I wanted to update everyone at once, so please excuse the use of Lactnet for this announcement. At 7:30 p.m. Sunday evening, I experienced a major dislocation of my "non dis-locatable" hip. Remember back in April, one of the screws fell out and is still somewhere in my hip joint? The Xray Monday spoke volumes--there smack dab in the center was a SECOND screw and who knows how long it's been there (last xray was in May)! Skip if you are the least bit squeamish ======== What happened Sunday could have been worse. Picture half of a hollow plastic ball with fingers on one end with a locking ring, gripping the rounded head of a long rod. That hollow plastic liner sits inside another slightly larger titanium shell that is connected to my pelvis. The bone growth around the titanium is good but not much thicker in its thickest spot than 20 sheets of paper, and at it's thinnest point, paper thin. The screws that have fallen out hold both the plastic and titanium. There are 2 screws left, both near the 3 o'clock position, one that holds just the titanium and is one of two that went into the sciatic nerve. The two that fell out hold the liner to the titanium. What happened Sunday is that the liner rotated out of the titanium on the remaining screw taking the rod with it--dislocation of a non dislocatable hip. [Very odd in and of itself] Thank God we got it back in. I have been left with several options, none of which promise pain relief: 1. Do nothing and run the constant risk of it doing that or worse again. That last screw will eventually come out. [Wearing a brace might help but not guarantee that it won't dislocate again] If it comes out, it is a surgical emergency. 2. Cement* the screws in, but that means when the liner wears out in 5 or so years (the most one has ever lasted is 5 years) they would have to destroy all the bone around the titanium. I would be worse off than now. 3. Cement* the liner into the titanium. If it needs to be replaced, the cement would have to be reamed out of the titanium which again risks bone loss. *The use of bone cement also has a high infection risk which is doubled because I had and infection in the hip after surgery in 1997. Something as simple as an infected hang nail could cause a potentially life threatening infection in the hip. 4. Pull the whole thing out. Smooth off the edges and let the leg hang where it may. In the mean time the muscle and bone shrivel up. I would never walk again, even if technology improves and it can be repaired either through bone grafts (stem cell research looks promising) or some other means--the muscle would be gone. None of these are easy or obvious choices. =============== I think we have to say that my days as a practicing LC are over. The movements and odd positioning that we LC's need to get into to help moms are no longer possible for me. Now before you get all sad for me, remember that I have come to terms with that part of my life. Who knew it would be a little kid at work that "pulled me" over the top? [Probably the only on the job disability injury for an LC ever] We may have to make some major changes. (Like a single story house) Money may be our only hurdle. We can't sell this house for what we owe. I doubt that Worker's Compensation will settle for much. I am expecting a big fight. I been told that permanent disability is difficult to get. My only short term goal still is to make it to ILCA in Scottsdale in July. Keep your eyes and ears open for reports of bone research. I need to be able to get a huge hunk of bone that can be carved for transplant and a doctor that can do that kind of surgery. Marie Davis, RN, IBCLC *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html