Brian,
Just to let you know the update of my husband. We just got a second opinion from U of Chicago and they concur with our original dr at Loyola, to remove the hardware and clear up the infection before starting on the implants. His oral surgeon won't touch anything either until the infection is cleared.(Their opinion is that the hardware is rubbing into his tissue (they even took an tissue sample). They will also write a letter to our original dr. From their opinion it would only take about an hour to take out the hardware.

So we will go back to Loyola and discuss this with the dr and hopefully make arrangements to have the hardware taken out. Thank God my husband has made up his mind to go ahead with it.
All the drs have told us if he doesn't do anything the infection could deteriorate the bone in the long run then it would be another major surgery.

Thank you again for your input. Will keep you up to date.