My appointment to see Mr Witt at the University College London Hospital
crept up on me rather more quickly than I had anticipated. I found myself
really dreading the trip, because as I've mentioned, travelling and I don't
mix well. Mr Witt has such a great reputation with hip preservation surgery
(particularly PAO's) amongst the UK 'hippies', so hearing his opinion was
crucial for me in going forward with the planned Triple Pelvic Osteotomy &
Femoral Osteotomy at my local hospital in Birmingham under Mr Politis.
I was expecting to have to wait for a reasonable amount of time - don't
get me wrong - but I really didn't think they would make me wait for nearly 3
hours. My poor hips are not built for this kind of thing, man! After the first
long, sore hour, I heard my name being called for the clinic waiting area. Mr
Witt's door was in view, but it remained closed. I turned around to see another
doctor, someone I hadn't gone all of this way to see - and frustration flooded
through me. I explained to him that I was told if I waited until October, I
could see Mr Witt; if I didn't want to wait I'd have see somebody else. I'd
opted to wait until October, as his personal opinion was really important for
me to hear.
The ladies at the reception desk were (thankfully) happy to help me out
(I heard other people after me having the same problem and they were told they
weren't able to see Mr Witt, so I felt rather lucky on that front). I let them
know about the sitting situation and they were really positive, promising that
I would be the next to be seen. A further hour and a half, and a few other
patients later, I was called in by Mr Witt…
I'd heard so much about him and had seen a video of him explaining the
PAO procedure; it felt comparable to meeting someone I already knew well
combined with meeting a celebrity. His presence was very calming and, like my
surgeon Mr Politis, he seemed really composed and placid. Perhaps these
are the typical characteristics required when you cut up people's bone
up for a living!
Mr Witt checked out my scans, asked a few questions and examined me. I
always feel like a bouncing ball of frustrated energy when attending hospital
appointments; akin to a pressure cooker ready to explode - with all the
information about all of the pain I'm feeling; but Mr Witt's energy was somewhat
a soothing experience. (That's until he tried to internally rotate my legs,
which caused me to jerk and shriek in pain!)
Thankfully, his opinion confirmed that I need both pelvic and femoral alterations (on both sides), which came with huge relief. (A 'huge weight off my shoulders' sort-of relief.) I now feel like I can move forward with the confidence that I'm doing the right thing - and that is certainly a great feeling.
I received this write up of my appointment a few days later -
I am also really proud to write that I have managed to quit smoking over
the past few weeks! Something I really didn't think I would be writing. It's
inevitably been very tough and I don't think I could have done it without Mr
Politis threatening to postpone my surgery date if I couldn't give up on time
- I definitely was not going to let that happen! This surgery is so huge and
significant; I feel it's so important to do whatever is in my power to help it
go as smoothly as possible.
It's not very common knowledge, but it's not just the smoking part that
can interfere with healing. Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor (narrows the blood
vessels) and is proven to play a big part in slowing down the recovery process.
It can even cause the cells to die off, meaning I would end up needing a bone
graft - that was enough information to help me kick my bad habit!
So, with my newfound super-strong sense of smell -
and a second opinion in agreement to the first, I'm feeling pretty good!
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