Reviewing the situation

I guess, on this Christmas Day, it might be time to write about my hospital stay.

We got there as requested before 7am, and were asked to wait in the staff's Day Room. (I found later it was because the previous occupant of my allotted space had suffered projectile vomiting and diarrhoea about an hour before I arrived!)

About 8.30 I went through the forms with one of the nursing trainees, and met the anaesthetist and Mr Modi the surgeon. They went through what they were going to do, and put me at my ease. Then back to the day room.

I was told I'd be first up for surgery, but because of the issues with the ward (which was now being thoroughly cleaned and all the curtains replaced) I'd have to wait. At 10.30 I went down to a space on the ward, and then was given the 10-minute warning to get changed into the gown. Steve left at this point and went home.

I was taken down to the surgical suite, where they went through everything again and drew on my shoulder, so that they could see not to operate on the other one! I had a canula inserted (more on that later!) and lay on the bed. The anaesthetist gave me the sedative and told me to go to my happy place.

Ah.

I don't have a happy place as such.

So I imagined myself on my chair at home listening to Pink Floyd.

Next thing I knew I was in another room, my arm in a sling and strapped closely to my body, and someone was speaking my name. My first thought was "oh do shut up. I haven't slept that well in years" but I did finally open my eyes and they drove me back to the ward, where my allocated space was waiting.

Half-sitting in the bed, I looked round. The women who'd had their knee operations were getting ready to go home. The lady in the diagonally opposite bed had her hip replaced: apparently she'd been there 5 days, and all because she'd not passed a motion in that time. You have to poo before they let you out. "Humph" I thought. "We'll see about that". I was really hungry, and one of the nurses welcomed me back with a cup of tea and a piece or two of toast, which I relished! Beautiful. Tea was due about 6pm and it was now 3pm. The op must have taken about 3 hours, 11 - 2 I think?

Mr Modi came in to see me and go through what had happened. When they'd opened me up, they found the arthritis was much more severe than they thought, and it was affecting the scapula (shoulderblade) and going towards the spine as a result. They'd cleaned up as much as they could, but it had meant that my shoulder replacement had been a reverse one. The ball joint was attached to the muscles in the chest and the clavicle (collarbone) and the glenum (top of the scapula), while the socket was now the top of the humerus (armbone). This would have some implications for future mobility of the joint, but actually it would be easier to recover from. I'd had a nerve block into the brachial plexus, and slow-release morphine as the pain relief during the operation, and both would be worn off in the next 24 hours.

I don't remember what the meal was, I do remember eating with one hand after the nurse had cut it all up for me! That left arm of mine was going nowhere.

I'll end there and continue in another post. This had been the relatively uneventful part.