::Griffblog::

Tuesday was supposed to be my clinic appointment to measure the bone growth. Last Sunday was the tentative 25mm goal point assuming the bone has grown as planned so the clinic appointment was already late.

What with all that happened over the weekend Tuesday just appeared. The appointment at St Peters was for 2.30pm and so just as we were about to leave the house at 1.15pm the phone rang. It was St Peters cancelling the clinic as the Consultant had just rang in sick!

So I was left in Limbo. If I stop turning the nuts and the bone has grown as planned it will begin to knit. Fine if the leg is the right length, not so good if it’s short. If I continue to turn I risk having the leg too long!

We tried calling our liaison Sister at St Peters on Wed and despite being promised a call-back, none came. called again Thursday and got through. The cancelled clinic has caused turmoil so the best advice they could give me is to turn the nuts twice a day rather than 4 times and I’ll be seen on Tuesday 6th, a full week later and 10 days after I should have stopped turning the nuts.

Apparently the bone rarely grows at the ideal 1mm/day and even if it is longer, the bone is still soft and so can be compressed back a bit, indeed this is often planned as otherwise when it settles and knits you lose a few mm of length.

So now we’re keeping our fingers crossed for Tuesday. Hopefully the bone will have grown well and we can have a date when the lengthening stops and it is all locked off. Then the consolidation/knitting phase can begin.

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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