Doing the Hip-op

I had my pre-operation assessment on Thursday 24 Nov 2011.  I am hoping that they will now re-grade me from routine to something a bit more on the urgent list.  I had to give more blood, and have more x-rays done so they could evaluate exactly which type of joint they need to use.  One of the forms that had to be done was for the joint they use to be registered just incase they have to recall it!  That kind of tickled my sense of humour, and also made me think of NCIS or other detective shows where they can track the murder victim from their artificial joint number.  The other thought is that I might go past a notice in Waitrose one day to say that they are recalling that particular batch.

The whole process has been really interesting by comparison with my experience when I had my other hip done.  It is interesting to be treated as though you are a person, and given the feeling that they are actually listening to me.  At my treatment hospital I get the feeling that I am talking and it is just not registering.  The nurse practitioner I saw at my chemo clinic appointment a couple of weeks ago admitted that I have been complaining about my hip since February but it just doesn't seem to have any impact and they are just not interested in doing anything to make this whole journey a bit easier. 

It goes back to the Quality of Life concept, and in this I include everyone, and not just those of us with a 'life limiting disease'.  Does it really matter how long we live?  Isn't it really a matter of how much we get out of life?  I don't mean how much money we make or how much success and power we achieve in purely worldly terms.  You can be rich and successful and still have a rubbish Quality of Life.  No I mean what gives Quality to your own life and what makes you think that your life is content and satisfying. 

I don't have most of the things that is considered to be successful, but I have to say that at the moment I think that if I had my mobility back I would have quite a good Q of L.  It is a matter of wanting what you have, rather than having what you want.  How many things do we really need?  How many things can we actually use at any one time.