Patients Name

Medical History:  Tramadol - made me sick and dizzy and I got a rash - no benefit. Morphine - could not function was like a zombie - excellent for pain. Ibubrofin with codeine - works for pain sometimes but can only use at night as makes me dizzy and I need to be able to drive.

Personal History:  My problems started at age 11. I had my kneecap and cartilage removed at age 15. Since then I have had 7 further operations resulting in removal of most of my cartilage except for one little bit left on the outside of my knee joint. I have also had bone growths removed each time. During the last surgery in January 2002 a large mass was removed from within and just below my knee. They seem to grow back very quickly and I have to keep having them chiseled out, as my surgeon tells me. My left knee is deformed and leans inwards which makes walking extremely painful and effects my left hip and spine. I also find that as these growths develop, the deformity gets worse and I have also developed osteo-arthritis. It is extremely painfull all of the time. I have a fantastic Orthopedic Surgeon called Colin Ferguson who is based at The Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, who has been treating me for over 10 years now. He decided to send me for a second opinion, as he has taken as much as he can from my knee and has now got to the stage that he does not know what else to do. I went to see a Mr Steve Cannon at The Royal National Orthopedic Hospital in Stanmore, this is supposed to be the best Orthopedic Hospital in the UK. After various visits to see him it has now been decided that I have a total knee replacement of my left knee, it is a rather drastic and risky operation but Mr Cannon feels that this is the only way forward for me to enable me to be pain free and to walk freely without the aid of crutches and also for the long term benefit of my hip and spine which are now suffering as the deformity is getting worse. I am due to have the operation on 14th March 2005. I will update this page once I am mobile again.

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