Surgery preparations

I can't believe how quickly things have started moving now. Of course, I know that there's every chance of things falling through and not happening. In a way, I'm more prepared for the "no" than the "yes" now, even though the sequence of events has seemed to occur in favour of the surgery happening.

I went to see my orthopaedic surgeon yesterday (I've been a couple of times since I last posted, but have just been super busy with uni). I had to miss a lecture for the appointment, but was glad to have attended as we spoke for around an hour about what would happen.

From what I gather, the surgery will involve extraction of stem cells via a needle, and the processing of these cells with a special machine and then the impregnation of the stem cells into my hand. I'll get a synthetic skin (mesh-type thing), and will also have stem cells injected all around the atrophic joint and pretty much everywhere, to try and restore all the function and aesthetics. So far, I have some sort of disability in the proximal joint, and basically nothing at the distal joint. There's no nerves, no muscle, a malfunctioning tendon and the bone mass is disappearing.

Yesterday, I was far from expecting preparations to begin. I have a form for a high-res MRI next week in the newest 3T MRI scanner, and had a plethora of bloods taken. I now have some really lovely bruises from the horrible nurse who "treated" me, and had a load of bleeding last night because of a dressings disagreement. I had lots of culture swabs taken to ensure the bacterial load is as low as possible as well. It's a good job that things are happening now, since my orthopaedic surgeon said yesterday that I've taken two steps back from where we were the last time he saw me.

The catch, however, is the cost. And the fact that only one private hospital is capable of hosting my surgeon and I for this procedure to take place. The worst bit? My orthopaedic surgeon won't be carrying this out. It'll be the plastic surgeon I saw about six weeks ago. I can't say I liked him too much, but as long as he can get the job done, my orthopaedic surgeon can still take charge over everything, and I can still see him as though he's done the surgery. There's also only a 20% chance that this will work (something I have not yet told my friends or family), and if not, then amputation is the only way forward. Even my orthopaedic surgeon says so, and he's been the main anti-amputation guy all along. I really, really hope this will work in my favour!

I know it's been a really long post, but I haven't written for ages. I've been so busy with uni stuff, and have a couple of lectures to review this weekend. But thankfully, that's going to be it for today and tomorrow! I'm apprehensive about this surgery, for sure, because it's quite a big one - and I still don't know if it's the right thing. I'll only know, once it's over.