2009

With the prospect of the year ahead, I decided to make the most of the first six months. I saw in the New Year in skiing - which was great fun and then had a further two skiing trips throughout the winter. The last trip was not quite so success as on day two, skiing some great off-piste powder I managed to slip and twist my knee causing me to be bloodwagoned off the mountain - this put an end to the skiing for this year. Slightly concerned about any ramifications this may have on my imminent surgery - after all it was my right knee - I undertook loads of physio. I am still not exactly sure of the extent of the damage, but have decided to get this over and done with first and then face any knee problems once my legs are sorted!

In advance of my next meeting with Mr Calder I had an appointment with the Clinical Nurse at RNOH. With my previous history and experience regarding the TSF I was going to need some help coming to terms with what I was faced with. I decided to attend the appointment on my own which surprised the nurse! Within minutes I was in tears, finding the whole situation very stressful. We talked about what went wrong the first time around and the fears I was facing this time. She found it very hard to believe the problems I had with the pain control and assured me that there was a dedicated Acute Pain Team on hand at RNOH who would be consulted before my surgery. We would able to discuss the best options available for me throughout the course of my treatment. I then took a look around the hospital - which stressed me out even further. Stanmore is a very bizarre place, it looks a bit like a Second World War field hospital than a centre of excellence - but, I told myself not to judge a book by its cover. There was a central corridor, with all the wards coming off it. The wards were large nightingale style wards, with 10-20 people per ward and they were really really hot. The majority of the patients were all old and frail - it was my worst nightmare. It made Harlow look like a private hospital. I was told the chances of getting my own room were limited, but it could be requested via the Bed Manager a week prior to my admittance. I left absolutely petrified and no less assured of what was ahead of me - the nurse asked if I had to wait until May to have the surgery as she thought it would be much better for me have it done sooner rather than later and get it over and done with - this was not an option.

My second meeting with Mr Calder did not highlight any surprises. The date was set for 8th June. I told Synergy who took the news very well - I would see through the GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP season and then finish - expecting to be off for the rest of the year. They were very understanding and supportive, which was a huge weight of my shoulders.

Shock news

Our first meeting with Mr Calder did not go to plan... We arrived at Stanmore with plenty of time to spare - checked in with the receptionist only to discover that we were due in the outpatients clinic in Bolsover Street, central London and a ten minute walk from work! We hopped back on the tube and dashed to Bolsover Street, arriving only 50 minutes late!
Following a series of more xrays, I was once again stripped to my pants and asked to walk across the room so everyone to have a look at my funny legs. Mr Calder and his registrar were openly surprised at the current angle of my leg.

As expected, the xrays displayed an angular deformity, which could be corrected with the use of yet another Taylor Spatial Frame - this was shock number one... It also became clear that it was not just my tibia which longer on my right side to my left. My right femur is around 2cms longer than my left one - this is a a result of the very early surgery, where my growth plate in my right tibia was destroyed by the femur was allowed to continue to grow. Therefore, using another TSF to correct the deformity of the tibia would once again cause bone growth on my right side, which would increase the discrepancy by a further 3cms or so - therefore ultimately leaving me 4+cms longer on my right than left. This was something which was very hard to get my head around, as I was already 2cm longer on the right side and this was causing me problems with my walking and lower back. Mr Calder advised that the best way to manage this was once the TSF was removed, break the right femur, remove the required amount of bone to ensure equal leg length, rod the bone with an internal nail fixation and compress the break. This was yet another invasive and painful procedure which would see me in hospital for another five days and non-weight bearing for a further 4-6 weeks. I was looking at a six to nine month stretch incapacitated...

I decided that I would not do anything until the end of the GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP season in May 2009 as I was really enjoying the account and looking forward to managing the Final at Twickenham. We agreed to meet Mr Calder again in February 2009 to finalise our plans for the year ahead.