Dr. Mayo sent me to a dermatologist to check on my dermatitis just in case. He prescribed the same treatment as Dr. Mayo--topical steroid cream a couple of times a day. I continued to do that and the dermatitis has finally cleared up.
Last week I had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Mayo. He's satisfied that my skin has cleared up enough to take the next step toward getting the ectopic bone out. He checked my range of motion: it's still around 50˚ flexion, 5-10˚ internal rotation. He doesn't see a point in continuing to see a physical therapist at this point until he cleans that ectopic bone out.
The next step is another CT scan to map out the ectopic bone, a month from now. I'll also have a consultation with the radiation therapy folks regarding the single, low-dose of radiation they'll give me at my next surgery. Then I meet with Dr. Mayo to see what the CT shows. Thankfully, all those appointments are scheduled for the same day.
Then a month or so after that--likely sometime in April--Dr. Mayo will go back in and remove the ectopic bone and most of the screws. I have nine screws in my right hip, and seven suture anchors. The anchors stay, but I think he can remove as many as five screws through the PAO incision; two will be replaced as he'll need them to secure a chunk of bone that he needs to remove and replace again. If he needs to reopen the SDH incision to get all the ectopic bone then he'll remove the two screws in my trochanter. So best case I end up with two screws remaining.
Keri located some more x-rays (intra-op from the PAO), but we have yet to find the digital photos for the SDH. Evidently the machine that handles those doesn't talk to Multicare's network, so a radiology person has to upload them manually. She's doing her best to track them down. I'm very curious to see them.
My hip feels pretty good, considering. The joint doesn't hurt, just the tight muscles, and of course my range of motion continues to be limited. I still can't drive comfortably. But some things that hurt before surgery don't hurt now, and my hip no longer aches when I lie in bed at night. It really is amazing to think that the body can sustain such trauma and heal so well. Of course it helps that the trauma was intentional and therapeutic.
I can't say enough good about Dr. Mayo. I'm very grateful to have such a capable, conscientious hip virtuoso working on my hip.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI was pointed towards your blog by a friend as I too have had a SDD and PAO together! You are the first person I have found who has had the double surgery (I am UK based however). I had severely retroverted acetabulum, with cam bumps and labral damage/tears. I had mine in one go luckily rather than staged as my surgeon found a new way of doing the PAO cuts once he had got the joint exposed for the SDD bit. He was supposed to do the PAO first, as my previous one (had other side done as two separate ops 15 months apart, dec 07 and march 09) had taken 6 hours, but the scrub nurse he needed with him was delayed so he thought he mayaswell start the SDD and managed to get both done in 4.5 hours!
I have some HO too, but small chunks rather than any big ones. My flexion is stuck at 90 degrees at the mo (i am now 12 weeks postop) and still having lots of pain so seeing my surgeon next week to check on healing.
It is very positive to hear your joint is feeling very good, although you seem to have had quite a few other problems along the way which I'm sure is annoying and frustrating.
Anyway, enough rambling, I just wanted to say hi from a fellow PAO/SDD pt.
Sam
Sam,
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing. That's great that you got yours done all in one go. My surgeon was hoping to do it all at once but it ended up taking quite a while to fix up my joint. Wow, you've had quite the laundry list of surgeries, judging from your profile!
Is your HO obstructing your joint to the point where you'll need to have it removed? I hope you're able to resolve the pain, and that you get many more miles out of your hips.
Matt
Hi Matt,
ReplyDeleteYep, 8 surgeries now in 3 years. Bit much, particularly as it seems the knee pain I was having originally was referred from the hip all along, so the tibial osteotomy was pretty pointless unfortunately, but can't complain too much about things that can't be undone and I don't have any knee or tibial pain now at least.
No I don't think the HO is bad enough to warrant removing it, as its small chunks (looks like kidney stones in my thigh), but I haven't had an xray since 6 weeks postop, so I'm sure I will have grown more by now. I am not really sure what is obstructing the flexion, I lie down every night and pull my knees towards my chest for 30 minutes at least and I just can't get it past about 95 degrees, neither can the physio. All shall hopefully be revealed next week anyway.
Was your HO very visible on Xray or was it only partially and then the CT scan show the full extent?
Do you need your other side doing as well? Sounds like once the HO is sorted, you will be raring to go and enjoy your new pain free hip - I cannot wait to be at that stage, patience is definitely a virtue with these surgeries!
Take care and good luck for the next op,
Sam
Eight surgeries--wow! Hopefully you're done, at least for a while.
ReplyDeleteHO is only partially visible on x-ray. I'll have a CT scan in a couple of weeks to map it out.
My other side is non-symptomatic, though it is dysplastic, so we're leaving it be.
Keep on healing!
Matt