Walking without a hip joint

My mom who is 85+ years old, just got her X ray of her hip. Because of necrosis she no longer has a hip socket and the upper part of the femur has dissolved. She can no longer stand on her own, and I must lift her out of bed and out of her wheel chair when she goes to the bathroom. Because there is no socket holding her leg to her torso, I am concerned about what is the correct way to lift her to reduce risk of injury and lacerations. She had a cordo-steroid shot, but it has had no effect. Any advice would be appreciated. Her health is too frail for any surgery, as she suffers from severe cortical dementia and has lost a lot of weight on that account.

Hello. I'm wondering how your doing? I'm going on 8 months with out a hip.. It's been a long hard journey. I lost alot of bone i guess and my left leg is about 31/2 inched shorter than my right. I just got a shoe lift but its only 21/2 inches. It's huge . I'm wondering about your progress. How are you doing? Are you able to do stairs? I cant seem to do them. Even with this giant shoe it's a no go! Well i wish you the best of luck on your journey.

About 3-1/2 years ago I had a hip replacement followed by a broken femur which left one of my legs about 2 inches shorter than the other leg. I was told to get lifts for my shoes. I limped for 3 years which gave me back problems amongst other problems. Last fall I was in the Ortho's office getting some injections from the PA. While there I was complaining about my shorter leg length. When I returned the next week the PA told me they could make my leg longer. I thought he was joking. He was not joking and went on to explain how it is done. Last December I had my leg made longer. It sure beats shoe lifts, limping, etc. It was the best thing I could have had done. I now move normal with NO limp and feel so much better.

Hi! How were they able to do that? I had 4 hip surgeries. One leg is an inch shorter. I bought the ugly lift shoes. Had to almost sell a kidney which I don’t have to buy them. I had my last surgery in March. I’m still in s wheelchair can’t walk barely able to stand. I am a dialysis patient so they told me I have weak bones because of it. I start outside PT next week. I take vitamin D and calcium. I’m hoping PT will help me walk again. Every time I lift from my wheelchair to transfer to the walker I feel like I have weights on my hips. My legs barely move. I’m so weak. I just want to walk again. Even if it’s just with the walker.

I would be grateful to hear about his recovery from the Girdlestone procedure. I will soon learn whether my hip replacement is infected and needs to be removed, and I want to know about all options. Thank you

So sorry about your issues.. My question is how did the hip become infected after it had been in or was it infected while it was being inserted?

My hip had been damaged from radiation treatment before it became infected. It became infected from a cat bite.

@cheryl99 Im so sorry for your the problems your having This reminded me of my friend who had a mitral valve put in it was a mechanical valve then a couple of years later she had radiation for breast cancer the radiation melted her valve !She had to go through heart surgery again. Hope your doing infection clears up.

Hello @jbro. I am tagging a few members who have talked about having the girdlestone procedure here to come back and share their experiences with that surgery: @joeval and @geek_girl have both discussed this procedure and may be able to share a bit more about it.

@jbro, did your surgeon discuss this surgery with you as an alternative if the infection does indeed reach your joint?

No. I am in the last week of my 6-week daily antibiotic IV through a PICC line, which is the protocol being used to hopefully prevent the infection that was in my incision from getting to the prosthesis. After the antibiotic treatment ends, the doctors want to evaluate me for 3 months. If the infection returns, they have already recommended revision surgery, although the statistical odds of eradicating the bacteria are significantly reduced.