Why I need a Hip Replacement - Part 4

Friday 8th Sep 2023

Hello,

Welcome to Part 4 - Hip Replacement Journey!

As always, I always like to start my blog posts with gratitude. Thanks so much for being here with me in this journey. It’s been quite the ride!

If this is your first time reading this series, make sure to bring yourself up to speed with the others.

Hip Replacement Journey

If this is your first time joining me on this journey, be sure to bring yourself up to date with the other blog posts.

GET UP TO DATE HERE

So, how I ended the last one - I mentioned that I was booked to go for a meeting in September. Well a few days after I published my last blog post I got a call from my surgeons secretary telling me that they have brought the appointment forward. I was then booked to go on Thursday 17th August. However the day before that appointment I received a call to say it has been cancelled due to the lady I needed to see was on annual leave. I literally felt panic!!!! Luckily, the lovely lady was able to reschedule me in for the following week.

It turns out, it was actually a really good phone call. I asked that because I was having a pre-op when was my surgery going to happen. I then found out that the private hospital had sent my referral over to the main hospital as ‘routine’ which meant my total waiting time for a new hip would be A YEAR!!!! Bare in mind I was added to the waiting list in March this year. So March next year is when I would roughly receive a date. I stressed that I could not wait that long. Again bare in mind I had already had 2 dates for surgery prior to being passed to them so why was I sent over as ‘routine’? I had a really good chat with her and explained my history regarding what happened in May and that my next surgery in 1st August was cancelled a few days before. That changed everything she said!!!! She said she was going to speak to my surgeon that afternoon and get his confirmation to bump me up to priority. Which means, once I’ve had my pre-op and had my appointment with the Anaesthetist I will have the next available date for surgery!!! Good news - but again I don’t have a time frame for that.

In the meantime, my doctors have agreed to keep me on some decent medication until I get a new surgery date. That’s one worry off my mind. However it's just a lot of waiting around. I know it will happen when it's supposed to happen. I'm a great believer in everything happens for a reason. I am missing being able to do things myself that's all, like taking my daughter to school. There's so many things so many of us take for granted.

The day before I was due to go for the pre-op I contacted the lady who said she was going to speak to my surgeon as I hadn't heard anything. I was so happy when she told me that my surgeon had told her to move me to priority!!!! Sooooo that's means in theory I shouldn't have to wait until March next year!

I finally went to my pre-op assessment (no date for surgery as yet) and it's done very differently to the private hospital I was referred to on the NHS. At the private hospital I was seen by one person who goes through all the info, takes blood, MRSA swab, COVID swab, ECG etc. However at the main hospital I was seen by 3 different people, didn't know this until I got there. I also presumed that I would of been there for about half hour ish as that's what I experienced at the private hospital.

The ward I was sent to for the pre-op at the main hospital was a Day Surgery Ward.

Anyway, upon arrival I was given a clip board with a questionnaire to fill out. Just got into the waiting area and I was called straight away. My husband wheeled me in and I was asked some questions, blood pressure was checked that was it and she then went on to say that I needed to go back to the waiting area for the Orthopaedic Nurse to call me. The Orthopaedic Nurse was going to be the one who goes through everything with me. Ok no problem I thought. We then went back to the waiting area and few minutes later we was called. Great! The Orthopaedic Nurse was absolutely lovely! More questions was asked and I asked questions etc and she had no date for surgery for me but she was going to add a note so that the Anaesthetist would call me soon as I was moved to priority. Phew! We was then told to go back into the waiting area to wait for another lady to call me in for bloods, ecg, swabs etc. By this time we had been at the hospital for way over an hour.

The travel time to the hospital is about 30-45 minutes from our home.

Anyway, another 40 minutes went by sat in the waiting room waiting to be called. I was in quite abit of pain as I hadn't brought any of my pain medication with me as I didn't think or shall I say it didn't occur to me that we would be this long. Since May I've had like 3 pre-op assessments which have all taken 30 minutes haha. So my husband went to the desk to have a word to see when it was my turn. About 15 minutes later we was called. Thank goodness!

We followed a lady into a room, I kind of got the impression from her that my wheelchair was abit of an annoyance for her. I'll explain...

She opened the door and it kind of felt that she couldn't be bothered to hold the door open for my husband to wheel me in with my wheelchair. So here's me and my husband trying to hold the door open so we could get in. Anyway, the first thing she said to me was 'can you walk and get out your chair?' Now she said it quite blunt. I answered 'no not really' I mean I was in agony at this point. I was late taking my medication. She then went onto say or shall I say 'grunt' and make some comment that she would have to do the ecg with me in the chair. I was quite stunned as like I said, I've had 3 of these done prior and all was in my chair without an issue. So why was it now. Anyway, she did do it with me in my wheelchair.

To cut a long story short, the woman seemed extremely annoyed I was in a wheelchair. I couldn't comply with what she wanted me to do. She had to work around me. Grunting and mumbling under her breath and then going on it was dinner time.

I found the woman quite ignorant and rude. I thought if you worked in a hospital you were a kind and compassionate person? Or am I wrong for assuming that?

We left our home at 9.30am to get to the hospital that day and we got home at 1.30pm!!!! Yes me and my husband were hungry and I was overdue my pain medication! Yet we were polite!

I would say, that was the worse experience I had encountered in a hospital. Where is the kindness?

So that happened on 24th August (just over 2 weeks ago) apart from the lady who was rude, the 2 other ladies I saw prior to her was nice.

Its only been a short time since I was there so I have no other updates for you as yet. However when I do, I will update you.

I have sat and reflected a lot. I'm also sad that the summer holidays are over and I couldn't do anything with the kids. It makes me so sad. Yes I can make up for it when I've got my new hip but it's the principle. Freya also went back to school on Tuesday (5th September) and I was meant to of had my new hip and taken her to school. But instead, I'm still stuck with my old hip and to put it bluntly, it's crap!!! Buttttttt I will leave it there!

If you got this far, thank you for sticking with me. It's so nice and comforting to know you're on this journey with me. Reading everything I'm going on about haha. It's a safe and ideal way for me to get it out. An outlet for me...