Stepped down on dark stairwell thinking I was at bottom. However, one more step to go and I fell forward landing on my left side and shattered left femur just below the femur ball that fits in the hip socket. After surgery went through a month of in-patient therapy and several months of in-home therapy. Was progressing but still experienced pain at point of shatter (not hip). Also noticed that my left leg was getting shorter (had extra sole added to left shoe twice and within a month or two limp returned). Surgeon advised the titanium rod and pin were only designed to be load bearing until the femur healed and not for long term weight bearing. Since the shattered area of the femur has not yet healed (after 15 months) the surgeon says the rod/pin structure is failing (bending) making my left leg shorter and causing pain. He is advising to have the rod/pin structure removed and replaced with an artificial hip joint. My question is: does titanium fail or bend after only 15 months or is it possible that there was a mistake made in the original surgery?