Osseointegration Part One

[insane 0]

I am a bag of nerves now! On Wednesday morning I will be on the butcher's slab and having the femur of my residual limb in a 3 jaw clamp and the bone bored out to have a cylindrical titanium implant fitted. The operation will take about four hours and afterwards I will be stitched back up again. Once I have come round from the anaesthetic I will be put back on the hospital ward to recorver. I am very frightened but I will be back home about 5 or 6 days after the operation. I will then have 6 months before the second operation when a pin is fitted to the implant which will exit through the skin.

I have thought long and hard about this and if I wish to be able to continue use an artificial leg it seems to be the only option left for me as the skin around where the rim of the socket fits has taken a lot of abuse over the years and I am constantly plagued with abscesses as a result.

I have had many operations over the years to remove these abscesses and I have even removed the odd one myself. It will take me at least 12 months to get back to walking again and I am fed up with sitting already but I hope and pray that all goes well and provided there are no complications I should be 100 times better at the end of the 12 months.

I leave tomorrow morning and will have to travel 240 miles to the hospital in London. Fortunately I have been able to find accommodation for my wife so she will be there to support me. I hope to be able to update this post in the future and keep you informed of my progress but for the moment I wold be very grateful if the good people of this forum could join in a prayer or two for me as I need God's help to get me through this.

Thank you for reading this and thanks for the support I have had so far from members on this forum.

[Cat 2]

I wish you all the luck in the world Paul. I hope you get out of this what you want and look forward to hearing from you occasionally.

Cat

[insane 0]

Thank you Cat I should be able to add to this post today but it will be a week after then before I will be able to post again unless I find a way when I am down there.

[JudyH 0]

I am a bag of nerves now! On Wednesday morning I will be on the butcher's slab and having the femur of my residual limb in a 3 jaw clamp and the bone bored out to have a cylindrical titanium implant fitted. The operation will take about four hours and afterwards I will be stitched back up again. Once I have come round from the anaesthetic I will be put back on the hospital ward to recorver. I am very frightened but I will be back home about 5 or 6 days after the operation. I will then have 6 months before the second operation when a pin is fitted to the implant which will exit through the skin.

I have thought long and hard about this and if I wish to be able to continue use an artificial leg it seems to be the only option left for me as the skin around where the rim of the socket fits has taken a lot of abuse over the years and I am constantly plagued with abscesses as a result.

I have had many operations over the years to remove these abscesses and I have even removed the odd one myself. It will take me at least 12 months to get back to walking again and I am fed up with sitting already but I hope and pray that all goes well and provided there are no complications I should be 100 times better at the end of the 12 months.

I leave tomorrow morning and will have to travel 240 miles to the hospital in London. Fortunately I have been able to find accommodation for my wife so she will be there to support me. I hope to be able to update this post in the future and keep you informed of my progress but for the moment I wold be very grateful if the good people of this forum could join in a prayer or two for me as I need God's help to get me through this.

Thank you for reading this and thanks for the support I have had so far from members on this forum.

\

Paul,

I will certainly remember you in my prayers. I am sure that all will go well with your surgeries and you will be back on your feet. We are here for you any time.

JudyH

[insane 0]

Thanks Judy :)

[Ally 9]

Hi there - you will also be in my thoughts and prayers. This procedure has worked for a number of people who would otherwise be immobile. I was chatting about it the other day with my CP actually.

So glad to hear that your wife will be with you during this. Who knows....when we hear from you, first hand, that it's working and you're up and about, it may well be an option that all of us will give serious consideration to.

God speed for Wednesday, and looking foward to hearing from you as soon as you are able.

Ally

xxx

[Shane 0]

Wow, Paul! :D Like everyone else, I wish you the best and will be looking forward to your updates. Please keep us posted.

[Lizzie2 5]

Just keep thinking that the first op will be all over and done with by Friday and that you'll soon be tinkering with those cars of yours! ;)

Take care, Paul (& Mrs Paul).

Lizzie x :)

[insane 0]

Thanks Ally, Shane and Lizzie for your kind words, sorry for the graphic detail in my description but I tend to say things as they are. I have spent all year taking it easy to avoid getting another abscess so it would be silly to chicken out now. I will be glad when it is all done though and I am back in the comfort of my own home. Thanks again. :)

[Lynne 4]

Paul

Good luck with the operation, you brave man.

Be good to yourself........and your wife.....a little pampering for you both.

You are in my thoughts.

As far as having to sit for months on end..........Bought any good jigsaws recently :D

Lynne

[insane 0]

Thanks Lynne, I have a model of the Star Trek Enterprise at the ready and once that is made I have a Voyager model plus when I am a little stronger I will be under the car with a wire brush and some paint making it look like new again. :)

[cherylm 125]

Paul, how exciting... how (understandably) frightening... and how strong of you to be willing to try something so "cutting edge!" (Pun NOT intended, this time!) You'll be in my thoughts and prayers, and I hope everything goes smoothly and gives you a good result!

It takes people who are willing to get out there and take risks in order to advance the lives of all of us, and that's exactly what you're doing. Thank you!

All the best to you and your wife.....

take care... cherylm

[insane 0]

Thanks Cherlym, lol at the cutting edge :D

[oneblueleg 4]

Good luck Paul... will be thinking of you, really look forward to finding out how you get on, I'm sure it'll be worth it. I've seen one man who had this done and it was the best thing as far as he was concerned, he certianly didn't have any regrets, it worked for him.

Well done and good luck...

[insane 0]

Cheers OneBlue, thank you.

[mmarie 13]

I think you are very brave, Paul, and I wish you all the best. I look forward to your updates. Take good care of yourself and make us all jealous :) .

[Guest bearlover]

Best of luck to you! You are a inspiration to me! :)

[Jim T. 0]

God Speed Paul

I don't know anything profound to say, only that sometimes the only way we can get to where we want to go, is over the mountains and through woods, swamps, briar patch and the like.

I won't be flippant at this juncture, but will sincerely wish you well. Many will benefit from your experiences as you go through this.

Do keep us informed, not so much for our benefit, but for yours also. I'm sure that your wife can use all of the support and help from this group.......supporting you. Let her know that we are here for her also.

This most definitely is a WE thing.

[insane 0]

Thanks mmarie, bearlover and Jim T. This will be my last entry now until I get back as I am on the road in under an hour. Back in about a week.

[insane 0]

I am back and the operation was a complete success. I am on the maximum dose of pain killer tablets and if I try to move around the tablets don't do their job. I expected to be able to move around a bit but obviously not so I am spending my time in the chair in the living room and in bed. I am told that this severe pain will persist for three weeks and then things will get easier. The stitches come out on December 11th and I have to do the 460 mile round trip for this. I will also be examined and probably X-rayed at the time.

Thank you for your prayers as I am sure they have helped. The incision line clean and dry and there are no signs of weeping or infection. This I am told is the part that hurts the most and now thank God it is behind me.

[Guest bearlover]

Great Insane! So happy it went well! You sound great.....Keep up the good work you will be running arond before you know it! :)

[cherylm 125]

Thanks for the update, Paul... sounds like you're doing well! I hope that "three weeks" was a "generous" estimate and your pain starts to subside soon!

[insane 0]

thanks bear and cherlym. I hope it was a generous estimate too.

[Sue1 4]

I am glad all went well and that the worst is behind you. Hopefully the pain will soon start to subside and that all goes well on 11th.

Keep us all posted, we are thinking of you.

Sue

[mmarie 13]

I'm glad all went well for you, Paul. I hope the pain will soon subside.