I have had my Arthroscopy operation – or Arthur Askey as my Mum called it!
I was due to have it on the 11th as written about here , but the hospital changed it to the 18th , due to too many nurses being off with illness. I chose to have it done at a small, private, hospital, even though it was done on the NHS, as they had been lovely when my Mum was due to have herArthroscopy there & that instilled a lot of confidence in me, sadly Mum couldn’t have it as her BP was sky high & her age, being 83, they didn’t want to take any risks as they are not equipped for emergencies.
We arrived at the hospital for 11 am, & had a short wait before being took to our room, the physiotherapist came & saw me to explain some of the exercises she wanted me to do post operation, which were very similar to the ones I had been doing all along after seeing a different physio at Ormskirk hospital, months before. She was going to teach me how to walk on two arm crutches but I already was using them so she just checked I was doing it correctly, which I was.
My BP, pulse, temperature etc was checked, unsurprisingly my BP was up!
I had to put on one of those long white anti-embolism stocking on my right leg, before the surgery, this was a performance as they are very tight & as it was a hot day & I was panicking, well lets say they went on easier after the op! I had worn them before when I was pregnant with Thomas, so I was aware how they felt, even though that is almost 29 years ago. I was to wear them on both legs for two weeks after the operation until I was getting more mobile.
My surgeon came & checked me left knee over & then signed my leg – this was to make sure they did the correct knee, very handy seeing as I was getting the worse pain in my left knee.
Time for the operation came & I was took down to theatre, Al came with me to the door, where we hugs & yes I started to blub. I was really worried having never been in hospital before apart from to deliver children & with asthma crisis’s, nothing invasive or surgery. I was asked to get on to a trolley & a nice guy called Reg, chatted to me as he put a cannula in my left hand. He was really nice & kept me talking to me & asking about my family to distract me from what was going on around me.
When the anesthetist came, he really didn’t have much of a bedside manner, he just picked up my hand & I asked Reg is this is? Yes, was his reply. I’m not sure what i said but it was something like Oh my! I was told I would drift off to sleep but honestly I remember nothing from that moment until I woke up in the Recovery Room, with reg holding my hand & talking to me.
I just wanted Al at that moment but obviously he couldn’t come to me there so I had to try to calm myself down so they would take me back to my room. I remember being incredible thirsty. What I hadn’t realised was that I would have a tube put down my throat, I’d tried not to think too much about what would actually take place during the operation, so hadn’t thought about that. It was only when they brought a man out of another theatre & I saw them remove the tube I realised why my throat was a bit sore.
I was asked to scale my pain from 1-10, 10 being the worst ever, I scored it at an 8, as it was like a stinging type of pain that was quite intense, they gave me a stronger pain killer through my cannula, which after a while, did start to work.
It seemed like ages but was probably no more than 10 minutes from waking up until they took me back to the room, right into a big hug from Al. Which I so needed.
My BP etc was checked regularly & eventually managed to come down, though my BP was still raised. My cannula was removed once I’d settle down & was showing no reaction to the anesthetic. I was released from the hospital about 16:15 & was allowed home.
One of the nurses took me to the car, which was parked near to the hospital door, in a wheelchair as I was finding it too painful to walk even with my arm crutches.
Al pushed my seat right back as far as it would go, which enabled me to get in the car without having to bend my knee to much. After we set off I realised that I couldn’t put my foot down as the pain was very intense, so Al had to pull over & managed to put the bag, which I had took my things for the hospital in, under my calf & ankle, which made it a bit easier.
I was home for just after 5pm & phoned Mum up straight away as I knew she would have been worrying about me all day.
It is now two weeks & five day since the operation & here is how it looks.
You can see I had a reaction to the sticky tape they used to put the covering over the entry wounds, it looks like I’ve still got sticky marks on my leg, but honestly, pinky swear, it is a scar. On the Saturday after the operation, my knee started itching, as I wasn’t sure where I was cut I couldn’t itch it, so had to keep putting frozen peas on it.. It was such a relief on Sunday when I could remove my bandage & found that it was not my actual sores. I was worried I might have an infection in them.
I had my stitches out last Friday 2 weeks after the big day, & now just have to wait & keep doing my physio. The swelling is still very much apparent, but less than it was, as Lee my physiotherapist said I’ve got a big egg on my knee. Already I am having less pain than before the procedure, so that is a big bonus.
Why any one would willingly put themselves through an operation just for vanity is beyond me – or maybe I’m just not vain. Of course I’d love to have bits lifted, tummy reduced etc, but I am not willing to go through an operation to do so, especially now after having done so & knowing more about what happens.
Nanna Jane