Patient stories
Sue and Vernon are members of the INFORM Patient and Public Involvement group. They both have personal experience of prosthetic infection after hip replacement surgery. Here they share their experiences in the hope that others can relate to their stories and the challenges of living through prosthetic infection and the impact it has had on them and their families.
If you are a patient with prosthetic joint infection or know someone who has prosthetic joint infection, please also see our useful links for sources of help and support.
Sue’s story
Sue tells us how she had a total hip replacement at 40 years old, and how she later developed an infection, which kept returning, sometimes years later. During one revision operation to treat the infection her femur (long leg bone) was also fractured.
Sue experienced many months of having to use a wheelchair, and she also talks of the financial challenges that her circumstances created. She recently had her other hip replaced and is now happily recovered.
Vernon’s story
Vernon recounts how he had a hip replacement in 1998, and years later suffered a dislocation requiring surgery. He subsequently acquired an infection, followed by a number of complications.
Five years later the infection returned requiring a further revision surgery. Vernon has now been free from infection for the last 12 years