Question
Hi Sharon -
Wow, you have really been through quite a bit in your life, you must have a really positive outlook and also be pretty tough.  I feel lucky to have found you.

I had a left THR in April 2006 and was off my walker within 4 weeks and off the cane within another 2-3 weeks and did great.  I was 49 and have arthritis.  I then had a right THR in October 2006 and it was just not right from day one.  I had varying symptoms - on and off pain, feelings of movement in upper thigh and hip and noises - clunks, squeaks, and even a stick on a washboard sound.  Finally in April 2007 after a second opinion, a diagnosis of loose cup was made.  I had surgery a month ago and the surgeon said the cup was indeed loose and my bone had not grafted to it. A new cup was put in (with screws this time).  I am now in the middle of 50% weight bearing walking and am on my walker going from bed to bath to chair.  And what a surprise this is since my Dr said my recovery would be the same as for my THRs.  I am basically stuck on the top floor of my house since I can not do steps. I have sharp pain deep right in the middle of my butt.  Have you in your many operations had screws put in ?  Could this pain be from the screws in the bone ?  I did not have this particular pain with either of my THRs.  I also have some nerve pain in my left hand from putting my weight on that side of the walker.  I also have sore peeling blisters/calluses on both hands from 4 weeks of the walker.  Any suggestions ?  p.s. how do you shave your legs and wash between your toes ?

Answer
Hi rose

Wow is all I can say.  You sure have been through a lot.
I'll answer your questions in the order you wrote them.  Fist of all, I also had a bad replacement which kept dislocating.  So they put in a new one with a bigger cup and all has been fine.  Recovery can sometimes be longer with a revision, but don't worry about that, the main thing in recovery is to let it heal in it's own time.  I have a cage in one of my hips and you really never know the difference from the outside, so I would not worry about screws.  In answer to your questions, though, I do have quite lengthy screws in both hips.

I would not worry too much about the pain in your backside.  You can, however, ask the doctor so he can just check.  It's probably nothing to worry about.  If you had pain in the groin or on the prosthese or joint, then I would be concerned. It sounds to me like the pain is in the soft tissue and that will take time to heal. I doubt the screws have anything to do with your pain.  You might want to have the doctor check your leg length though to ensure that both legs are the same length.

Nerve pain should go away. If it does not resolve itself in 18 months (that's the magic number I have been told!) then see someone.  I still have some nerve damage in my knee from a major operation on the right hip and it's many many many years post surgery.  It's annoying but it's not life threatening.   As long as I can walk without pain, I'm fine.

The pain in your hands should go away as you get stronger so don't worry about that.  If you do find youself depressed about your situation you might want to try to see if you can get on short term anti depressants and that should help.  When you get more active, you can stop the anti depressants.

In the beginning to shave my legs I used Nair.  I hated it, but I used it.  Then I went to duct taping a razor on a long pole and using that.  It wasn't the best method, but it worked.  My husband also used to help me but I was kind of embarrased for him to do that, so I went to the razor taped to the pole.

You can get a hip kit from your hospital or doctor which included a sponge on a long stick to wash your feet.  Any  medical supply store also carries them as well.

I hope I have helped and feel free to email me with anything I can help you with.  In an aside...I am going to celebrate my 49th birthday in a few weeks!

Sharon