Under the Knife

Brad reported to Nuffield Hospital today at noon. He's scheduled to have keyhole surgery on his right knee today. He'll be put under general anesthesia but it is outpatient surgery. He's been having trouble with his knee for several months now and decided to have it checked out by Harrogate's knee expert, Mr. London. Mr. London, a member of the Yorkshire Knee Clinic, is an orthopedic surgeon but apparently the British do not always the title of Dr. when referring to doctors. They also refer to a nurse as "sister". Anyhow, Mr. London is said to be the local knee expert -- he does the knees for the Cambridge rowing team. What better credentials could one ask for? Mr. London says that Brad has torn the cartilage in his knee. He will perform arthroscopy to take a look at Brad's knee and clean up the torn cartilage.

When Brad checked in at the hospital he was escorted to a very nice private room, nicer than some hotel rooms we've stayed at. I'm told the food is very good at Nuffield, a private hospital in Harrogate. The menu for dinner is brought to the patient inside a leather binder. The patient can choose from a few entrees and can also arrange to have dinner with his or her spouse. Brad is supposed to go home today around 6 p.m. but if he has to stay overnight it shouldn't be so bad.

While in his room he was visited by one member of staff after another. One person checked his blood pressure. Then he was shown some exercises to do after the operation. Another went over post-op procedures. Each person confirmed that it is Brad's RIGHT knee that is to be operated on.

After awhile I had to leave to run some errands. I was instructed to call up at 4 p.m. to see when he can come home. When I called they said he'd be ready to leave at 6 p.m. -- right on schedule! He is home now and moving around a bit gingerly. He has been instructed to take it easy over the weekend and should be able to go back to work on Monday. In about 4-6 weeks he should be back to normal activity.