Can walking be accomplished without a hip or hip replacement?

I personally don’t want another surgeon to touch me for as long as live, I major PTSD from the whole situation and am terrified of another surgeon touching me, I had to endure 8 surgeries just this past year due to the hip replacement and infection, I’d rather just go on without one and learn to walk the best I can with the help of tools to get me to a good spot, I use a wheelchair when I go to events and grocery shopping because the pain of being on it too long is unbearable. I’ve had second opinions and I’ve been told the same to lose weight which I already dropped a ton being in a care center for almost a year. But yeah thanks for reaching out and I wish you much luck in the future with whatever comes your way and your decisions, but mine is to stay without the hip .

Hi Justin I to have a drop foot and no left hip on the same side. I spoke with my surgeon and he told me if I lose enough weight he will give me a hip. I was told by another orthopedic to go to Mayo Clinic where they would give the best advice. I will get an opinion from them once I can feel better. I had surgery 8 months ago and trying to heal. Wishing you all the best

I’m sorry to hear that but you have to do what is necessary. I just want to try it at a later date. Wishing you well💕🙏

Hi everyone,
I, too, am without a hip on my right side. My saga goes back to 1995 when I was diagnosed with avascular necrosis and underwent a core decompression on my right hip. I made it to 1999 before I had my first THR. I did well after that & was able to continue working as an RN nursing instructor.
A revision was needed in the spring of 2017 resulting in a hematoma and a great deal of drainage & pain from the pressure of fluid buildup. One month later I went back for an incision & drainage due to the hematoma. The pain continued and I was using forearm crutches to work. The pain became too much to bare/bear & another total revision was done in Dec. 2017. My surgeon was pretty certain I had an infection, but nothing showed up in the cultures. He had me take an oral antibiotic daily just to cover the possibility of infection. This went well until I developed an oral thrush overgrowth that was difficult to manage successfully & I stopped the antibiotic in June 2018. Within 6 weeks I had a sudden onset of hip pain & significant difficulty tolerating weight on my right leg. Also my blood inflammatory markers, sed rate & CRP, were extremely high. Back to the ortho surgeon I went. The fluid obtained by a hip aspiration grew a bacterial organism that is normally present on the skin. This was believed to have developed when I had the hematoma & serous drainage in spring of 2017. Once I stopped the oral antibiotic the infection flourished causing loosening of my prosthesis. Again I had surgery, in Aug. of 2018, removing my prosthesis and placing an antibiotic spacer followed by 6 weeks of IV antibiotics. Apparently my femur fractured when the femoral component of the prosthesis was removed. I had horrific nerve pain in my thigh from the fracture.
This was a very dark & painful period for me. I was cleared to have a new prosthesis placed in Nov. 2018. That went well, but was complicated by severe anemia from blood loss & a flare up of my autoimmune disorder. I retired from my position as a Nursing Professor at the end of 2018. I did well for 5 years. In Aug of 2023 I has some swelling of my right thigh, low grade fevers & night sweats. Over the course of 4-5 days putting weight on my right leg became progressively more painful. On a Sat evening, I went to the ER. Labs, xrays & a CT scan indicated an abcess in my thigh. I was started on IV antibiotics and was transferred to the hospital when a bed became available about 24 hours later. My surgeon told me he would probably remove my prosthesis, both femoral & acetabular portions. Depending on the extent of the infection he would decide if an antibiotic spacer was an appropriate intervention. At this time he informed me of the possibility that I might not be able to have another replacement in the future. I could not imagine that this could occur.
After the surgery he told me he wasn't able to use a spacer. That my femur was brittle & there wasn't sufficient bone stock to support either component of the prosthesis. That was Aug 7th 2023. I've now been 5 months without a hip spending most of my time in the wheelchair. The leg length discrepancy makes it very difficult to use a walker or crutches. I have a specialist coming to my home tomorrow to assess my leg length issue & make recommendations for a lift on my right shoe. Maybe once I have the lift, I'll be able to make some progress using the walker.
Sorry to be so long winded, but it has been a long & winding road to get to this point. I'm grateful I was able to work for 23 years since this all began. I'm also grateful that I am retired and am supported/assisted by my husband of 43 years. As a side note, my husband had a heart attack 4 weeks ago, but is doing very well & back to his full activity level.

