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Cortisone injection with old implant
Joint Replacements | Last Active: Oct 13, 2023 | Replies (4)Comment receiving replies
Thank you Sue for such a knowledgeable reply.. and yes, i agree with all you presented.. My surgeon who did implant didn't clue into my complaints 3 yrs ago.. course it was pandemic so visits delayed but went to spinal dr, then back to another ortho who did the lab tests , diagnosed,but no surgeries were being done in2020... I test every 6 months and original surgeon assures me my values "not off the charts" and says i can live with it..thus, he offers revision but does state complications etc..
At 75 with 2 disabled daughters i don't know if i want the whole rehab again.. i do yearly retinal tests, have had cardiac echos,.. it's ultimately my choice..
I don't feel my health provider even notified me of possible MoM issues as they should have. I initiated appt. due to r. o. m. changes..
Manufacturers had responsibilities to patients and i never was notified..
If i can i will go forth with revision ..
I appreciate your input greatly and if i might ask, how old you were when implant first done, how you knew it had to be revised, cobalt level etc?
Thanks!
Replies to "Thank you Sue for such a knowledgeable reply.. and yes, i agree with all you presented....."
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I understand reluctance to go through the rehab again, but if you get worse from the metallosis, who will help your disabled daughters?
As to my situation, I was only in my mid-50's in 2006 when I had first had my hips replaced due to severe arthritis. From the second year forward I was telling my surgeon "something is wrong" - I had clicking, popping, groin pain, and after a while a long "trough" down the sides of both thighs, and I kept complaining.
In year six, I had tremors, was losing my hair, my thyroid went crazy - and I didn't connect the two at all. Then I went for my annual hip check (should have been a clue that something wasn't normal - nobody else I knew had to be seen every year.) At that visit, he handed me a notice that the implants were recalled, and I needed to have my chromium and cobalt levels - he didn't explain or discuss - just said "but I'm sure you are just fine." I still made no connection...
To my surprise, he called just a week after the blood was drawn and simply said, "Sorry, you need those hips replaced." That was in December, and we scheduled the first surgery for April - and continued to feel worse and worse all winter. At that point, I hit the Internet and was horrified by what I read. I had just about every symptom they listed, and when he did surgery, the post-report stated the muscle in my thigh "looked like gray mush."
And so the story goes on...but a year after removal, the metal levels were normal, my thyroid settled down, my hair grew back and I had rehabbed both legs. That was 12 years ago, and I have been cursed with a rapid heartbeat, tremors, permanent indentations along the femur and other issues ever since. Also, this was about the same time my inflammatory system went into permanent "overdrive" and I now react badly to every little bit of inflammation, even just a simple immunization. I don't KNOW it's from the metal, but... it happened in the same timeframe, and no one else in my family has anything like it. My biggest regret is that I did not insist on immediate removal, nor did the surgeon have any sense of urgency - perhaps some of this could have been avoided.
Sue