something else! I have not been good about doing any PT lately because I've been so tired, drugged, and in pain.

Yes I don't have a spacers or hip either. And still have the infection. I think it it's staff what antibiotics work for you. I had 14 surgery a,nd my last one was called girelstone procedure. I have. 7 pic lines. I am walking on crutches.

I had the same girelstone procedure in October 2017 and am now also walking with crutches.. Does your leg pop or grind where the joint use to be when you move your leg? Mine does and it hurts so bad! Ive also lost alot of muscle mass since my surgery but when i try to walk my leg just will not hold the weight and gives out on me

Well this is very interesting, considering I have been a member of this forum for at least 5 months and have been looking for someone, like me who is living without a hip joint. I have found no one until just now. Everyone else is living with a spacer and awaiting a 2 stage or living without a hip until their staph infection is gone. February will be the one year mark of having no hip joint. My whole saga should be on this site somewhere. Maybe you could try to find it and contact me and then we can share some advice on how we're both getting around. That would be great. It's been a long day of pain and I can't sit in this chair anymore but please, do get back to me. I'm actually very excited to find someone without a hip like me. Robin

My left hip bone is imbused next to the adjoining bone - shown in the MRI plus X-ray.I m on chiropractic treatment n can walk with less pain

@dzoneill you can read more about @froggy1's story here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/if-youre-living-without-a-hip-like-me-please-reach-out-to-me/