"I couldn't have asked for a better person to talk to"

Got out of bed one morning and had a lot of pain in my left knee and it was very difficult/painful to walk. After a week of hobbling around I saw my Practice Nurse, had X-ray and diagnosis of osteoarthritis and was offered a referral with an appointment at Hythe Hospital Orthopaedic Clinic. (It took me 6 weeks to walk to the postbox that is less than 5 minutes away, and another 4 weeks before I could walk for 30 minutes or so, that’s how bad the pain had been.)

At Hythe Hospital I saw Dean who was excellent and let me talk and tell him my experience without interruption. (I had a mini stroke 20 months ago and have no physical disability apart from mild Aphasia i.e. difficulty with my speech). I struggle to speak if interrupted mid speech, or if I see that the person I’m talking to is in a hurry or gets impatient with the way I talk and sometimes my speech then disappears, which would have been disastrous in this setting. I found Dean very easy to talk to. His welcoming smile and quiet approach, as well as giving me time to think about my answers to his questions was so encouraging and I felt relaxed and able to talk to him. We looked back at the start of the problem, progress since, the current position and how we can move forward. He proposed a plan that I totally endorse, ie continuing walking with my group, using my exercise bike (that I haven’t used for years) whilst also ‘listening’ to my body/knee and gearing up or slowing down as necessary. If I encounter problems in the next year I can contact him again for further advice. Perfect solution for me. Thank you Dean. I couldn’t have asked for a better person to talk to and I am very grateful to the NHS once again.