The Dark Side of Hip Replacements

I got some sad news last night - our friend Mike Johnson (left), pastor of the Kellogg Christian Church in Kellogg, IA, died on Monday from complications from hip replacement surgery.   Considering I'm on the downhill side from two hip replacements, this is literally like a blow in the gut to me.

According to my sister, doctors told Mike and his wife, Angela, that there was a small chance of some fat cells being released into the blood stream when they cut into the bone to replace the hip.  Evidently, that's what happened and the fatty cells ended up in Mike's lungs not long after he received the hip replacement two weeks ago.  They used antibiotics to try and contain the infection, but it ended up getting worse.  His kidneys shut down and he went on dialysis.  Then his bowels shut down and his heart finally gave out.  Along with his wife, Mike left a daughter who is pregnant with her first child, and a son who just moved to Nebraska to start a new job. You can read his obituary here.

We are not religious people in our household and when it came time to get married nearly 14 years ago Cindy and I approached Mike to do the wedding in a restored non-denominational country grange church that is part of the Kellogg Historical Museum.  He didn't hesitate when he said, "Absolutely!"  Actually, what he really said was directed to Cindy - "Wow!  You're going to marry him?  I want a front row seat for this one!"  Over the years, whenever we'd see Mike out and about, he used to joke that whatever he did during the ceremony must have worked because Cindy and I were still together.

When my father passed away a few years ago, Mike was asked by the family to officiate at the memorial service.  The memorial service was going to be held - per my father's wishes - at the Elks Club in Newton.  Once again, Mike didn't hesitate to agree to do it. 

The night before the service, Mike stopped over to my sister's house to get some ideas as to what we wanted him to say about our father.  As we're wont to do at family gatherings, we had been drinking rather heavily in my father's honor before Mike came.  When he got there, well, he got a very colorful picture of what my father was all about. 

The next day when he gave the eulogy, Mike told the overflow crowd in the Elks Club that he found out the previous evening that Jesus had a middle name (My father would always yell, "Jesus H. Christ!"), and that hell had hubs (My father would also exclaim, "What in the hubs of hell...").  Mike was always a great sport and had a genuinely good time whenever he came around our family.  Mike knew when to back off on the religion and enjoy the festivities at hand.  But he always had a knack of knowing when to step up to the forefront when he was needed. 

What freaks me out and breaks my heart over all of this is that it was complications from a hip replacement.  I feel especially bad because I just blew through two hip replacements like a breeze.  Oh, there were some minor complications along the way, and I am getting rather tired of being stiff and sore in my upper legs and butt area.  But I never came any where close to what happened to Mike.

Even though my doctor did the usual "cover your ass" speech about potential problems from a hip replacement, I don't ever remember him talking about the possibility of fatty cells being released into your system that could cause infection.  I guess there is no such thing as a "routine" hip replacement surgery.

Seriously - it feels like someone punched me in the stomach.  As Cindy said in anguish before bed last night, "People don't die from hip replacement surgeries!"

Well, I suppose they can.

The next time I make some little complaint about how sore or stiff I am in regard to my hip replacements, I'll think of Mike and realize that things could be a lot worse...

Comments

[Lynn Shaughnessy]

Wow! That's a heavy story. Sorry for the loss of your friend. Sometimes the Lord works in very mysterious ways.

[Dirk]

Real sorry to read of the loss of your friend Will and Cindy. I learned something new today about hip surgery.