The question that was going around in my head all morning, will they or won’t they let me home today. I suppose I had better back fill this a little as it’s been few days since I’ve written anything. After the drain came out Monday evening I had a pretty restless night, which was hardly surprising. Now I’m going to struggle a little here as I don’t want to be cryptic but I don’t want to say too much either. All I will say is that it is more complicated in here this time than just the infection, so you may have some vagueness around what is being said.
Tuesday I went off the Ward for a test, which is about the most excitement I’ve had since I’ve been in here. It was nice to have the freedom and less pain that the drain removal had given me. Wednesday morning saw my last shackle removed, the catheter came out for yet more freedom. The problem is this freedom now came at a price but I knew it was one I would have to face up to. This now meant that I had to A. have a bedpan (which wasn’t going to happen) or B. go to the toilet. The toilet was not the lesser of the two evils as this was going to be a painful excursion.
I’ve had loads and loads of knee surgery and, apart from after one operation, have not had much problem getting my bend back. The time my leg has been straight for is marginal but I’m having real trouble bending it and fully straightening it too. It’s a good job I’ve got good upper body strength as I’m having to try and transfer onto the chair by pushing myself over. When I sit I have the leg stuck out, I have stood with the frame but can’t straighten my leg, so all my weight is going through the frame which means I can’t pick it up to move it. I’ve been transferring to a commode, they wheel me over the toilet, I call them when finished and process is reversed. I’ve been sitting over the edge of the bed to try and use gravity to help the bend in the knee but it just doesn’t feel right. There are two significant points where my problems are, one at the area where the infection hole was and there is tightness across the knee cap. Because of all the surgery I’ve had I know how different stuff feels and I’m just not happy with it. The Consultant was going to see me yesterday evening and I know they are keen to get me out, although not as keen as I am to escape. The Consultant didn’t come round but I expected him to be round this morning. The last thing of the evening was to have my dressings changed, I was a bit concerned that the hole from the infection had not healed up more than it had but think they may have used that as one of the ports for the Arthroscopy. Apart from that its not looking too bad we can only wait and see what the future holds with it.
This morning the Consultant came round and without even examining or looking at it said that the problem was just from the drain and flushing. It had been flushed for four days and he was confident there was nothing in there. The blood results were good and the marker had come down from 250 when I came in, then to 60 and now 45. This is really encouraging but I have been in the exact same place before so excuse my pessimism here. They were keen to get some other results back but provided the Physios gave me the all clear I should be out this evening. I was waiting all morning for them to come round but by lunchtime they had not been. I had to wait until about 14:00 this afternoon before they landed at my bed space. So, now I had to prove that I could stand up and transfer safely, to the bed and the toilet in location at home. To cut this down a bit, as hard as I tried and came up with some good suggestions for alternative methods they weren’t having any of it. Because I happened to mention that I had a prosthetic fitting at Addenbrooke’s on Monday they decided it was best for me to stay here, go for my appointment there and then get reviewed again on Monday afternoon. Excuse the pun but I didn’t have a leg to stand on with them, they were right. What I was proposing is not textbook Physio drills and if I had gone out and had an accident I would just cause myself even more problems for the sake of a weekend.
I’m not giving up though, I have to pass the same test on Monday afternoon so this gives me a couple of days to try and work this leg, by balancing that with not overdoing it and causing it to flare. I have some ideas and methods to try which have been approved and semi approved by the Physio so it’s a case of Clam Down and Physio On. That said, I’m still waiting for some test results to come back too. The plan is that when they have all the results back they will be writing to a specialist clinic in Oxford to refer me straight there instead of coming back here to see someone in clinic and then get moved on. That sounds great to me, cut out the middle man and get this process moving. Being NHS though this is still going to be a slow and painful journey to get seen by them. I have to be thankful though that they are doing all they can to help get this sorted and if that’s the best place to get help then that’s where I want to be. So my weekend is all planed out and although I’m not happy about not going home the focus on getting more mobile may take my mind off other things. On with the Physio!
