Last we heard from The Big Show, it sounded like things were going great after a recent hip procedure. The picture painted at the time had everyone thinking a return to the WWE ring might be right around the corner.
Turns out things weren’t going that smoothly after all. Show shared the tale on Busted Open Radio this morning:
“I’ve been really quiet about what’s been going on with me. I had a hip resurfacing surgery in September. The surgery went really well, I had it done in New York. Got home, I was posting some stuff on Instagram three and a half weeks after surgery I was walking a mile, over a mile, things were coming along good.
Then I got a fever. I found out that I had a surgical infection. Which is, I guess, the more I find out about these metal implants and stuff like that it’s quite high, there’s a high probability with it. I just got the unlucky draw. The hospital I had it done in New York is one of the top in the world for least amount of surgical infections. Like if you’re gonna get it done, unless you get it done in heaven’s waiting room, that’s probably the only place that it would be a less likely chance.
So we had to deal with that. They had to go back in, cut me back open, take the joint apart, clean it, flush it - it’s a really bad thing, because right now I just have the resurfacing. If the infection had stayed or gotten any worse, they would have to cut the metal pieces out, put in what they call a cement joint which is an antibiotic friendly joint to the body, so the antibiotics would work for three months, then take that joint out and then do a full on hip replacement, which would have severely limited and pretty much ended my wrestling career if that would have happened. So instead, we did a very aggressive cleaning down here in Miami, some great doctors here at the Doctors Hospital, some of the guys that work with the Dolphins... worked with Dr. Chris Amman, WWE doctor, everybody was on board cause this was pretty aggressive therapy.
I got a thing called a PICC line, which is basically an IV line that went in my left arm and went to my heart. And for seven weeks, I was walking around with an IV bag, three times a day, basically every eight hours it took three hours to dispense the meds... I used to call them feedings... cause the different medications had their times. It was almost like having a small baby in the house because you only got 3-4 hours of sleep or 3-4 hours to do anything before you had to feed the baby, change the diaper that kind of thing. But instead of a quick meal, like you’d do with a kid, this would take 2-3 hours. It was very stressful and it was a tough time for me because I couldn’t go to the gym like I wanted to because I had this line going into my heart, for crying out loud... It was very difficult. We finally pulled the PICC line out on January 2nd.
Things right now are looking pretty good. This will be touch and go for probably another 6-8 months to make sure that it doesn’t come back, because the more I learned about infections, they’re very aggressive, almost sentient diseases the way they adapt to certain antibiotics... The main thing we tried to do was make sure it doesn’t get on the metal device itself. Because once the bacteria gets on the device, you can’t get rid of it... We’ve done everything we can to keep the joint clean, so... my benchings back up, my strength’s back up, I’ve dropped almost 27 pounds since January 2nd already back in the gym, so I’m back to feeling strong - I’m feeling right.”
It’s not clear if the 6-8 months of “touch and go” just means careful monitoring for infection or if he won’t be doing anything to get ready to wrestle (besides staying in shape) until that time. He’s clear in the rest of this clip that his goal is to get back to WWE, but in what exact role might remain to be determined.
Good news is things seem to be headed in the right direction. We’ll keep you posted.