Under the knife

Well, I had the knee butchered yesterday. It was only an arthroscopy designed to tidy up and clear out the debris and wear and tear of a life of sport, and so far, it seems to have gone well.

The consultation and operation has bridged the gap between private health care and the NHS and it was interesting to see the two parts working together ( or not).

I am not sure when the problems started with my knee, but the problem was serious enough for me to seek out some physiotherapy treatment earlier in the year. I was able to have that treatment privately, and followed the advise given by attending the local council gym and using the static bike and leg press machine. This seemed to help and allowed me to continue playing golf, although a couple of short runs did confirm to me that some surgical procedure would probably be necessary.

The next step then was to have x-rays and a chat with the local knee man, a Mr Parkinson, who operated on SWMBO a few years ago and seems to have stuck his knife into half the population of the Wirral. Anyway, the x-ray showed a fairly healthy knee space, but was inconclusive as far as surgery was concerned. We agreed to follow it up with an MRI scan.

The scan showed up two meniscus tears, one on each side of the knee, and something called a Bakers cyst behind the knee itself. This then made the need for surgery clearer and inevitable. It also concluded my involvement with the private sector, as my time at IBM was cut short by a few months. The plan had been to schedule the op in early January to allow me to travel to Portugal for the last golf event of the year. Mr Parkinson did offer to get me under the knife by 5th November, my last day, but that would have meant a cancellation of the golf trip. I, therefore, decided to put myself in the hands of the NHS.

First challenge was to get on the consultants NHS list. There is no option to transfer from private to public, one is effectively starting all over again. A visit to the GP got me in the queue for the NHS procedure, and I was soon summoned for an outpatient assessment. This was where the disconnect became most apparent as the first thing the nursing staff wanted to do was an x-ray.

I was forceful in pointing out I had had an x-ray and MRI at the local private hospital and would not have another one. Eventually, after calls to the consultants secretary, the results were e-mailed over and I got on the list.

The date for the operation came quite quickly and so I managed to meet my January objective, and yesterday I was trundled in.

The pre-operative care was fine, however, the after sales service was a bit lacking. There was no visit from the consultant, which was disappointing as there were some surgical questions I had. The physio saw me and gave me a sheet of exercises which I could have got off the internet, but there was no mention of one-to-one follow-up sessions with her. I have a session booked in two weeks with Mr Parkinson, so I am hopeful by then I will be able to start gym and golf sessions, and be driving the car again. We shall see.