Pauline Crawley

I had a half a knee replacement.  I had worn out the cartilage between the bones, so it was bone on bone and very uncomfortable.  I couldn’t walk very far in the end, each step was painful.  It was a case of my quality of life had gone downhill, I couldn’t go out for walks with the grandchildren anymore and things like that.  So now it’s brilliant - I’ve got my life back!
 
About Joint School   
Helpful, really helpful.  It meant you were able to discuss any of your concerns prior to your operation and even things which were little you felt you could ask, silly things which probably you wouldn’t if you were in on a one to one with a doctor, you’d think ‘that would rather be rather stupid’, but with everyone else there is was very helpful.  And it was nice having my husband with me because it was quite scary when you know what you’ve got to go through so I think that was helpful.

Oh he enjoyed being the coach, with his badge on!  And he remembered things which I didn’t necessarily remember, so between us we had a complete, whole view of what was going to happen.  Funnily enough when we were having our coffee a lady came up to me and said “I’m ever so glad that you asked that question ‘cause I was going to”, but she was a bit fearful to ask it; I think it helped to know that other people were feeling the same.

After the operation
Because you know what to expect, you’re prepared for it.  And then of course getting up I was a bit nervous for the first time, you’re thinking ‘is it all going to be alright?’ but I was walking the next day.  I was walking on my own without sticks within a matter of 2 – 3 weeks actually, I let go of them quicker than I thought I should have done, but I didn’t feel I needed them so I was walking around.  Stairs I still needed a bit of assistance then so I used to leave the sticks by the stairs just for going up and down the stairs, other than that I was walking around indoors as normal.

I mean, Christmas time my daughter and daughter-in-law, they always take me shopping to get all the presents.  Well the year before I struggled round the shops, whereas the Christmas just gone, I was walking the same time as everyone else, and we were all tired together but I wasn’t in pain, it was lovely!

These interviews have been conducted and are being published upon obtaining patient and surgeon consent for this purpose

If you are a patient reading this story, please bear in mind that it is one individual person’s health story that is being presented here.  Whether this surgery would also be possible in your circumstances, and whether results could be similar, depends entirely on your doctor’s evaluation, your personal health situation, age, fitness, weight and a number of other circumstances.  Please also bear in mind that having surgery is always associated with risk and that you must take time to recover; in particular, the success of a surgery depends to no small extent on your own commitment to physical therapy following surgery.