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.

Plastic surgeon referral

After a few days feeling all hung up about the possibility that I may never get to see this new plastic surgeon, I got a call yesterday whilst on the way to the hospital from someone mysterious. She had the same name as me and I thought she was prank calling me - because I was on the train, the signal was bad and I was pretty convinced that it was a joke. I called her back after I'd gotten off the train and turns out it was the plastic surgeon's secretary. I had an appointment arranged for today, and saw him today.

And it's good news! Well, for now at least. As pessimistic as it seems, I want to remain a realist, and as such not get excited about prospects before they prove true and viable. Now, in the equation we have a dormant vascular surgeon, my orthopaedic surgeon (whom I see every week) and the plastic surgeon I met today. He was a little persistent with going for amputation and termination but I was very adamant that I had thought about it and that I wasn't prepared to go down that road in the foreseeable future. I had explained that this was not the first time amputation was suggested to me, and that I'd considered it carefully every time someone had brought it up in the past. 

He said that performing a cross flap was not really an option since the remaining tissue is very unhealthy and it's highly unlikely anything will take on it - hence the worthlessness of grafting too, since I'll have a donor site for nothing. Instead, he decided that we would use Integra, a synthetic skin base-type produce (I think) and that he would extract abdomen fat and use those cells (he said stem cells?) to embed the Integra into my skin. So, I get a tummy tuck AND there's potential for a cure! Later on, if that works, we'll have to go in for more grafting since there will be a more viable bed for the graft to take on.

There's only one hospital in the private system that he knows of with the special stem cell machine in London so I don't have hospital choice but that's not a problem at all. Better still, he said he wanted to get this done ASAP, so he'll talk to his secretary and I can book another appointment. Then we can go ahead. Lots of steps still, but I'm making small steps in the right direction.