So very sorry this all happened to you, it has been a very dark and depressing period for me as well. Not being able to work and having my partner have to support me really makes it hard for me, I was used to having my own money and being independent now I just feel helpless and hopeless.

I am also a nurse that went through a long hard row,before having my left hip removed after 5 surgeries. It is extremely hard to go from being the caregiver, to being cared for. I think that was the hardest think for me to deal with. I have a built up left shoe and, can walk with a cane. I have myasthenia gravis which slows me down somewhat. I can't buy shoes off the rack , which is hard for a shoe diva. Lol Maybe that will make u smile!!!!! Good luck and GOD BLESS.

This is a copy of my thread from a few pages back if any of the info can be helpful to you.....I am also a retired nurse.......I'm 71, live in Michigan and almost 2 years now without a hip due to severe infection in bone and muscles. I get around with a walker in the house and crutches when I go out. I can go up & down stairs with one crutch and a handrail. I can walk a short distance in the house with just one crutch or a cane, but I wouldn't trust myself to do it outside. I ride an upright exercise bike daily and also bought a tricycle last summer and road that. I did have an issue in the fall where I tore my meniscus in my good leg along with a stress fracture in that knee also which has set me back some. However, I am not giving up and continue to do my daily exercises daily for about an hour. That is a lifelong commitment to staying as strong as possible. I know it's not fun and gets boring, but it must be done to make the best of it. My leg is about 3 inches shorter and my husband has glued bottoms of soles I've cut off on one shoe to another to equal out my legs pretty good. That makes a big difference when walking so you don't hurt in other areas. He's become a good cobbler making my shoes, which is good because to have them make professionally, it costs about $200 for one shoe! There is also a Facebook forum page called "Hip Replacement Complication Forum" which has helped me a lot. If you are on Facebook, you may want to join that too. I have struggled with weight gain since my surgery also and about 25 pounds overweight and find it very difficult to lose weight but I'm trying. I do attempt some chair yoga from time to time, but haven't gotten into a habit of it yet. I was very active before all this happened so it has been difficult, but results are attainable if you keep at it. I just use Tylenol and Mobic (NSAID) for my pain. I'm on antibiotics for the rest of my life for "chronic Osteomyelitis" of femur and pelvis. (Infection in the bone) I pray you can get your pain under control so you can continue with exercises. Any exercises to strengthen your core muscles, Quadriceps and gluteal muscles are what needs to be done. I got lots of exercises to do after my surgery and had home care and Physical Therapy for 6 weeks. Those are what I still do as well as others I've found online. Everyone progresses at their own pace so don't feel frustrated. Just keep trying and do the best you can. I too have hopes of just walking with a cane or even one crutch some day, but I'm not sure it will ever happen for me, especially if I'm going to keep injuring my good leg/knee trying! Defintely not worth that. Wishing you all the best and feel free to send me a private message through this Mayo site if you want to….prayers for wellness…….Cindy

Hello Sandra...I too am a retired nurse in Michigan, age 71 and nearly 2 years I've been without a left hip. How many years for you? I get around with crutches or walker and hoping to get to a cane someday and feel confident with it. Can I ask how long before you felt good with just a cane? I too have a bit of a shoe fettish....my husband glues soles we've cut off from other shoes onto my left shoe to even out my legs. He usually adds a flip flop in between the soles too for height and working pretty good for me. Wishing you continued wellness.....Cindy

May I ask how long it was before you were able to walk with just a cane and did you have to attend physical therapy to do so?

I did have physical therapy. I can't tell u how long it actually took because actually I can't remember. I will obtain my records and get the actual dates. I had everything but, my house burned. I had a very rough period where I was dx with mysthenia, then a year later when my thymus gland was removed in was cancerous. Then awhile later my hip broke and started that lovely time. At my 5 year release from my cancer series, everything was fine, we did a PET scan , just to be sure, of course it had spread to my liver. Here we go again. I will get the dates ,and maybe that will help. I had physical therapy , with all the bells and whistles. It has not been a fun or easy road , but u can't keep a good girl down, or maybe I just too **** mean. Hope u do well. Hope my story helps a little.