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Open Knee Surgery ! The NHS ( U.K. National Health Service ) at its best .

About a month ago I knelt down and felt a sharp pain in my knee as if I had nelt down on a bolt as I have done in the past - I'm an untidy worker ! My knee went and after I got off the floor I looked for the " bolt " and found nothing . Nursing my now painful knee I thought little of it .
About a week later and after my knee had , I thought , recovered from the bolt caused bruising I gingerly knelt on the tiled floor of Morrison's supermarket to get some Pepsi-Max from the back of the bottom shelf . A loud animal scream was heard all along the Isle and I was seen rolling around the floor in agony ( how embarrassing ! ) I had found another " invisible bolt "
Another ten days and the tenderness in my knee had departed so I decided to examine it carefully . I found there was something small and hard under the skin which moved around quite a bit when i pressed on it . The " invisible bolt " was inside my knee !
An appointment was made with Dr Moore one of the GP's ( General Practitioners )at the local health centre in Carisbrooke - five pleasant minutes walk from my home .
Three days later she examined the knee and decided it was possibly a subcutaneous cyst or something described by longer words I have never heard before .
" I can remove it here when would you like me to do it ?"
" as soon as possible I suppose but I like early appointments please ! "
" Next Wednesday would be available at 9 :15 "
" O.K."
I arrived unworried but when I was promptly called after a wait of only a few minutes and saw the sign " Treatment Room " I have to admit I did become slightly anxious .
I entered the room took of my trousers and lay on the treatment " couch " I talked too much and hummed and hared debating with myself vocally as to whether or not I should photograph my operation . I decided having a camera to play with would give my mind something to do and stop it from being seduced by the horror .
I checked it was O.K.with the Dr. and got her to pass me my trusty Fuji.

I explained that I might be sick when the local anaesthetic reached my brain and was assured that there was not enough to get there . This thankfully proved to be true
I had two painless - really painless- injections then watched at the Dr. cut open my knee above the lump so that the scar tissue would not be where I knelt down .
She then got some medical pliers and got hold of something which she pulled out . She had to cut away at its base to fully detach it .She examined it and so did I - it was soft and fatty so she decided it was not the problem . She returned to the hole , searched around and got hold of something else ." This is it I think " - more tugging and cutting ! - out it came ! A 1/2 inch square of " crispy bacon "
A brief period of nausea followed before I sat up again in time to film the stitches going in .

A simple problem identified and operated on within two weeks - cost to me - nothing !

The NHS has many problems but for me this time I could not fault it !
Incidentally apparently the NHS costs about 6 % of GDP whereas healthcare in the USA costs significantly more . On the negative side last year 184,000 people were discharged from NHS hospitals suffering some form of malnutrition 14,000 more than were admitted with it ! - The only good meal my mother had during her last hospitalisation was from McDonald's when a visitor to the next bed took orders from the ward . It also cost significantly less than the average meal budget to the hospital - Why ! . Shut the kitchens and let the patients order takeaways !

Pictures here - not for the squeamish !

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