Infection--any thoughts/ideas welcome

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

Have not been logging on for a little while as I’ve been waiting to hear

about my hip. For those new to this site, I had my op last November,

(in the UK) but have had persistent pain for some time now. It turns

out that I do have an infection, a low-level one. I had an aspiration

arthrogram on June 28th, where they took a sample of my synovial fluid

for testing. The infection, which has not shown up in my blood tests,

other than in raised inflammation levels, did not immediately show up on

initial testing, but was grown on an enrichment culture and is from the

bowel, of all things. It is called Enterobacter Cloacae. Mr. Skinner,

my consultant, says it is rare (he has not seen it before) and that it

could have come from many sources—them, the air, me, my blood—all very

uncertain. He said that some bacterium form a polysaccharide layer—as I

understand it, kind of a tent—that makes it difficult for antibiotics to

reach. It is also difficult if the bacterium is on the metal, as

opposed to in the blood or fluid or bone, as the antibiotic cannot

connect properly with it. He has written to a microbiologist to ask for

advice about this particular bacterium and which antibiotic is possible,

and in the meantime has given me different night pain killers. However,

I still have a lot of night pain, and am often woken by the pain every 1

½ - 2 ½ hours, particularly at the beginning of the night. This can

leave me pretty wiped out during the day; other days I am not too bad.

I do seem to have quite a lot of energy again, in spite of all this

happening.

The chance of an antibiotic working is about 30 -40%. If it doesn’t,

then I will have to have two operations. The first takes out the

resurfacing, puts in a spacer and gives me antibiotics for 6 weeks to

clear the infection. The second gives me a Total Hip Replacement.

I hate the thought of two more ops, so am hoping so much the antibiotics

will work. The irony is that my hip feels stronger and stronger, in

spite of the pain, and I am not using a cane at all now and have little

pain during the day.

Frustrating!

Eleanor

[Guest guest]

Sorry to hear of your problems Eleanor. I sure hope the antibiotics work and

you don't have to go the whole route to get this fixed

Fred