Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2012/January 2013 | Page 89

FASHION HEALTH & BEAUTY
visited me at home to dress my
wound several times after discharge. I
would like to thank all of them, and I
hope that recounting my experiences
will help allay the fears of any reader
who is about to face similar hip
replacement surgery.
And as real bonus for the first time
in more years than I can remember I
can now put on my left sock unaided,
and tie my left shoe lace again. So for
me the operation is already proving a
big success!

Peter with his surgeon Salim Nasra

to me on one occasion, but only to
wake me up because I was snoring!
Within minutes of the operation being
completed I was in the recovery ward,
fully conscious and having a cuppa.
In the operating theatre during
surgery there was the surgeon, an
assistant, the anaesthetist and assistant,
the scrub nurse and two or three
‘runners’. So when Mr. Nasra says
he needed a certain type of joint the
‘runner’ went to shelves in the store
room to get the right prosthetic piece.
For a hip replacement there are up to
six sizes for the ball joint, and more
for the cup.
“We need more than one of each in
case we do several replacements in a
few days, and do not want to run out,”
he said. “The success of hip operations
is multi-factorial. It is a combined
effort from everyone involved in the
patient’s care, which in turn reduces
the patient’s stay in hospital after
surgery. When I arrived at St Mary’s
in 2000 the length of stay was about
two weeks. But we have subsequently
worked on a fast-track discharge.
“It is a combined effort by
surgeon, anaesthetist, doctors and

nurses, occupational therapists
and physiotherapists. We have
pre-admission clinics for everyone to
be examined before surgery, and the
patients are given leaflets and booklets
to explain the procedure, and what
they can and cannot do after the
operation. It is about preparation and
attention t