My first ever Surgery.

[Longbower]

Over the last few years , I have found it harder and harder to bend my legs and walk , other than like a Thundebirds puppet, because of something called 

Spinal Stenosis.   So on August the 8th after much messing  me about with cancelled appointment's and physio , I am due to have a 'spinal  decompression' 

surgery at the Walton Centre Liverpool.   To say I am not confident in the NHS , would be an understatement, but the Private route would have cost me 16, 000 plus.

Has any one reading this any experience of having this op , The Walton centre etc?

Please advise .

 

 

 

I am hoping that if all goes well , I can get back out there with the guns , and the dogs.  Or i would settle for just being able to walk normally.

 

[shaun4860]

I’ve had 2

The first one on L5

Could barely walk at all, I was canted over to one side when trying to walk.

Spent a good few months house bound.

Op worked really well for about 3 weeks, I could walk upright with little or no pain (using crutches to start with)

I then jarred my back, not as serious as the first one but still very painful.

Surgeon said if it’s the same disc again we will have to take it out and fuse the vertebrae together.

This time it was L4 so did the same operation again.

Didnt work as well as the first but eventually got back to as near normal as was possible.

After a while the pain got worse so another MRI scan and they told me if they went in again there was a chance of doing more harm than good so leave it as long as possible.

This was 2007.

Im now waiting for a referral for another MRI scan to see what if anything they can do.

It’s nowhere near as bad as the first 2 episodes but it needs sorting 

Best advice I can give is not to rush anything, do as you are told and take it steadily and slowly.

I went in one day, operated on the next and then home the day after.

The relief I got after the first op was amazing, hopefully yours will be the same 🤞

[old man]

8 hours ago, Longbower said:

Over the last few years , I have found it harder and harder to bend my legs and walk , other than like a Thundebirds puppet, because of something called 

Spinal Stenosis.   So on August the 8th after much messing  me about with cancelled appointment's and physio , I am due to have a 'spinal  decompression' 

surgery at the Walton Centre Liverpool.   To say I am not confident in the NHS , would be an understatement, but the Private route would have cost me 16, 000 plus.

Has any one reading this any experience of having this op , The Walton centre etc?

Please advise .

 

 

 

I am hoping that if all goes well , I can get back out there with the guns , and the dogs.  Or i would settle for just being able to walk normally.

 

I hope all goes well lb, the standard default for the private sector when the fan is covered with £¥×× is to ring 999 for NHS ambulance anyway?

[WalkedUp]

The Walton Centre is the specialist centre in the north for brain and spinal surgery. Not the prettiest part of the world but you will be in very good hands, if you paid privately it would be the same specialists and very probably in the same place. Best of luck, but it will be absolutely fine. 

[Rob85]

6 hours ago, old man said:

I hope all goes well lb, the standard default for the private sector when the fan is covered with £¥×× is to ring 999 for NHS ambulance anyway?

You're actually bang on with that, I remember reading the book by Dr Adam Kay and he talked of this on the private labour wards. If an emergency C-section was required the private hospitals rang 999 and had to wait for the ambulance as they were not allowed to do emergency surgeries. People paid thousands for the services and ended up with a blue light run to a regular NHS hospital.

Hope all goes well for Lb, my friend had surgery for disc prolapse and all went well, the main thing is to follow aftercare to the letter and don't try to rush the recovery along

[Pushkin]

Hope all goes well LB and that you have a speedy recovery.

Pushkin

[Longbower]

Hi Lads , thanks for the kind words and reassurance . It means a great deal.

I cant tell you how I long to go for a walk  around my perms with my dog and pump action .

[Nial]

"To say I am not confident in the NHS , would be an understatement"

I had an abdominal aneurysm last summer that required a 6 hour op to fix. Luckily we live about 4 miles away from Scotland's centre of excellence for this sort of thing.

I've a few doctor friends who said that you couldn't get this done privately in the UK, all the staff I encountered were very impressive.

At it's best, in cases like this, the NHS is very hard to beat.

Good luck.

 

[Longbower]

Well , lads and lasses, after another cancellation , because of strikes , my re scheduled surgery is tomorrow. 

So , i will let you all know how it goes . My main fear is 'complications' , and coming out a bigger cabbage than when i went in 😃

[mossy835]

all the very best to you hope it is ok for you.take care

[shaun4860]

You will be fine.

