Papworth Hospital

Arrived at Papworth and got myself settled in the ward. I was feeling a bit of a fraud. Patients there with problems that made mine look like nothing. Everybody was really cheerful though, self pity had no place here.

 

A very young nurse came armed with a razor to shave my bits. It sounds really good but to be honest it wasn't. I felt like a very old man being looked after by a carer. She was great though, quickly got the job done and didn't laugh or compare me unfavourably to her boyfriend!

A couple of mad nurses came and wheeled my bed at great speed along the corridors to go and have an angiogram. This was being done to show where my arteries had narrowed and to see how they would repair the damage.

I was wheeled into the room, transferred onto a table and told to lie very still. Above my head to the left was a bank of monitors and above me a camera on an adjustable arm. It was a very impressive set up. Loads of people were walking around getting things ready and cracking jokes to make me feel at ease. There was even music playing in the background.

I was given a local anaesthetic, the area on the right side of my groin was cleaned, and they prodded around trying to find my artery.

A catheter was then passed into the artery and sent up towards my heart for a good old poke around. With the X-ray camera moving around just above my chest I could just see on the screens the images of my heart. Amazing pictures as they injected dye to highlight the arteries. A very strange feeling as the dye goes in, you get a hot flush all over your body. Not unpleasant, just weird.

Within half an hour it was all over and I was back in the ward feeling very sore.

In a few days I would be back down there for a couple of stents to be fitted. For the next couple of days it was again just a case of resting.

Back down again for my angioplasty. Same procedure as before, but going into the left side of my groin. A longer procedure this time as two stents (a short tube of stainless-steel mesh) were inserted. These are put in with a catheter with a balloon on it; the balloon is inflated to widen the artery. A second catheter, with a stent on its balloon, is then moved into position. As the balloon is inflated , the stent expands so that it holds open the artery. The balloon is then let down and removed, leaving the stent in place. This all lasted about an hour and I was then sent back up to the ward.

Sore or what! I had bruises all over the top of my legs and down my thighs; when they put the catheter in they do use a lot of pressure, it feels like they are trying to ram a hose pipe up you!

Because of all the blood thinning drugs the entry point takes a couple of hours to heal. It is your femoral artery supplying blood to the leg, cut this and you will bleed to death very quickly. For this reason you are looked after very carefully for the first few hours. A clamping device is strapped to you and a high pressure pad keeps the wound closed. This I found the most painful. The nurses make you drink lots of water. Fine; except one of the straps is tight across your bladder. I was soon bursting! Having to lie on your back and empty your bladder involves some very strange movements, a lot of luck and the wish that you had more in the trouser department to make filling that bottle a little easier. Dignity goes right out of the window. So a painful few hours but well worth it. The really good thing was the ward sister said I could go home the following day. A quick phone call to my wife to arrange things and then a good nights sleep.

I was quite sad to leave Papworth; it's a fantastic place. I can't put into words my feelings for the staff there and what they do.

The NHS gets a lot of stick, deserved sometimes, but when you really need it they are second to none.