The brain surgeon
Today we had a visit to Addenbrookes hospital to talk to the surgeon who was responsible for the original operation, the microvascular decompression that was the start of all Anita’s problems. You would think that any person who has gone through what Anita has would find this a bitter experience. Far from it because Anita is a very special person and is not the type to be resentful, she is very unusual in that respect. We both respect the surgeon and the subsequent operations she had saved her life. The thing she is most angry with is not so much all of her medical problems but the system that’s in place that won’t maximise a person’s recovery, is strewn with difficulties, annoyances and the fact that it costs you a lot of money to be disabled!
It was the first time she was able to speak to him whilst not being ill, so a chance to hear what happened from the horse’s mouth. She was told the operation was successful but the next day, for some unexplainable reason she suffered an unusual cerebellar pontine angle bleed. Anita thinks she has a history of bleeding. The terrible catalogue of problems that subsequently followed were only a natural set of events. She was also told that plastic surgery would be the best thing for her facial palsy and that trophic stimulation would not work due to the nerve damage. He felt that it wasn’t good that she had come out of therapy with nothing in place because it’s possible she could go backwards. There was also no reason that her progress couldn’t continue although after 2 years it’s possible it could plateau. I have heard this previously and also that people often see increasing improvements over the first 9 months then go into a stage of slow progress. In watching Anita I had never seen anything except a consistent slow recovery although presently without any exercises there may be non at all.
I had recently seen Anita’s medical records and was surprised to find that the surgeon was only the assistant in Anita’s microvascular decompression operation, apparently it was a chance for another to learn his trade. I did question him about this because I was concerned about the experience of the person doing the op but he said it’s not unusual and that it is mentioned in the consent form you sign. The records also show a meeting with him at 7.45 on the morning of the operation where he explained the risks. We could not remember such a meeting although we remember that another surgeon explained them to us the night before and he would talk to either of the surgeon’s doing the OP at some point.
For me it was very strange going back to a place where I feel I had spent a lifetime.