::Griffblog::

It’s already 5wks since the ilizarov frame was removed and in most respects I’ve recovered rapidly and life in a frame already seems a distant memory.

I say “almost” as there is still one issue that is holding recovery back; my knee.  Although there was nothing wrong with it pre-op, the frame fitting required four pins to be inserted through my knee to stabilise the lower part which effectively locked my knee straight.

This has meant that my knee joint has partially seized.  The tendons and ligaments have all become stiff and the muscle has stuck to surrounding tissue.  This is expected after being immobile for so long but was a side effect I hadn’t truly prepared for.

I had foolishly expected that the knee would bend as soon as the frame came off but not so!

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I’ve always been a vociferous supporter of the NHS and the staff who work within. But last week this was stretched to the very limit by a poor experience at Frimley Park Hospital.

Last Wednesday evening I had a pain begin in my left chest when I took a deep breath. I did the man thing, ignored it, went to bed and hoped it’d go away. When I awoke the next morning the pain was still present.

I tried to book an appointment with my GP but no slots were available. Instead I eventually got a call back mid afternoon from a Doctor at the surgery. Having explained the symptoms he told me I needed to present at A&E as it may be a blood clot. Having recently had an operation I was in the increased risk category apparently.

So off I toddled to A&E at my nearest hospital, Frimley Park and after some tests, an ECG and a chest x-ray it was decided that I needed a lung scan and so would have to stay overnight. I won’t pretend I was delighted but needs must and after 4hrs in A&E I was transferred to the Medical Assessment Unit (MAU). This is a ward with beds for short stay only, no TV’s, bedside lockers or other frills and comforts.

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Ilizarov frame patients will be familiar with the daily ritual of pin site cleaning.

Every morning after removing old dressings and showering I have to clean all 15 pin sites using saline fluid and special polygon ‘lollipop’ cleaning sticks and any pin sites that are weeping or bleed have to be covered with a non-adhesive padded dressing.

Whilst I was in hospital this was no problem, I was provided each day with a kit of the fluid, lollipop sticks and dressings as required. And when I was discharged I was issued with a small stock of them to keep me going.

Back at home I researched the dressings and cleaning sticks I needed and it threw up some nasty surprises! The 5cm x 5cm Allevyn Non-Adhesive dressings cost £18 per box of 10. Even though I only have 5 pin sites that require dressing that is nearly £9/day for dressings alone or £270 per month!

The polygon lollipop sticks however, are only available in bulk packs of 300 and these cost £60+. I can’t be sure of the exact price as I can’t find anyone who sells to the general public.

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Day1

I don’t think I’ve mentioned in any of my previous musings the great support and advice I have received from a Yahoo Group set up for those of us going through this procedure. These fixators are commonly used for complex fractures and not just leg lengthening.

The group allowed me to ask all those questions that you either never get time to ask or never occur to ask when you have the brief facetime with your surgeon and meant that I was far better prepared than I would otherwise have been, had suitable clothing at hand and knew exactly what to expect. As mine is a full length femoral frame the top ring is a half ring, I have seen pictures and know that. But on my last pre-op appointment a junior doctor showed me a femoral frame with the aforementioned half-ring and told me to ignore that, she passed it off as a carrying handle for the fixator as it was for demo purposes, you couldn’t make it up could you!

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Heart warming to see the #WeLoveTheNHS hashtag has attracted over a million posts following the US political criticism of our NHS system.

One of President Obama’s pledges was reform of the US healthcare system  which is built upon insurance funded health-care.  Those of us lucky enough to live in a country where health-care is free to all cannot imagine what it must be like to worry about what is and isn’t covered under your medical insurance policy and worse still what you do when you cannot afford to have insurance at all.

Now I’m about to undergo surgery next week on the NHS, surgery that will cost many tens of thousands of pounds but I know that I don’t have to pay and that all the treatments, after-care and follow up is free.  I frequent a usergroup where others who have had or are having this procedure (the ilizarov or TSF) can discuss their progress and some of the stories are truly frightening.  Imagine having an operation but being told that the follow up care wasn’t covered and would be billed, or that despite being unable to walk your policy would not cover you!  One family had even contemplated re-enlisting in the US Army so the wife could get medical care that she needed but was not available on insurance.

Yes at times our NHS isn’t perfect but I’ve always had a very positive experience and given the option of NHS or insurance based care I’d choose the NHS each time.  I don’t want a board of insurance assessors choosing what I need and if one thing is clear from the US example, there are a lot of very rich medical insurance companies and doubtless a fair number of senators who continue to get their backs scratched by them as they fight to maintain their position.