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Post by frenchie63 on Feb 22, 2019 4:09:56 GMT -7
Hi I am a relative new amputee I had my bka in 08/17 and was told shortly after that I would need to have a revision to get the prosthesis to fit properly and be comfortable this was done in 09/18 but I got a infection which took me back into hospital to have a abscess drained then I was sent home a week later I was again rushed into hospital with what turned out to be osteomyelitis this was treated with 6 plus weeks of antibiotics I was then told that I was clear but have had several infections in the wound which still hasn't healed then 3 weeks ago they had me in to take some bone biopsies which have come back as positive for osteomyelitis again I have a ct booked for next week and see the consultant the following week to find out what they are going to be able to do my biggest fear is that it has spread to my Thigh bone as it is becoming more painful so I am hoping someone on here might be able to give me some advice
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Post by snowyh on Feb 23, 2019 15:05:21 GMT -7
Wow, Frenchie, it sounds like you've been put through the wringer! I haven't come across anyone who's had to deal with osteomyelitis, but perhaps someone with that experience will see your thread and join the discussion. In the mean time, feel free to browse our little forum--there are lots of nuggets of wisdom to be discovered. Welcome to the forum!
Helen
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Post by cherylm on Feb 27, 2019 7:21:51 GMT -7
Frenchie, at least they've found the osteomyelitis early on. It took right around 13 years for someone to wonder about what might be UNDER an odd little callous/wart-like thing on the calf of my BKA leg. For years and years folks treated the "thing" itself and took periodic samples of the "thing" for biopsies...but when a doctor who was treating me for something completely unrelated noticed the "thing" and asked if anyone had ever looked at what was underneath the "thing," it led to an MRI, which led to the discovery of a fistula, which led to the discovery of a colony of the same type of bacteria that had cost me the leg in the first place.......which led to a revision surgery, which turned out to be much more extensive than anticipated because once they were in there, they discovered osteomyelitis running up into the bone from where the bacteria-filled fistula met up with the bone. It was a total mess and I'm only just now--over two years after that revision surgery--starting to get my life back.
My advice is that you make certain your doctors do absolutely EVERYTHING they can to track down ALL of the bone where the osteomyelitis has set in, and that they also do absolutely EVERYTHING they can to locate and eliminate any additional sources of infection. They OWE it to you to make sure that you are fully stabilized so that you can then focus on being fitted and trained to use a prosthesis.
I'm sorry to hear that you've already had to go through both an initial and a revision amputation...but it may turn out that a third surgery could be needed to actually remove the infected bone. I HOPE NOT...but please know that there is so much that can be done with prosthetics these days that a good prosthetist can give you something that will serve you well even after multiple revisions.
Do please keep us posted...I have at least some idea of what you're going through, and everyone here is friendly and supportive!
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