The man in the iron knee

The photograph above was taken four years ago, on a trip with my son along the road on the South East side of Loch Ness. Note the bent right knee. This appears in many of the pictures taken at this time - in others I am sitting down, sometimes also with a grimace of pain. The cause of this distress was psoriatic arthritis, which affected my right knee and developed from an irritating pain to crippling agony over a period of two years. Standing with my leg straight became impossible. Walking became an ordeal. I changed in two years from a man who ran up stairs to one who took the lift whenever he could. Even the shortest journeys required careful planning and the use of a car whenever possible. Even so, a trip of a quarter of a mile would leave me in severe pain and sweating with exhaustion.

Pain also crippled the soul. I was less able than I had been to stand up to the usual bullies and egoists that are found in most organisations (and certainly in universities). My sense of personal effectiveness declined, and the avoidance of pain occupied an increasing part of my waking thoughts. Psychologically, I became a painful knee with a man attached.

My return to health required surgery, which replaced my right knee with one made from titanium. This only took place after the NHS tried and failed with the various non-surgical alternatives, from steroid injections to physiotherapy and orthotics. Eventually, my wife and children urged me to request a knee replacement. I went to my GP, and a referral to an orthopaedic surgeon followed almost immediately. The surgeon explained in great detail the operation, the risks involved, and the probable outcome. There was no waiting time for the operation in the local NHS unit, where I spent four nights in a private room with en-suite facilities. After discharge, I received aftercare from physiotherapists and various home adaptations from occupational therapists. None of this of course required any negotiation with an insurance company or personal payments for treatment.

I spent an elated three months living without knee pain, until the back pain began. It seems that adapting to prolonged pain when walking had twisted my back. This was followed by further physiotherapy advice and some adaptations at my workplace. But by then, I had become tired of the long journey to work and took early retirement. Now I have lost weight, walk good distances, and live without pain. I still have the yellow car though.