Hips, Blood and Teeth
I awoke a days ago to the news on the radio(it has)I discover been on the net for over a month...in short there are some problems with many thousands of hip operations that have been carried out across the world and certainly in the UK and over the next month or two virtually everyone who has had one will be called in for tests. Even though the person seems ok and feels fine, it affects metal joints and in simple terms bits(I assume like grains of sand/iron filings)are coming off the metal and they are failing but also this is working it's way into the blood and raising levels of metal not unlike how they used to be afraid and sometimes replace teeth fillings because of worries of mercury.
It could result in many hip operations having to be done again(if you are the unfortunate one)the blood test alone will cost the NHS a lot of time and money and there are so few labs in the country able to do it the blood will be analysed in other countries. Remarkably the story has not been as big as I thought it might be.
Mum has been remarkably calm about it but the prospect of another operation and the recuperation again doesn't fill us with joy. These operations are supposed to have a life of around 10-12 years...seemingly I now discover a ceramic hip replacement have no problem and they last 20+ years but most operations probably on cost and success are done using metal.
For now all we can do is see if Mum is recalled and wait for the letter to drop through the letterbox.
Then on Friday(I won't go into detail, it's very personal)but the clue is in the title of this blog post...unexpectedly we had an emergency and it was a shock to us both and we had to make a visit to Accident and Emergency but hopefully seems to be ok and Mum only has to return should the problem persist, they were very pleased with her.
Where do the teeth come into this post?
Some years ago I had all my teeth and regularly saw my dentist...had a dentist. Then my dentist did not remind us to go for our check up...when I contacted we had been removed from the patient list and we could not register. With all the problems with Mum and other reasons I have neglected trying to get treatment or been able to find another one and now one by one my teeth have become broken, some are missing and I can see that the front teeth are starting to decay so I have resigned myself that one day soon I will probably have to have those remaining removed and accept that I will be wearing dentures.
Whether I can find some I like, get used to them I will have no choice, other people manage and there are some nice ones available these days, it's not like it used to be. As long as I can eat food, if they are uncomfortable I can always leave them out when at home and just wear them outdoors. It's a pity when I have never eaten much in the way of sweets or drank much in the way of soft drinks.
In recent years toothpastes and other things have come onto the market to look after teeth and gums but sadly too late for me...
It could result in many hip operations having to be done again(if you are the unfortunate one)the blood test alone will cost the NHS a lot of time and money and there are so few labs in the country able to do it the blood will be analysed in other countries. Remarkably the story has not been as big as I thought it might be.
Mum has been remarkably calm about it but the prospect of another operation and the recuperation again doesn't fill us with joy. These operations are supposed to have a life of around 10-12 years...seemingly I now discover a ceramic hip replacement have no problem and they last 20+ years but most operations probably on cost and success are done using metal.
For now all we can do is see if Mum is recalled and wait for the letter to drop through the letterbox.
Then on Friday(I won't go into detail, it's very personal)but the clue is in the title of this blog post...unexpectedly we had an emergency and it was a shock to us both and we had to make a visit to Accident and Emergency but hopefully seems to be ok and Mum only has to return should the problem persist, they were very pleased with her.
Where do the teeth come into this post?
Some years ago I had all my teeth and regularly saw my dentist...had a dentist. Then my dentist did not remind us to go for our check up...when I contacted we had been removed from the patient list and we could not register. With all the problems with Mum and other reasons I have neglected trying to get treatment or been able to find another one and now one by one my teeth have become broken, some are missing and I can see that the front teeth are starting to decay so I have resigned myself that one day soon I will probably have to have those remaining removed and accept that I will be wearing dentures.
Whether I can find some I like, get used to them I will have no choice, other people manage and there are some nice ones available these days, it's not like it used to be. As long as I can eat food, if they are uncomfortable I can always leave them out when at home and just wear them outdoors. It's a pity when I have never eaten much in the way of sweets or drank much in the way of soft drinks.
In recent years toothpastes and other things have come onto the market to look after teeth and gums but sadly too late for me...
posted by The Great Gildersleeve | 11:50 am
5 Comments:
Hello Gildy! What a tale! sorry to hear of all these new woes. The teeth will be the least of the problems as these days they can give almost anyone a whole new set of gnashers if there is the will and the time and if the bone is OK. You make a good point re pastes and rinses etc. I'm not keen of these 'whitening' pastes as I am sure they must to some damage to the enamel but i have used listerine since I started visiting places where the hygiene wasn't wonderful and you never knew what was in the water or when you might get a decent chance to wash and brush-up etc. The original was urine coloured but now there's a range. The same with my feet and using clean socks and mycota powder (or some such equivalent) done that since being in the army 30 years ago! Of course it';s logical, no matter how strong or what a good shot you are if you can't walk/march/run you're no good to anyone.
Hips...now, being overweight and having lived the life I have lived my hips are shot, I will need a double replacement soon but I was warned about 10 years ago that it was 'when' not 'if'. Back then the consultant explained about MacMinn or McMin (not sure of the spelling) and they were what you mentioned, ceramic. Of course I keep putting it off but come the day I will be leafing through the brochure of Which hips!
I hope the bone is ok(I hadn't thought of that);-)
What hasn't helped also is...though I have no idea I am doing it...I grind my teeth when asleep so if a tooth gets damaged that adds to the problem.
I sound a right medical case...is there anything else to complain about ;-)
I agree about the teeth whitening craze...people forget that most teeth never were or meant to brilliant white. I was told often people with ultra white teeth naturally are the weakest kind to have. That was from a dentist who had such teeth himself(as did his children)and it was a trait of his
genetic make-up as he was Indian.
I hope and trust your hip replacement when it happens goes well and if you have the option and can afford ceramic that seems to be the way to go...On the NHS I doubt we'd have had a choice, it was never suggested and probably would have cost a fair price(even if Mum is worth it)
The worst part would seem to be the recuperation but that maybe easier if the patient is younger.
I want Mum to live a long time if she has a quality of life and hope the hip replacement she had will last her at least 10 years, if she had to go back in for another op or resurface that's a lot for the body to take as you become older.
Yet they seem to have done a great job and even the scar which was neat anyhow has started to fade considerably to have to go through that again would be awful.
I think from memory 65,000 hip ops are done annually in the UK alone so that's a lot of people to recall.
how you holding up Gildy?
How are you holding up Gildy? I hope the lack of posting isn't bad health related...
Come on Gildy...give us some news.
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