Roy | OSSIS Implant Recipient
Roy’s 60th Birthday in July 2020 on the deep water wreck of the Canterbury in the Bay of Islands.
Roy was approaching 60 when he learned of the tumor growing in his pelvis.
Up until that point, Roy hadn’t even entertained the notion of slowing down. A bona fide outdoor adventurer, he kept himself fit and active. From scuba diving to snow skiing, to hiking and paddle-boarding, there is still so much more for Roy to do.
Through the expertise of orthopedic surgeons in New Zealand and with the use of custom 3D-printed titanium implants, Roy is a year post-operative and enjoying his 60s with a brand-new hip.
Started with a painful hip
For over a decade, Roy had been dealing with on and off pain over his right hip. Given his active lifestyle, it became quite a concern for him to have it checked. He needed to make sure nothing was going to be a hindrance to his job and his interests. He would eventually come in to consult with his doctors for an x-ray.
Roy wasn’t expecting the results. The x-rays would reveal a large bone tumor on his right pelvis which was encroaching into his right hip joint. A few months later, Roy would undergo a bone biopsy to investigate the true nature of the tumor. The results showed a Chondrosarcoma.
Though not terminal cancer, this cartilage tumor had the potential to grow, metastasize, and develop into something more problematic. The doctors informed Roy that Chondrosarcoma does not respond to other treatments, and that surgery would be required to remove it. To Roy, the news of a tumor growing in his pelvis was a development he never truly expected:
“I was quite shocked and quite surprised because I’ve always been fairly healthy. For example, when I turned 50, we climbed up Mt. Kilimanjaro. It was a high-altitude hike, and you need a high level of physical fitness … I’d say I was disappointed, but you’ve got to pick yourself up and carry on.”
Roy needed to undergo tumor resection surgery. This meant his orthopedic surgeon, Mr Michael Flint, would have to remove a considerable amount of bone from the pelvis and hip to completely take out all traces of the tumor. The challenge, however, lies in the reconstruction process as the resection would leave significantly less bone for implant fixation.
A Successful Surgery
The lead up to the surgery required meticulous planning. Mr Flint needed to restore the pelvic anatomy and biomechanics all while ensuring a stable reconstruction. To give Roy the best chance to maintain his quality of life, Mr Flint knew they needed to invest in a robust and durable implant that would last Roy a lifetime.
To meet this need, Mr Flint turned to OSSIS Implants.
“Options for this sort of surgery are limited, OSSIS are producing some of the best implants in the world using innovative technology that can manage these problems.”
With over 12 years of experience, OSSIS has manufactured customized 3D-printed titanium constructs to consistently provide the best implant for pelvic tumor reconstruction surgeries. Sporting an integral osseointegration porous structure and incorporating silver-coating technology, OSSIS implants are built for stability and are the best representation of the “one implant for life” philosophy. For Roy, the need to make this surgery the ONLY surgery was all the more important.
A month after his biopsy, Roy would undergo his surgery. Mr Flint performed a hemipelvectomy with proximal femur resection followed by a hip reconstruction surgery using the customized OSSIS construct. After 7 hours, the surgery was a success and Roy had started on his road to recovery.
“I set my Ski tracks on snow shoeing which is great for hiking—screenshot of data attached—I clover-leafed around the hill a few times.”
“I hiked my “old” standard loop of Rangitoto and tried to keep up with my partner Vicki at our usual speed—I was almost there on the flat and uphill but slower downhill—mainly because I was being very careful not to slip and fall.”
Things will happen in due course
As with many orthopedic surgeries, getting through the operation was only half the battle. The other, equally challenging half was rehabilitation and physiotherapy. The first two weeks were particularly grueling for Roy as he had to deal with the initial pain of moving and stretching his limb. He was on constant painkillers, but Roy was determined to be off medications as soon as possible. In the first week of December, just two weeks after surgery, he was out of the hospital.
Roy was determined to get back to his normal lifestyle through vigilant rehabilitation. Mr Flint laid out a recovery timeline of 18 months and Roy went to work. Initially, he had to move around using a walker, without putting weight on the operated leg. As soon as he was able, he took his walker to the park and walked in circles around the soccer ground. By February, he had graduated to partial weight-bearing using crutches and by the end of the month, he was already fully weight bearing on the operated leg.
Not one to be held back by his condition, Roy was determined to beat the odds and, with advice from Mr Flint and physiotherapists, was able to increase his mobility. He would transition to Nordic walking using walking poles as he walked up and down grassy hills. He started doing this for 15 minutes at a time working to an hour-long walk. Roy was making considerable progress and recovering much faster than expected by the medical professionals.
With confidence in his surgery and implant and the guidance of Mr Flint, Roy was able to go even further. By the end of March, Roy was playing 9 holes of golf. He was 5 months post-surgery and already he was walking up and down the green with only one crutch. Granted he would feel some hip pain after the exercise, this was a significant development in his recovery.
Not long after, Roy would get back to his active lifestyle before his surgery. In May, he started paddle boarding again and even revisited his old 3.5km hike in Rangitoto. In time for his 60th birthday, Roy was scuba diving at the deep water wreck of HMNZS Canterbury in the Bay of Islands.
“I started padding again and this is great for the muscle rehab (photo from August 20, but I started about May 2020).”
Be patient, trust the process
Fourteen months after his surgery, Roy couldn’t be happier with the outcome. Every 6 months he comes in for regular check-ups with Mr Flint to check how his implant is doing. The bone growth around the construct and the screws are the best you can ever hope for.
When asked about the hardest part of the recovery process, Roy emphasized trusting your surgeon and believing in the implant used for the operation.
Now, Roy is back to his day job as an investment manager. He walks 3 city blocks to work using a walking stick. He continues to train with a sports physiotherapist to make sure his hip is in the best possible condition. After all, he's still looking to go snow-skiing overseas.
Roy certainly has no plans of slowing down!
“Be patient and realise things will happen in due course.”