False alarm

4 February 2016

Over the last day my leg has changed colour quite dramatically and become very swollen and hot.

The bandage has also been looking oozy and gunky (a non technical term). 

My leg felt really tight and hot - it was getting hard to do the exercises I was able to do while I was in hospital. 

I read through all of the info I was given by the hospital. The booklet said I should expect significant swelling for the first few weeks after surgery. It also spent some considerable time highlighting the significant risks associated with an infection of the joint. In particular the booklet said that if the lower leg became sore and hot, contact your local general practitioner.

Over lunch with my mother and her husband Bob (both of whom have had knee replacements) we looked at my leg and they reported that their knees were not as swollen as mine. After lunch I took some photos and sent them off to my GP's nurse to ask her whether I should come. Her advice was that if the leg was discernibly warmer than the other leg, then I should get to the nearest emergency department.

Before heading off, we phoned our neighbours Colin and Ruth to ask them for additional advice. Colin is a senior physician at the local hospital. They popped over and Colin agreed that there was discernible increase in the heat in my right leg and that the bandage looked dodgy. He advised us to go straight into Wellington - the tertiary hospital emergency department on the grounds that they would have advanced infection control and wound care services.

It took us about an hour to get to the hospital, but when we arrived we were given excellent service. The triage nurse came out from behind her barrier to talk to me. I didn't have to wait long until they saw us and whipped off the bandage.

They reported that the wound was looking very clean and tidy and healing well. 

The nurse took blood to check for infection and after about an hour the results came back showing that there was no infection but moderate inflammation. 

The orthopaedic registrar phoned my surgeon and they decided that it is likely that the pain, heat and swelling is due to a haematoma. So I need to keep using ice packs on my leg and to go slow on the exercises if they are hard to complete.

So it is a huge relief that there is no infection. The booklet that I was given doesn't talk about haematomas - which seems odd given that from my surfing this morning, haematoma are a pretty common side effect of this kind of surgery. 

After discussion with the registrar last night, he expects that the haematoma will naturally heal up within the next week. So I will work on that assumption and keep hold of the excellent news that the joint has no infection. 

The service I got from Wellington A&E was great - speedy, professional, thorough and helpful. The Department seemed really well organised and equipped and the staff seemed very positive and well coordinated.

So today I will distract myself by playing games with Lewis, applying ice and relaxing 😄.