Has surgical hardware made you sick?

@eddiestella1 I have often wondered about allergy to the metal. They wanted to put an umbrella closure on the hole in my heart. I scar internally very badly. I said what happens when my skin grows over the device and then my scar tissue attacks it! What happens when the scar tissue gets to heavy and you have to remove the device with pieces of my heart. The surgeon I was talking to virtually said even if I wanted to have it done in the future he would not do it. Is it better to be honest about what you know about your body?? Absolutely. I've had that hole for 68 years. I'd rather die from natural causes caused by it then to have it dug out of me. And, when I asked if anyone with CLL had had the procedure so I could talk to them, I could not get an answer from anyone. ANYONE!!

@eddiestella1 I'm sorry. I meant to ask you where is the hardware located and what is it for ?

I have had 9 fusions. L4 & L5 disc fusions. The rest were on my right Sacrollic joint. The hardware was to hold my SI joint fusion in place. It did its job. It finally fused all the way. However the hardware is right over the SI joint causing me debilitating pain so the doc is going to remove it. He isn’t going to remove all the hardware. Just the two big screws causing the problem. He said I’m already fused so it doesn’t need to be in there anymore. But in addition to the pain I’m very tired and feel nauseous. I am wondering if this is caused from the hardware too.
I forgot to mention I had a tenth fusion at the time they fused my L4 disc. They fused my left SI joint unbeknownst to me. They did this to anchor the right SI joint down because they were also working on my right SI joint during that surgery. I have pain on my left side too but not as bad as the right SI joint. The screws on the left side are loose. This new doc said to leave the right side alone for now and fix the right side by removing those two large screws and see how I feel. He said I can always address the other issue later if I don’t feel any better.

Sometimes you have to be your own advocate and go with your own gut feeling. I had a doc from Mayo tell me to get a pain stimulator. Even though I had three docs tell me they won’t work with my kind of pain. I’m glad I didn’t listen and got another opinion. I have a lot of hardware in me. And you are right. I’m wondering if I am also rejecting the hardware too. The yellow arrow is the screw they want to remove and the one next to it.

@eddiestella1 i don't know what part of your body it is exactly but looks like pelvis and spine. If you look closely at that screw it looks to be going towards or even touching your spine ! This the pain. Of course I'm not a doctor and no clue about fusions but that's my take on it. Is that where the pain is?

The pain is on the bone of my right sacroiliac joint. That’s where the screws are at. It’s where the yellow arrow is at on the picture. The doc said he could feel the screw head.
That’s a good point about those other screws that are touching my spine. I will ask about those. Thank you for pointing that out.

@eddiestella1 There is a lab that tests for immune responses to surgical implants in Chicago. They have you send in a warm blood sample. It may not be covered by insurance.
https://www.orthopedicanalysis.com/

If you do have an allergy to a metal in your body, you could contact the Environmental Health Center in Texas. This is the practice of the doctor that created this medical specialty and it has been continued by the staff after his passing. They have treatments for these issues.

Find them at https://www.ehcd.com/

Surgical implants and metals in the body can cause pain. I experienced this after a bad ankle fracture and I had constant pain like being kicked in the shins. Eventually I had that hardware removed and I not longer have pain from it.

This post is from another member being treated for metal allergies from implants by this practice in Texas.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/906343/

This discussion may be of interest .

Joint Replacements Group - "Is there a hospital or Dr in US who understand metal allergies in TKR?"
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/is-there-a-hospital-or-dr-in-us-who-understand-metal-allergies-in-tkr/

I feel for you. The symptoms could be to the metal in the screws and if touching or putting pressure on nerve roots/peripheral nerves/spinal cord. You may want to find out if the screws have different metals and makeup than the other hardware supporting your hips and spine. I am a little nervous reading about this because I am having major problems and pain/numbness with my L4L5 and may need surgery. I had ACDF surgery on C5C6 due to myelopathy impacting my ability to walk and bladder control and they used a titanium cage and not sure if any on my current symptoms are tied to this hardware. Good luck with your surgery and recovery! Hope you get some relief!

Update:
I had surgery on hardware removal. I currently have after surgery pain. It’s too new to tell if there is a difference in pain from the hardware removal. The doc talked about removing two screws over the bone. He got one out but the other was embedded in my bone which was suppose to happen. He removed the screw head on that one. He also found an unattached rod from my L4 disc fusion that I had done last year around this time.