Eleanor ?

[Guest guest]

Eleanor, how're you doing? I've been thinking of you and wondering if

you've had any word on what's happening with your condition. Joyce (Dr

Gross, LHR)

sungold518@...

[Guest guest]

Dear Joyce,

How wonderful to be thought of. Thankyou. It does my heart good.

The other thing that has been doing my heart good, has been the birth of

my first granddaughter, all 9 pounds, 14 ½ ounces of her, of May 12th.

Spending time oohing and ahing a babe, baby talking, cuddling, kissing,

jiggling, and even changing nappies, certainly does help take one’s mind

off one’s hip.

But as for the hip, well—this is where the good old NHS does show its

difficulties. I saw my OS on May 10th. He said I should have, (what I

now know is) an aspiration arthrogram (a needle goes into the hip and

draws off fluid) to test whether or not I have an infection, as he

suspects that given my level of pain after 6 months, particularly at

night, this might well be the case. He said they would also give me

something (?not sure what) for the pain at the same time I have the

arthrogram. If there is infection, this will then be targeted by

specific antibiotics. The arranging of this, he thought would take

about a week.

I duly waited a week, and having heard nothing by Monday, phoned my OS’s

secretary. (My OS is currently away on a 6 week lecture tour in the

States, and on Friday he was on TV being interviewed about pioneering a

new knee surgery.) My notes were still in the typing pool, they had

only reached April 26th, so the referral for the arthrogram hadn’t even

been typed! I burst into tears, and the kind secretary did manage to

pull them, and type the referral. But things then ground to a halt

again. By Friday morning, the referral hadn’t even reached the X-Ray

department of the same hospital, and all blamed the porters. The X-ray

secretary told me that even when they do get the referral, the wait is

likely to be about a month, as an arthrogram is a very specialised

procedure, and the few doctors that do it are only there 2-3 days a

week. This is at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in London, a

hospital which is known to be a ‘centre of excellence’! Clearly if I

were going private, things would be different.

During the week, my pain was quite bad, but the last two days it has

been much easier, though heaven knows why. Baby magic perhaps. I even

felt I was walking much better, and did all my shopping today without a

stick, and only a slight limp. And gardened for 3 hours.

I guess the only option open to me is to think about whether I want to

pay to have this procedure done privately or just to wait. It is one

thing to jump the typing pool list, but presumably everyone else

awaiting arthrograms are in as much need as me, so hesitate to push

this. Must discuss this with my excellent and caring GP.

So—thankyou again for the query. Will keep you updated.

Eleanor

Eleanor ?

Eleanor, how're you doing? I've been thinking of you and wondering if

you've had any word on what's happening with your condition. Joyce (Dr

Gross, LHR)

sungold518@...

[Guest guest]

Dear Joyce,

How wonderful to be thought of. Thankyou. It does my heart good.

The other thing that has been doing my heart good, has been the birth of

my first granddaughter, all 9 pounds, 14 ½ ounces of her, of May 12th.

Spending time oohing and ahing a babe, baby talking, cuddling, kissing,

jiggling, and even changing nappies, certainly does help take one’s mind

off one’s hip.

But as for the hip, well—this is where the good old NHS does show its

difficulties. I saw my OS on May 10th. He said I should have, (what I

now know is) an aspiration arthrogram (a needle goes into the hip and

draws off fluid) to test whether or not I have an infection, as he

suspects that given my level of pain after 6 months, particularly at

night, this might well be the case. He said they would also give me

something (?not sure what) for the pain at the same time I have the

arthrogram. If there is infection, this will then be targeted by

specific antibiotics. The arranging of this, he thought would take

about a week.

I duly waited a week, and having heard nothing by Monday, phoned my OS’s

secretary. (My OS is currently away on a 6 week lecture tour in the

States, and on Friday he was on TV being interviewed about pioneering a

new knee surgery.) My notes were still in the typing pool, they had

only reached April 26th, so the referral for the arthrogram hadn’t even

been typed! I burst into tears, and the kind secretary did manage to

pull them, and type the referral. But things then ground to a halt

again. By Friday morning, the referral hadn’t even reached the X-Ray

department of the same hospital, and all blamed the porters. The X-ray

secretary told me that even when they do get the referral, the wait is

likely to be about a month, as an arthrogram is a very specialised

procedure, and the few doctors that do it are only there 2-3 days a

week. This is at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in London, a

hospital which is known to be a ‘centre of excellence’! Clearly if I

were going private, things would be different.

During the week, my pain was quite bad, but the last two days it has

been much easier, though heaven knows why. Baby magic perhaps. I even

felt I was walking much better, and did all my shopping today without a

stick, and only a slight limp. And gardened for 3 hours.

I guess the only option open to me is to think about whether I want to

pay to have this procedure done privately or just to wait. It is one

thing to jump the typing pool list, but presumably everyone else

awaiting arthrograms are in as much need as me, so hesitate to push

this. Must discuss this with my excellent and caring GP.

So—thankyou again for the query. Will keep you updated.

Eleanor

Eleanor ?

Eleanor, how're you doing? I've been thinking of you and wondering if

you've had any word on what's happening with your condition. Joyce (Dr

Gross, LHR)

sungold518@...