Top surgery with Mr Kneeshaw

27th June 2018 – Top Surgery with Mr Kneeshaw

I can’t believe that this day has finally arrived, I have been waiting so many years for this to happen and I am so grateful to the NHS and of course Mr Kneeshaw and his team for making it possible.

Making our way down….

We travelled to Hull the day before on the train as I had been asked to arrive for 7:30 and I didn’t fancy travelling all the way from Wales on the morning as so many things could go wrong and there was no way I was going to miss this.

The hotel we stayed in was the Innkeepers Lodge in Willerby, we found that being only a mile away from the Hospital it was ideal as my wife doesn’t drive. We woke early as I wasn’t entirely sure what time the buses ran, all I knew was where the bus stop was which turned out to be only a 5 minute walk from the hotel. I was panicking a bit as I didn’t want to be late and we ended up arriving at the hospital half an hour early.

Morning of the surgery….

When we landed on the ward we were greeted by a friendly nurse who showed us to my room, the room was really nice, everything I needed and it came with an en-suite bathroom.

As soon as we landed in the room I was asked to strip down to my underpants and put on the sexy gown and the surgical compression socks (that was the nurses exact words) as I was first on the list (9am).

I could see the relief cross Sarah’s face when they mentioned that I was going down first and that it would only take an hour to an hour and a half for the surgery to be done and then came the tears, bless her. I was more worried about her as she is a very emotional person and I had to make sure that she was OK, we also managed to get them to let her stay while I had surgery so she could be there when I woke up.

Mr Kneeshaw came to see me so he could draw on my chest, he drew a centre line and then lines underneath and on top of each breast. Don’t panic though as it doesn’t take 5 minutes for this to be done and he is so easy going that he puts you at ease straight away. He mentioned again that I may end up with dog ears and also having one incision line from one side to the other as my chest had pulled away from the chest wall and then he was gone.

My next visit was from the physiotherapist, explaining to me about the after surgery exercises that I would need to do so that I can get movement back into my arms so I don’t end up with a frozen shoulder or shoulders, I was also advised to eat plenty of meat and full fat milk etc, as this helps with the healing process (who was I to argue when some one tells me to eat anything I wanted).

Countdown to surgery….

I don’t think I have ever spent so much time looking at a clock, and now it was time for me to go down to the theatre. I had my weight taken on the way down and was led into a room by the side of the theatre where the anaesthetist was waiting for me. The next thing I remember was being woken up and I thinking where am I, and then it suddenly hit me and a huge grin appeared on my face.

I arrived back on the ward to see Sarah waiting for me, and to be honest I was so drowsy that I couldn’t stay awake.

Recovery time in the hospital….

I only spent one night in the hospital as I was in no pain at all, which really did surprise me. I was expecting some pain, the only thing that was irritating was the drains. I did also read in the leaflet that I needed to sort out my own pain medication so I booked an appointment to see my GP and he was OK with prescribing me some pain meds.

I think the only thing I would have done differently would have been to shave my armpits as I found from wearing a binder for a long period of time and the weather being so hot, my pits were irritating the crap out of me and it didn’t make any difference how many times I washed.

I also made sure that my hair cut short so that I didn’t need to do anything with it as I know lifting my arms high enough would be impossible. Knowing me I have probably missed something out as the morning was a blur, everything just rolled into one. I was nervous, but also excited at the same time.

Below is a list of everything that I took with me so you get an idea of what you might need.

• Toiletries
• Towel
• Flannel Fleece shorts (as the weather was ridiculously hot), I would have taken jogging bottoms so I didn’t have to mess around with buttons and zips
• Zipped fleece jacket
• Buttoned shirts (didn’t wear)
• Sleeveless t-shirts, which I found easier as there was enough space to put it on without over stretching my arms
• V-shaped pillow
• A long charger cable
• Headphones
• Underwear etc.
• Backed slippers, I had bought slip on ones till I read the leaflet asking for me to use backed ones as I will be walking down to the operating theatre.

Below is a break down of how much it cost:

• Train Tickets for 2 people – £54.00
• Taxi from the train station to the Hotel – £14.00
• Hotel double room for 3 nights – £145.00
• Bus No. 154 – £3 in total.

If you have any questions about the surgery feel free to send me a message using the contact us form and I will be happy to answer them.