Weeks ten to eleven

15 April 2016: Eleven weeks post op.

I have returned from my brief visit to England.  Spring was in full force in London with daffodils popping up everywhere.

The meetings in England were fantastic. I feel like I am back into my work "groove". I met up with people I hadn't seen for a few years and met some really great new people. I am now on the international Board of Cochrane.org and it is great to spend time with people who are deeply committed to evidence- based healthcare and volunteer their time to demonstrate which health care services work.

http://www.cochrane.org/what-is-cochrane-evidence

The plane travel to England worked well.

I paid for an upgrade so was able to stretch out on the plane and to have  some comfort. Emirates is an ok airline - not super duper - but they have some good bargains. Their flights from Auckland to Dubai are incredibly long - 16-17 hours in the air, so it would have been torture to have had my leg compressed in economy class for such a long time.

Emirates were very considerate with their mobility assistance arrangements and I was so pleased to have wheelchair assistance in the airports. The other cool thing they offered was a free driver service to your hotel and to the airport so that meant I didn't have to lug my bags onto public transport. 

The down-side is that the trip was really physically demanding. My new right knee works well - but got tired especially during long days of meetings. My left knee has also suffered and is now very sore. 

When I left NZ I was walking pretty much unaided.  I took a crutch with me as a back up plan to give me support when I was standing. However, as I picked up the pace in Oxford and London and started walking longer distances (going to restaurants with colleagues and very slow moderate sightseeing), my left leg just got sorer and sorer and I became completely dependent on the crutch limping.  

I have been using an app on my phone for tracking my walking distances. I find it quite informative.

I was really mindful of not "overdoing" things on the trip and so I organised myself so that on my non work days I made small forays out and went back to my room for a rest or to sit quietly in a cafe.  I didn't do many of the usual things I would do on a trip (like go shopping for hours, go to museums and galleries etc). My stamina has really gone downhill. On a couple of occasions when I was out looking in shops, I got so sore and overwhelmed I just plonked myself down on stairs in order to sit for a rest. I fear I may have had a somewhat grey ashen appearance as shop attendants usually hovered around offering me glasses of water.

The appearance of my crutch and hobbling did have some other surprising impacts I hadn't foreseen. People I was meeting for the very first time perceived me as "disabled". Strangely, I hadn't anticipated this. In my mind, I have a temporary health situation that is going to resolve. Ok, so I have been masking the impact of arthritis in my life for the last few years - and I know that I still have arthritis in my left leg that is going to have to be addressed with surgery - but it didn't occur to me that I was dis-abled.  In most situations, people were very welcoming. I had a great meeting with the Cochrane Consumer Network people who were awesome. They have lived experience of significant health issues and they each contribute to developing reliable evidence that can inform health choices. I met a wonderful woman on the group, Anne, who also has arthritis and over the days we had together we had some fantastic talks about how arthritis affects your life. (For example, I hadn't realised how common it is for people with arthritis to have dreams about wanting to break their bones to stop the pain of having the bone pain and rigor. I had been having that dream for about a year before my surgery). 

People were also very considerate in meetings and went out of their way to help me put my leg up (we had boxes and chairs pulled into service) and they were very kind.  On the streets I found people very thoughtful - opening doors for me and being helpful. Most new people meeting me didn't mention the crutch and assumed it was a permanent feature of my life.

Since getting home I have been back exercising in the pool (which feels great). On Tuesday I started chatting with an older lady who must have been in her 70s and she had a knee replacement one week after me. We compared war stories and scars. She finds the water exercises very exhausting and is still finding walking hard. She is however delighted to be painfree.

For regular readers of this blog, here is the latest photo of my scar.

The haematomas are still quite prominent although the one above my knee is starting to soften. The lady in the pool didn't have any haematomas but does now have super hairy legs.

So - it is nice to be home. I am hoping that the sore left leg will resolve and keep pace with my lovely new right knee. I am feeling energised by my travels and the people I met. And in retrospect - I think I am still making progress and one day soon I will be able to disengage my crutch and walk unaided.