Knee Operation

Been a bit of a while since I posted anything. After struggling for a for a few years with my painful knees I gave up on the NHS and when to see a consultant privately in Bristol. I don't think he was too impressed he said my right knee needed a full replacement immediately and the left knee if it had been treated when I first went to the NHS could have been a partial replacement but now also needed a full replacement. So on the 25th October I checked in to the Nuffield Hospital in Bristol to have the operation. On the evening before I was visted by the anaesthetist a really nice guy. He warned me that knee replacements were one of the more painful operations. As I found out when I came round he was not wrong there. A first thing seemed to be going pretty well and the physio's had me up and walking next. Little did I know at the time i was bleeding internally hence the photo accompanying this. That was taken after 4 days by which time my knee seemed to be about the same size as my head and was pretty painful (no I lie it was excruciating). It appeared I had leaked so much the decided to give me a transfusion of 2 units of blood. I had almost got to the end of the first unit when I reacted to it having a rigor (severe shaking). They stopped and i stabilised after a little while and they were able to complete the first unit. The second unit was posponed until the next day and was uneventful. Then net result of all these problems was that my planned 4 day stay ended up as 9. By the time I got home Maureen was totaly exhausted by all the running up and down, she eas an absolute star and I don't know how i would have managed without her. Also special thanks to Andrea the physio who spotted just how down I was and gave moral support just when it was really needed. On the 6th December I went back into the Nuffield to have the knee manipulated under anaesthetic.The consultant said he would also tidy up the wound which was not healing as quickly as it should. In the end he opened up the knee and removed a fair bit of rubbish from inside it appear that congealed blod had formed into something like a cyst and this was all removed. I have been back home for 3 days and the knee already seems very much better and the swelling is going down quite quickly. I believe the consultant was very disappointed with the first op but when I saw him after the second one he was smiling. In September 2008 I went back in and had the left knee done. This went really well and I was out in 4 days. Currently that knee is doing really well and I have been able to do some decent walks of several miles.