“I feel more vulnerable when I’m out shopping”
Andy Hamer is a pre-operative nurse at Whipps Cross Hospital. But a few weeks ago, he was on the other side of things when he had knee replacement surgery at the Gateway Surgical Centre at Newham Hospital.
The surgery was made possible because of the new surgical hubs that have been set up to reduce the number of people waiting for surgery in the capital. Read on to find out what it was like having surgery in the middle of a pandemic.
“My knee hasn’t been the same since I ran three marathons in the 90s. I split my cartilage at the time and it’s just never healed properly. I’ve had three keyhole surgeries over the years – the latest one showed there’s no cartilage left! It’s just bone-on-bone.
“Unsurprisingly, a knee replacement has been on the cards for a while, but I kept putting it off. Then it got to the point where I knew I couldn’t put it off any longer. I love walking in the hills and mountains and along the coast, but it was becoming more and more of a struggle. My wife would either have to wait for ages for me or go on without me! My quality of life was really suffering.
“So this year, I decided I was going to have the surgery. I spoke to the consultant, had an MRI scan, and was on the cusp of booking in my surgery date when the pandemic hit. I’m pretty confident that I would have had my surgery by now if it wasn’t for Covid-19.
“At the time, I remember thinking that now it would take ages to get an operation date, because there would be such a backlog to clear. So you can imagine my surprise when I got a phone call not too long ago to say that I’d got a date and that I was to be operated on in October!
“When I got the call, I wasn’t aware that the surgical hub was up-and-running at the Gateway Centre at Newham University Hospital, but I’m so glad it is! It means I can have my surgery – and improve my quality of life – sooner than I thought.
“I had absolutely no reservations about having my surgery during the pandemic. The hospital feels incredibly safe to me. Staff are all kitted out in their masks and gowns and everyone’s being really sensible about hand hygiene and maintaining a social distance.
“Honestly, I feel more vulnerable when I’m out shopping than I did being in the hospital for my surgery. The staff were great and everything just went really smoothly and safely.
“I’m now home and recovering well. It’s a slow process but I’m glad that I was able to have the operation with everything that’s going on. I’m looking forward to getting my quality of life back and to being more active again.
“To anyone who’s waiting for surgery and has been given a date, I’d encourage them to go to their appointment. I’m glad I did.”
Andy