Dont dwell on what might go wrong, think about going out with the dog 🐶 and gun 👍

[nobbyathome]

Best of luck I hope it all goes well for you  take your time recovering and do everything the doctors tell you to do whatever anyone said the nhs is the best in the world        

[Good shot?]

The very best of luck with everything but please try to be positive, it will help you if you could do so.👍🏻

[old'un]

On 31/07/2023 at 08:50, WalkedUp said:

The Walton Centre is the specialist centre in the north for brain and spinal surgery. Not the prettiest part of the world but you will be in very good hands, if you paid privately it would be the same specialists and very probably in the same place. Best of luck, but it will be absolutely fine. 

How very true, my wife needed a knee replacement (been done now) after seeing the surgeon she was told it would be some months before he could do the op (NHS), talking to the surgeons secretary it appears that she could have it done by the same surgeon at a nearby private hospital within a month at the cost of £12k.

[Good shot?]

30 years ago I was on a 18 month waiting list to see a specialist re a slipped disc. I paid £30 and saw him the next day and was put on a ward the same day.

So it has been happening for a very long time.

[scouser]

Had scaiatica or so I thought, had a M.R.I. went home, then that night at 11,30 on the way to bed ,my phone rang, we need to see you NOW, (that cured my constipation) went to arrow park hospital,got rushed over to Walton, had a emergency lower back opp. The hospital and staff are brilliant.

[Longbower]

Hi All , i was told to turn up at 7.00am , which I did , no food after 10 the previous night and only sips of water after twelve pm .

At 9.00am the Consultant came and spoke to me in my little cubicle to check it was me , and then the anaesthetist to do the same.

I was then left alone with only the occasional water top up until 3.00pm . To be honest I was just wound up as tight as I could be by this point and about

to walk, when I was  sent for.. I got changed into my op knickers and anti DVT Socks and walked down to the theatre.

I was weighed , and the anaesthetists asked with a puzzled look, 'when did you have your pre op ? 

I answered '2 days ago ' . How have you lost 14 kilo in two days? I said check the date , as that could be Aprils pre op . 

There was no up to date pre op available , so at this point I was boiling, as i took a day off work only two days earlier for the pre op !  My BP went  through the roof .

So, they refused the surgery as my  ecg was saying my system was showing  a cardio  irregularity.

Admitted overnight to keep am eye on my heart and blood pressure , and after a echo cardiograph, I was sent home with aspirin and a statin 

to take for 14 days.

So , no op  I honestly give up .    The nurses and staff on the ward were fabulous caring angels, and I cant thank them enough . 

[marsh man]

Sorry to hear about the problems with you waiting for your op , touch wood , I have only ever been in once and that was over two years ago , even though the corvid was still in force the op itself went ahead with no problems and the nurses and staff were brilliant , had a hernia op at 1pm and on my way home at 6.30 the same day , hopefully yours will be the same when it finally hapen .     GOOD LUCK      MM

[Pushkin]

Chin up LB.  A bit of a let down admittedly and one you could well have done without. Do not give up though that defeats the whole rigmarole you have gone through already. The anaesthetists got their call right. Whenever they have any query or concerns as regards helping you through the operation with the correct amounts of anasthetic, then even the surgeons have to accept it is the anesthetist  who is in control not them.  Be brave and your operation should be called very quickly now and hopefully you get the good looking nuses giving all your best care and attention. All the best Pushkin

Edited September 4, 2023 by Pushkin

[Longbower]

Yes, hopefully It wont be too long a wait. 

As for the good looking nurses , I had a twenty stoner , advising me about my diet .

Just before she nipped off for a ciggy.  Bless her.

[billytheghillie]

21 hours ago, Longbower said:

Yes, hopefully It wont be too long a wait. 

As for the good looking nurses , I had a twenty stoner , advising me about my diet .

Just before she nipped off for a ciggy.  Bless her.

That would have been Fat Sarah fae Nurfuk, ask Ditchy he knows all about her 😅 Chin up, once done and dusted you will be like Steve Austin!  All the best 👍

[Mice!]

On 03/09/2023 at 23:37, Longbower said:

answered '2 days ago ' . How have you lost 14 kilo in two days? I said check the date , as that could be Aprils pre op . 

There was no up to date pre op available , so at this point I was boiling, as i took a day off work only two days earlier for the pre op !  My BP went  through the roof .

It's not good they messed up the pre opp, but you must feel better having lost 14 kilos.

I know it won't be easy but try to relax, you won't help yourself getting wound up, unfortunately waiting on the ward is what happens.