‘Within days I was like a young-un again’

Jul 4 2008 by Karen Wilson, The Journal

SEVENTY-FOUR-YEAR-OLD George Humes was one of the first people to try out Northumbria Healthcare’s new fast-track knee replacement, operations and is delighted with the results.

“I was very, very well looked after,” he said. “I felt like a VIP – Very Important Patient. Everything was explained to me thoroughly – what was going to happen, what they hoped to do, even how long my scar would be.

“I went into Wansbeck District Hospital on Thursday May 1 and was in theatre the next day where I was given an anaesthetic in my spine. All I felt was a thumbprint – I didn’t feel any pain at all.”

It was a far cry from George’s first operation to correct a squint when he was 15, just weeks after the NHS was founded in 1948. “I was blind for four weeks afterwards,” he said. “These days I would’ve been out the same day.”

George’s knee operation lasted two hours. “When I woke up I was taken to a recovery room for half an hour where a fantastic nurse stayed with me the whole time.

“I then went onto the ward and shortly afterwards my wife and daughter came to see me. They couldn’t believe how well I looked.”

Amazingly, within two-and-a-half hours of having the operation George was able to walk on crutches.

The day after the operation, George was seen by a physiotherapist. He was able to go home later that day.

“I would absolutely urge anyone needing a knee replacement operation to go this route,” he added. “Within days I felt like a young-un again.”