First off, apologies all for the delay in posting the next blog entry. It has been a busy couple of weeks, having started back at work, have my son back and trying to get back into routines. Shall try not to leave you all hanging for as long next time 😉
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So, the surgery was scheduled for the 14th January, a week after I had gone to get my leg checked out at the hospital. My in-laws (are they still technically called that? Answers on a postcard…), were kind enough to look after my son for as many weeks as needed (they live a fair distance away from me). I had to be at the hospital for 7am on the Monday with the usual pre-op thing if no food or liquids 5 hours prior to this – i.e nothing since the previous evening. And of course, on the Sunday night, I thought it would be a great idea to do the Outlaw race! Â
There were a handful of other people also there for surgery that day and I ended up being the last one to be called through to where my room was to be due to some mix ups. After finally getting a room, I was then informed that the surgeon had some other issues and my surgery would be delayed. Fast forward a few hours… I started to get a wee bit peckish and thirsty, and finally got called through at around 2.30pm…
It turned out that I was actually the last one in for the day. Anyway, off I went to the anaesthetist and for some reason I had been convinced previously to go for a local anaesthetic as opposed to general, which for the leg involves a rather large needle into the base of my spine. I hate needles. Suffice to say this was horrific for me! I had considered asking if it was too late to change my mind! I shan’t go into the details, other than to say that I was awake for the full 45 minutes of the operation! After the operation, I was then put in another room whilst the anaesthetic wore off, where the doctors can also keep an eye on you. Well, it ended up being around 8pm before I was finally back in my hospital room and got some food. Well, I guess hospital food is the same everywhere in the world… but all in Germany the main meal of the day is lunch time and dinners are a light affair. I was not best pleased in my starving state with what I got! Luckily a friend came by later with burgers to help satisfy my hunger!
After the surgery, I was put on to some hefty painkillers and they were definitely needed as every time my leg was vertical, the pain was immense! I stayed 2 nights in the hospital and can’t say I slept through either of them. On the Wednesday, I was allowed to go home and had a funky new shoe to go with it! Scheduled were various checkups and a few meds, mainly painkillers, along with advice on how to get around with the new support. I shall spare you all the pictures of the actual stitches, but they are available on request 😉
Next time, I will go into more detail about the fun I started to have!
I’m still amazed at how you could go from that to spinning in just 3 weeks! That surgery day ordeal sounds like what a trip to the ER is here, doesn’t matter what it is, plan on being there all day! But at least the food is good here when admitted to hospital, unfortunately I am all too familiar with that. You’re making great progress, keep it up Nick!
Cheers Dave! Trying to take it slowly and started off with really light spinning. Let’s see how everything progresses 🙂
Ah… hospitals… they are a mix non-sophisticated factories where we are treated as raw material and high standard labs where we are treated as guinea pigs. Nevertheless… Good surgery, good relatives, good friends, good recovery! In life we may forget the bad memories, we must NOT forget the good ones! Nice to have your son back home!
The staff were pretty good at least at the hospital. And wise words to live by. Cheers Guy!