Delighted to get hip surgery devastated since

Hi , my name is Kieran i am 51 years of age.I was diagnosed with severe OA in both hips in 2017 and was referred to see a surgeon in January 2018.The surgeon informed me he had x-rays from 9 years previous showing my arthritis problems from then and my right hip needed doing straight away.To my delight I received my operation date for March, yes i thought there’s a big light at the end of this awful tunnel,no more sleepless nights waking up in agony more times than you are asleep,going to work drained because of your experience the night before.I could walk normally again and not drag my leg because of the pain, people won’t be staring at me as I won’t have my exaggerated limp, my home life can improve because I won’t be as grumpy and won’t have to hide my pain anymore .... roll on 12th March my new life begins.Sadly you don’t always get what you wish for.... 12th March and I’m in my gown ready for surgery when the nurse informs me my surgeon had been called in during the night for emergency surgery and I had to get dressed and go home.A week later the hospital rang to say the surgeon I was seeing has now retired but another surgeon was available and would I be willing to transfer to him so he could see me next week and do the surgery on 31st March......Yes definitely I said.The following week I went to see him and they say first impressions always last mmmm ...”hello Mr Martin it’s your left hip isn’t it”. (Alarm bells should have been ringing so loud in my head ).....no it’s my right I said but the left needs doing too . 31st March and I have my hip replacement done and the surgeon visits my bedside and informs my wife and I my bone was that hard it’s the first time he’s had to take a break during surgery.3 days later and I’m going home to recuperate onwards and upwards I thought....once you get over the surgery pain you will feel like a new man I was told.Weeks and months passed and nothing was feeling good, it must still be surgery pain I was told some people can take longer than others to get better ,ok I thought but the time has come to go back to my gravedigging job I had been doing for the last 17 years as I was due to go on half pay and my family can’t suffer financially after all they’re doing and living through with me.Before my 6 month review was due I was back in A&E my pain is far worse than ever and was told there’s a problem with my muscle. I informed my surgeon at my 6 month review but he dismissed this without any examination and had my bloods tested for any infection... 3 weeks later bloods are all clear I was told and an mri scan of my back was needed.....all clear .... injections into my hip and groin now was the next plan .Numerous appointments followed and the surgeon repeatedly telling me he didn’t know what to do and even refused to see me on two occasions ,I went and got another surgeon. I have been diagnosed with muscle detachment (where the muscle is off the bone and all the exercise I was doing was only making it worse)in August 2019and have had surgery in January 2020. I was told before surgery I will never be pain free again and it will detach again but there’s 60 percent chance of less pain but alas there’s no less pain than before and my light at the end of the tunnel has gone out.I have left my job due to medical incapability and I am back to my sleepless nights as I don’t know which way to turn as my left hip is taking all the strain trying to save my right hip and stuck on my crutches forever.So you don’t always get what you wish for.

Comments

  • Sharon_K
    Sharon_K Member Posts: 460

    Hi @Kieran

    oh my goodness you really have been through the mill and it must be extremely difficult to feel like you now have no light at the end of the tunnel. I was wondering if you have been able to get any support from your GP? I was also wondering if you could get a referral to the pain clinic?

    I as also thinking our section on the website about managing pain might help you.

    We do have lots of members here who live with long term pain and I am sure they will be able to share their ideas and experience with you. Let us know how you get on and keep in touch

    Best Wishes

    Sharon

  • hubie
    hubie Member Posts: 21
    Sorry to hear the op didn't help much. I've had 4 and everyone has their own story. Keep asking questions to the consultants and stay strong.
  • Kieran
    Kieran Member Posts: 3
    Thank you for your comments and I have been going to the pain clinic since last year but the specialist didn’t want to advise anything until I had my follow up surgery. Since I had the surgery which was (inserting ligaments and stretching my muscle back and clamping it to my bone )he doesn’t want to advise further until he speaks to the surgeon.Unfortunately I just seem to be prescribed morphine from GP .I rang the two weeks ago as the pain clinic advised changing morphine as you become ammune to it .... I ended up getting more morphine
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520

    You poor thng, I am so sorry. Surgery alone is sometimes not enough, so much depends on how fit the patient is before, how assiduous they are about doing the post-op exercises after, how fast the individual heals (just because the surface scar is healed does not mean the deep-seated stuff is done) - there are so many variables but sometimes it just doesn't work. I've had lots of operations which were mostly helpful but none of them were joint replacements, I was refused new knees in 2011 when I was 52 on the grounds of extreme youth, despite being bone-on-bone through both. Nine years on everything else is so much worse I will take great joy in refusing if someone offers, there is no point now because that boat sailed. 😂

    I have both an auto-immune arthritis plus osteo, some joints have one, some the other and others both. Pain is a fact of life and has been since '97, in fact things became easier once it was widespread rather than confined to one or two joints. We get it because we've got it, no matter how little or how much pain is pain is pain. DD

    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben