Christine's story
Christine, 65, had been having trouble with her knee for around three years, but it worsened until it became unbearably painful.
She explains, “My friend and I both lost our husbands, and we both had 3-bedroom houses. As there wasn’t really anything to keep us in Essex, we made the decision to sell up and move to Lincolnshire. We purchased a property that was big enough for us both to live independently, but we could share household chores like cleaning and cooking. However, due to osteoarthritis, the pain in my knee was worsening all the time, and so I went to see my GP.”
Already on prescribed painkillers, Christine asked if she could increase them, but the doctor advised that it wasn’t possible as she was already on the highest recommended dose. “Then I asked about the possibility of being put on an NHS waiting list for a knee replacement, but because I hadn’t seen a physiotherapist yet, I couldn’t,” she says. “An appointment was booked for me, though when I attended it, I was told that my knee was past the point where it would benefit from physio. That was a blow, because I was in constant pain.”
Christine admits that being stuck in a situation from which there was seemingly no way out affected her mental health. “Everything was getting me down and I felt quite depressed.”
However, help was on its way. Christine’s friend asked if she would be prepared to go for a private knee replacement, which she hadn’t even considered due to cost. After discussing it, her friend offered to pay for the treatment for her. “I was very fortunate, as otherwise I wouldn’t even been able to think about it,” she recalls. “All I wanted was to be free from persistent pain after my treatment. Even if I moved in bed at night, the pain would waken me up.”
After going online to research providers, the friends decided that The Hospital Group had the most helpful and informative website, and so Christine got in touch by telephone. She ended up speaking to Chris, a Surgeon Assistant, who told her about the procedure and gave her a date for her operation. “From there, everything went quickly! I spoke to my surgeon, anaesthetist and physiotherapist, and everything was done within about 2 ½ weeks of the initial call.”
