MEDICAL MATTERS

[LizG]

Sounds like it's just time now and you'll be good as new. Patience is the word that springs to mind. Keep smiling Stanley, remember how far you've come.

[Stanley]

Too right! Thanks for the encouragement. I can see progress.....

[Tripps]

Well gang - it's my turn to appear on this thread.

I'm going in tonight for a Total Hip Replacement procedure tomorrow.
Strictly Come Dancing by Christmas is the target.

Wish me luck - see you all next week.

[Wendyf]

All the best Tripps, we will look forward to hearing from you in a couple of days.

[Marilyn]

Ah...a few challenging days ahead Tripps...and our thoughts will be with you.
Keep your chin up...hope it all goes smoothly!

[Cathy]

All the best to you Tripps for a successful op and quick recovery. You'll be 'tripping the light fantastic' before you know it

[PanBiker]

My dad had both of his done and the secret to success is to get mobile as soon as you can. Dad pushed the morning tea trolley round the day after his op with his bottle on the bottom shelf. He was discharged not long after and rode his bike on the 18 mile round trip to his first outpatients appointment 10 days later. He was in his 70's at the time, over 20 years ago now so with even more modern surgical procedures you should be up and about a long time before Christmas. Best of luck Tripps and keep us posted.

[Stanley]

Good luck with it David. Keep your hands off the nurses....

[Stanley]

It struck me this morning that I will be a bit hampered at the heritage display in the marquee. I won't be able to see any of the exhibits! Roll on the new glasses next week.....

[Stanley]

I can't help noting how efficient fear can be in spurring on organisations to produce an effective treatment for Ebola. The almost always fatal disease has been know about for years but very little investment was made in finding a vaccination or effective drug therapies. We are now told that both could be available by the end of the year. Now I wonder what has triggered this amazing burst of progress. I think I'll leave you to work that one out!

[Tizer]

Tripps will have had his op by now, I hope it's all gone smoothly and successfully. Soon we'll find out what new bits he's got inside him - will they be metal, ceramic or plastic, I wonder?

[Marilyn]

Yes...thinking of Tripps...can't imagine he is feeling too flash yet, but he will hopefully soon be wandering the corridors, on his frame, with his white gown flapping and open all down the back...stunning everyone with his...progress!

[Stanley]

And his surgical stockings, sexy!

[LizG]

Stop it you two. Stockings and naked 'progress'; what next?

[Cathy]

What next?... Tripps will be telling us all about it... ooh la la. Watch this space

[Tizer]

To quote the man himself...

Strictly Come Dancing by Christmas is the target.

[Moh]

Good luck David - hope it goes better than mine did.

[Stanley]

He'll be giving us the full story shortly....
Got my new varifocals yesterday. Can't fully assess the difference yet because I haven't used varifocals for years and you have to get used to them. At the moment I'd say I have improvement but not perfection because of the distortion in the right eye. The readers will be here today and they are the real test. (the range of vision in the varifocals is great for things like seeing labels in the supermarket but too restricted for serious reading)

[Moh]

Having had a skin graft to my leg when I was in an accident when I was eleven - occasionally a small area will break down. This has happened last week. I was having no luck with normal dressings, so I tried a remedy I had read about in the Daily Mail (also looked it up on the net) - that is to put sugar on the wound, (it is used in Africa). The difference it has made is very noticeable and I hope another few days will see it completely healed.

[Tripps]

Hello gang. Thanks for all the kind remarks. I'm back home now - it's all over. Due to a backlog for elective surgery, and a need to meet targets - I was offered first an alternative hospital, but it was too far for me and the family to travel - so I said 'no problem, I'd wait'. Then a few days later I was asked if I'd like to use a private hospital, using the same consultant surgeon - free of charge of course. That's only about twenty minutes away, so I said 'yes'

It was interesting to compare the previous operation two and a bit years ago with this one. The main difference was the level of staffing. Over the weekend there were three nurses for only six patients! TV was free, the food was better, but I still had no appetite. On the medical side - I saw the anesthetist in person on the two days following the operation, and the consultant came to see me for five of the six days that I was in. NHS patients seem to get a registrar for the follow up. They also have a Matron who came to wish me well.

I'll spare you the detail, but I had a couple of really bad nights, including last night - due to not responding well to the chosen pain killers. First made me nauseous, and the second didn't shift the pain. Third attempt - only chosen this morning with a quick personal user trial for obvious side effects, and I feel a lot better.

I had absolutely no complaints about the NHS version, just the adjacent patients. Despite the better service with a lot more privacy etc which suits me, I would have been happy to repeat the experience. Would I pay £13500 for that improvement? I somehow don't think I would.
As a bonus - I now have both legs the same length, and am nearly an inch taller.

[Marilyn]

Glad you are going well. An inch taller? Wow! ( now you wouldn't get that on NHS)
So now your trousers will all be too short. You will have to wear them lower at the waist...

[chinatyke]

Well done Tripps and I hope the pain soon lessens. Best wishes for a speedy and full recovery.

About 20 years ago a work colleague told me his mum had a hip joint replacement at the army hospital in Catterick. Apparently it was a fully staffed and equipped hospital and because armed forces casualty were low in peacetime, NHS operations were performed to maintain skill levels. It was an option for all NHS patients not just ex-servicemen. He described it as being like the hospital you attended, all the benefits of private treatment with none of the costs.

[Stanley]

Nice to hear from you David. Sorry about the glitches with the pain killers but as we all know, these things happen! Now for the post-op, best of luck with the recovery. Won't it be nice when you can put it all behind you!
On a less important subject, I got my readers yesterday. Managed to read Private Eye! Not perfection but a great improvement. Now I have to be patient and see how the distortion behaves itself with the passage of time. Following Liz's advice on August 30th, I shall bear in mind how far I have come. Worst case is I have enough sight for a full life as I am now.

[Cathy]

Very glad to hear that all went well Tripps

[Tizer]

... so I tried a remedy I had read about in the Daily Mail (also looked it up on the net) - that is to put sugar on the wound, (it is used in Africa).

The sugar draws water out of the wound tissue by osmotic pressure and bacteria find it more difficult to grow without the water. The same reason that bacteria don't grow in jam - the sugar sucks the water out if them.

Welcome back, Tripps, I'm glad to hear you've had a successful op. We knew you'd be back in plenty of time to enjoy all the excitement leading up to the Scottish vote!