Happy 70th Birthday NHS

On 5th July 2018 the NHS turned 70 years old... And I ended up paying them an unplanned birthday visit.

This time last week Martyn and I did what we've been doing every Wednesday for the last 4 months and went ice skating... Yeah you've probably guessed where this is going. I told myself when we started skating that if we kept it up I'd buy myself a decent pair of skates, having just bought a cheap pair to start off with. The week before we had to give it a miss because I had some kind of sinus nasty going on, so I was really looking forward to it last week and having just been paid I'd bought my shiny new skates. I happily skated round for a couple of hours, then out of the blue something went wrong, and I was going down. Instinctively - I put my hand out to break my fall, I wish I hadn't, I wish I'd let my bum break my fall - rather a bruised tushie than a broken wrist!

In the moment you don't really get chance to make that decision, it's pure reaction. As soon as I landed I knew it wasn't good, my hand was...well...a bit floppy. Martyn and one of the rink stewards were straight over to me and the first thing I said was: "I've broke it!" I've managed to go 30 years without breaking a bone, so I didn't know, but I was pretty sure it was either a break or dis-location. Martyn is literally THE best person to have around in a crisis, and kept my head from falling off (key when you're dealing with someone who has suffered from panic attacks,) got me off the ice, whipped my boots off and helped me sort the accident report out so that we could get to hospital ASAP.

We firstly went to our local urgent care unit, however it was 9:30pm, they were closing at 10pm and didn't have anyone who could give me an x-ray. Next option - A&E. We arrived to a packed waiting room, but I saw the triage nurse within 20 minutes and got some pain killers in me, then we were given the news that we would be waiting around 4-5 hours to see a doctor. It was like when you go to a restaurant and they say: "40 minute wait for a table" and you think that's probably worst case, I bet it won't be that long. Wishful thinking, it actually turned out to be 7 hours before I got to see the doctor; I was tired, frustrated, in pain, uncomfortable and worried.

I can't even begin to explain how amazing the doctors and nurses were; I just wish we had more of them and less strain on our A&E services. There was a couple of people awaiting treatment in custody, which meant that two police officers per person were tied up for 7 hours at a time. I've been a bit blind to the stresses our NHS A&E is sometimes under until I needed it. The x-ray confirmed that I had broken a bone in my wrist and the doctor explained that he needed to get me in a cast, but the bone was out of place, so he also needed to try to manipulate it back. Wow! I haven't, ever, felt pain like that, in my life. I was given a local anaesthetic and a cheeky little bit of gas and air while the procedure was done, but it was still very, very painful. At one point I screamed louder than I ever have, more of a roar than a scream, another patient mentioned hearing a scream when I was sat waiting for my second x-ray: "Yeah... That was me!"

Just after 7am we got to head home with me in temporary plaster and nil-by-mouth waiting to find out if I'd need to go back in to have an operation. I spoke to the Orthopaedic team at 10:30am after managing a couple of hours sleep and found out that the need for an operation was still uncertain so I'd need to go in the next day to see the Orthopaedic consultant. I was seen by Mr Sanga who explained that the operation is a good way to go for the best recovery, but that as it wouldn't be done that day they would re-set it, full plaster cast it and review it in a week to decide what's next. Bring on manipulation round 2! On the plus side, more gas and air.

In the meantime, the swelling has gone down day-by-day and the bruising has come out in my fingers, the pain is easing up and I'm staring to get used to doing things with one arm, albeit slow and with a little frustration. For example, I keep trying to snatch off pieces of toilet paper from the roll when I go the loo, but 9 times out of 10 end up unrolling half of it instead.

So tomorrow I'm back to see Mr Sanga again to see if there's been any movement, if so, I'll be going under the knife to put a small wire in that will hold the bone in the right position. It's not a big deal and I just want the best recovery possible, so if that's what it takes, cool.

Wish me luck.

Stephi xx