Before Friday, Nov 17, I was an active, healthy 58 year old woman. I had recently been diagnosed with Osteoarthritis in both hips (the right one being more deteriorated), so I was participating in the physical therapy recommended by my Ortho guy. He was not eager to replace the hips as he said I was too young, and it wasn't bad enough yet.
So I continued to enjoy my low-impact activities: SCUBA diving at least once a week, golf lessons, bike riding, gardening, swimming, paddle boarding, the trite but nice 'walks on the beach'. I had plans to take up salsa dancing. I continued to do my 'weight bearing exercise' to retain bone & muscle mass. Then I read about stem cell therapy and had some hope that it would help me and prolong the need for a prosthetic hip.
On Friday, Nov 17 I had scheduled an outpatient procedure at the OrphopedixMD clinic in Margate. I went dressed in comfortable clothing, as advised. I was not put in a hospital gown. At 2:30 Dr. Poovendran began his extraction of my own stem cells: some bone marrow from my spine, some fat from my butt, and platelets from my blood. Then I waited an hour while Kraig Lawrence, the coordinator and not a doctor, centrifuged the stem cells from the marrow and fat, the platelets from the blood.
I returned to the presumably sterile room for the injections of the stem cells and platelets. The right hip, being the worst one, got 24 cc's of both bone marrow stem cells, fat stem cells, and platelets, in 3 injections.
The left hip got 8cc's of fat stem cells and platelets only, in 2 injections. After the procedure, I was warned I'd hobble a bit, have some pain that would dissipate in about 1/2 hour. I got to my car and drove home, intending to stop for the prescribed painkillers on the way. 1/2 hour later I arrived at the Walgreens near my house in considerable pain. It hadn't diminished, but had amplified. The pharmacist, seeing me in tears, filled the prescription in an agonizing 20 minutes while I waited in my car.
I took the prescribed amount and went home to bed. Throughout the evening and night the pain got worse in the right hip, radiating down the thigh and even down the calf and ankle. I was in agony. I was supposed to have access to Kraig Lawrence by phone. I began calling him and texting him, desperate with pain at 5:41 PM. I was told to keep icing, move the leg (which I could not without screaming) and suck it up. I was told that patients who experienced the most discomfort (this was beyond discomfort) had the best results. I was told not to call 911.
By 3 AM the pain had not at all subsided. I began texting Kraig again to no avail. I have saved the texts, as they are quite heart wrenching. Kraig finally answered at 11:07 in the morning. His response was more ice and stronger pills, and that he was busy getting a haircut.
I managed to find the phone # for the Margate clinic, and reached a doctor on call. He got ahold of Dr. Poovendran who said he'd meet me at his Federal Hwy clinic (closer to me) and extract some of what he had injected. His theory was that he had injected too much volume. I had a friend drive me there and while writhing on the table, Dr. Poovendran gave me some Lidocaine and pulled out some of the fluid. There was some relief. Not once did anyone think to test what he pulled out for infection. By the time I got home the pain was back as bad as before. By around 5, Kraig finally advised me to go to the Imperial Point Broward ER, for pain management. Again no mention of possible infection. He wanted me to see the Trauma doctor in their practice, NOT an orthopedic doctor. I was too far gone in pain to question anything. I sat in the ER, in continual and terrible pain. I didn't get to see their Trauma doc till sometime in the early morning hours. Fortunately, somebody thought to test my blood for infection. It came up positive for MRSA. I was admitted to the hospital, in isolation, and informed Kraig that morning. I was visited by Dr. Poovendran once in the hospital; and I remember this: All he could express was disbelief that this had happened. Then I never saw or heard from anyone at OrthopedixMD again. I spent 16 days in the hospital. I had surgery on the infected hip to irrigate and debride the area of infection, which was exactly where the injection was given. My white blood cell count was not going down. I had a second surgery, more aggressive this time, through the same incision, to clean it out again. I had 2 echo cardiograms to make sure the bacteria hadn't gotten into my heart valves, which it thankfully hadn't. I was given Nuclear Medicine where the white blood cells are extracted and dyed, then put back in to see where they went to work, to see if there was any hidden infection. The results showed it only in the right hip, right where it was deposited by the injections. To be continued... read more
