PRAYING WITHOUT PAIN
“Methodist has the tools and the know-how to improve the lives of patients who have had a previously unsuccessful outcome.” By George Kovacik Daily mass is Sister Angelica Menta’s sanctuary. Every day for more than 65 years, she’s attended church to give thanks, ask for forgiveness and find peace through prayer. But when it comes to living a healthy, pain-free life, that peace has eluded her. As a farm girl growing up in upstate New York, Menta was tough and very athletic. She could hit, throw and catch a baseball as well as any boy in the neighborhood. But unlike those boys, she had a serious health problem. She was born with a dislocated hip that left one leg shorter than the other, and when it slipped out of place, it caused excruciating pain. At times, even a slight movement caused pain. As she got older, kneeling in church became a big problem. “On a scale of one to 10, the pain was around an eight. My hip always felt hot. … like someone was jabbing me with a sharp object,” Menta said. “I’ve had at least 10 surgeries to repair my hip, including a total hip replacement, but nothing seemed to completely get rid of the pain.” Then she met Dr. Stephen Incavo, an orthopedic surgeon with The Methodist Hospital.
When Incavo examined her, he discovered an infection was causing the constant pain in her right hip. He recommended she undergo revision surgery, a long and sometimes arduous process for both patient and surgeon. “We tackle these cases because we have the expertise, and we are willing to give the time necessary to help these patients,” Incavo said. “Methodist has the tools and the know-how to improve the lives of patients who have had a previously unsuccessful outcome.” A patient may need a hip replacement revised if they fracture around the prosthesis, or the bearing surface wears out and becomes unstable. Revision surgeries are more complicated than initial hip replacements because of poor bone quality and the difficulty in properly securing the revision hip replacements in position. Removing the old prosthesis can require more extensive surgery and can take a toll on patients, who in most cases are older. When a hip replacement is infected, the revision process usually involves at least two surgeries and a recovery period of up to a year. “Once bacteria invade the metal or plastic prosthesis, all of the foreign material needs to be removed, including the replaced parts. The area has to be thoroughly cleaned so the body can heal itself,” Dr. Stephen Incavo
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