My wife, Fay, will be going in for some serious surgery tomorrow. She is having a revision of a hip replacement that was done 15 years ago and failed. The surgery will be performed by Dr. Kevin Trapp at Horton Hospital in Middletown, NY which is 1 hour north of where I live.

This is a complex operation which involves removing the old implant and putting in a new one. When the old surgery was done, hip replacement was still in its infancy and the surgeons at that time did not know that the plastic liner and cement when mixed, caused the bone to deteriorate in a condition called osteoilysis. To complicate matters, heterotopic bone has grown into the joint effectively immobilizing it.

The surgeon's first job will be to chisel away the heterotopic bone and free up the joint. He will then replace the socket and ball joint with a new one. The problem will then be with the femur. If he can get the old stem out without cutting the bone the operation will go easy. However, if he can not get it out he will have to perform an osteotomy whereby the femur is cut open lengthwise for the old stem to be taken out. When the new stem is put in the femur will have to be wired up, reinforced with cadaver bone, and held together with plastic plates. We are hoping that this will not have to happen and that the old stem will slide out easily, but we are prepared for the worst, just in case.

The surgery can take anywhere from 2 to 6 hours, depending on what the surgeon finds when he goes in. My wife is very brave and has elected to go through the surgery with only an epidural-spinal. She wants to be fully awake with no sedation whatsover. She shopped around for the past 3 years until she found a surgeon and anesthesiologist that is willing to do it her way. She had her first operation the same way, fully awake and alert.

Also, after the surgery she does not want any narcotic painkillers. She will be recieving Toridol which is an anti-inflamatory analgesic and does not in any way make you sleepy or impair your alertness. She will be receiving oral Coumadin to prevent blood clots instead of intravenous Lovenox because the latter, although the drug of choice can not be used in conjunction with Toridol.

She is expected to spend the first 5 days in the bone unit, followed by 2 weeks in the rehab unit at the same hospital, where she will receive intense physical therapy.

We are hopeful that the surgery will be successful and that she will regain her full range of motion and be able to walk normally again without a cane, something she has not been able to do for the past 3 years.

We will be leaving for the hospital at 5:30AM tomorrow. I am hoping her condition will be such that I will be able to come home every night and get on my computer. If so, I will be posting progress reports to this thread with regularity.

As soon as she is settled in a room (after the surgery) I will tell you where you can send the cards and well wishes. Also, anyone who is in the area and wants to visit should PM me first to make arrangements.
                        
Please keep Fay in your prayers.
                                                          SOL