This was in June and the first available appointment was in August, but my parents wanted this to be done sooner and offered to pay for a private consultation once I knew the name of the consultant. Luckily for me I had the  name (Mr El-Abed) through within a few days and a private appointment was arranged for July. The downside being this cost £150 which I am forever grateful to my parents for paying this for me. The end result of the consultation was a choice of either a spinal decompression operation (Microdisectomy) with a success rate of around 90% or an injection with a success rate of 30%. Given the odds the surgical route was the only one that made sense. Also given the fact I was really struggling to walk at the time of the consultation, the consultant put me onto his urgent list – meaning the operation should be done with 2 months.

Around a month later (and a week after I should of had my initial consultation) I was waiting for the operation (Tuesday this week) at Cheltenham General Hospital. The new way orthopedic surgery is done at Cheltenham is for you to go into a pre-op waiting room before the operation and then after recovery then be moved into a ward for final recovery before discharge. This works very well but has the downside that I was unable to let anyone know what ward I would be moved into.

The operation itself went very well, although I remember very little (thankfully as that meant the general anesthetic I had worked well). My last memory is the anesthetist informing me that the injection he had just given me was the one that would knock me out. On TV they always ask you to count down from 10 to 0 but I was out for the count by that time. My next memory is the nurse in recovery asking me if I was awake – I was almost, but I was certainly not very aware of where I was or what I was doing there.

After finishing my time in recovery I was moved to the ward (Alstone Ward). This was a well presented ward with 6 all male beds and a toilet unit. All patients there were recovering from orthopedic operations – the majority appeared to be knee replacements. There were plenty of nurses (and support staff) who were very polite and efficient, helping us with day to day tasks and ensuring we recovered as well as possible. My stay there was brief at 2 days but I was impressed with the service I received and that there never seemed to be an urgency to send me home. In fact it was me wanting to come home that dictated the time I spent on the ward (2 days without internet access was more than enough for me). This was all in stark contrast to media reports of poor NHS hospitals giving low quality service and discharging patients before they were ready. I would also say that I prefer the NHS we have here in the UK to the insurance lead health service in countries like America. Here there is no asking can you afford it before you are treated. If you need treatment you get it with minimal fuss and agro.

Since leaving hospital I have begun the recovery period at home. This will take between 4 and 6 weeks, during which I have some exercises to do from the hospital physio and have been advised to walk around as much as possible. I will be seeing the consultant again in 6 weeks when I hope to be given the all clear and to finally be able to live my life without fear of annoying back pain every few months.