"Hip removed due to infection"

December 2006 – was admitted to Wrightington Hospital for 3rd hip replacement on my left hip. Everything was fine for 2.5 years until I contacted a severe infection as follows:

Admitted to Wythenshawe hospital in June 2009, with severe pain in hip. Put on intravenous antibiotics and bed rest. Various tests. Near the end of 4th week, hip was aspirated but because of intravenous antibiotics the infection had been masked and it was unclear what the infection was. At my request I was discharged to Wrightington Hospital on in mid July and put on intravenous vancomycin. I had a reaction to vancomycin, having a red rash over my body, my legs swelled and I had to wear surgical stockings.

I was discharged t the start of August 2009 from Wrightington with 4 weeks supply of antibiotics, Linzolid and Rifampacin, and had to have weekly blood tests at my GPs surgery.

A week after finishing the above antibiotics I was again in severe pain and had to take painkillers again.

Attended an outpatient appointment at Wrightington Hospital at the start of September 2009, had a blood test and given another appointment for late October 2009. At this appointment couldn’t bear my hip to be touched.

Told to return the next day for an aspiration on my hip. Prescribed Linzolid again for 2 weeks. Pain returned within a week after I had finished the antibiotics.

At the beginning December attended Wrightington Hospital and was prescribed erythromycin for 4 weeks.

Attended Wrightington hospital outpatients at the very end of December because I was still taking antibiotics, was asked to return on the towards the end of January.

Finished erythromycin on Friday 1 January 2010, pain returned and I rang my GP to request painkillers a week later.

I had an Outpatient appointment in January 2010, it was decided that I needed to have my hip re-done.

At the beginning of February, visited my GP, was prescribed erythromycin for 4 weeks.

Finished 4 week course of erythromycin on at the beginning of March. After two days pain returned much more severe. I could hardly walk.

I started a 4 week course of antibiotics, still in severe pain, taking paracetamol as well as the antibiotics until the antibiotics work.

I went to Wrightington Hospital on Friday 19th April for pre-op tests.

Still on antibiotics. I then received letter from Wrightington informing me my blood was abnormal and I was being taken off the waiting list.

My doctor put me on Iron tablets then told me to stop taking them.

Had a blood test on in early May and saw the doctor a few days later. My iron levels normal, blood count abnormal.

Went to Wrightington Hospital for another pre-op test.

On Erythromycin 250mg caps x 4 per day (been on erythromycin for nearly 6 months and antibiotics altogether for 11 months)

Thyroxine 100mcg 1 per day

Had my hip removed on June 2010, was told new hip would be put in within 6 to 12 weeks.

After3 out patient appointment I spoke to the Doctor, who said they would send me a letter to confirm date of having my hip put back in.

At the beginning of October, phoned Wrightington Hosp re operation, going to send me letter to have pre-op tests.

12 days later I received letter re pre-op appt for early November. Between attending this appointment and the end of the I rang on 3 separate occasions to see if I had a date for the operations. I was told someone would call me back and they never did

Early January 2011 I received letter from Wrightington with date for 2nd pre-operation tests book for later that month.

A couple of days after receiving this letter I also received a letter with date for having my hip put back in. This was scheduled for the very end of January.

10 days before my scheduled operation the surgeon phoned to tell me that I was not having my hip put back in as there was still some infected bone cement to remove and that he and and another surgeon would be operating to remove this. Was also told that my hip would be replaced in a matter of weeks not months.

I was discharged from hospital at the beginning of February. Everything was ok, but only problem I had was that after the district nurse took the stitches out one of the stitch wounds took a little longer to heal.

A month after the operation I returned to outpatients to see the doctor who took a swab and arranged for the district nurse to come back until the stitch area had healed. The Doctor’s secretary rang to say there was a slight infection and to continue with antibiotics and the district nurses visits. I was discharged by the district nurses the following month.

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At the end of March I returned to Wrightington Outpatient and told to come back in two months.

I returned to Wrightington and told to come back again in 8 weeks. We were very upset at this as we had thought we would be told a date for the hip to be put back in.

Mid May we phoned the doctor’s secretary as we were very upset that we had made 90 mile round trip just to be told to come back in 8 weeks.

In July we returned to Outpatients, and we were told the hip would be put back in within 4-6 weeks. The surgeon told us that he thought it would be done sooner.

After waiting for the post with an appointment we phoned admissions and was told that I everything was booked up until the middle of September and I was not even on the list. We then phoned the doctor’s secretary who told us she would look into and phone us back. She phoned us back two days later and told us the date of the pre-op and the date of the operation – both mid August, and a letter was in the post to confirm this.

I went for my pre-op and was told to ring the ward on 3 days before the operation to check that everything was ok for admission. At 5pm on this day we received a call to tell us that due to a family bereavement the operation had been cancelled. Although disappointed we could understand why it was cancelled. We were told there was to be a meeting and we would be contacted. We waited the afternoon after the planned meeting and then phoned admissions and were told again everything was booked up until the middle of September. We phoned the doctor’s secretary and she told us that it was being dealt with by the management and someone would get back to us with another date.

We had a call from the Admissions Manager a few days later. to tell us the new date was at the End of September.

I am sending this on behalf of my husband who does not want to complain but I would like to ask:

Why my husband was on antibiotics for 12 months?

While I can understand why the operation was cancelled, why has he got to wait another 4 weeks to have his hip put back in again?

He has been on crutches now for 14 months and no one sees the struggles he has to get about on these. He has calluses on his hands and bruises on his arms from the crutches and struggles to get up the stairs to the bedroom. He can't get in the shower because it is over the bath. He never complains but I know how much he has gone through in the last 2 years. I am sorry that this story is so long but I did not want to go through the complaints procedure as we have always been very happy with the doctors and nurses and realise how much they do.