"Successful outcome after a delay"

King's College at last. It may have taken 6 months and a lot of help from PALS, but I finally made it.

I can now say it was worth every minute of the wait. The treatment was superb in every way. From the Neurosurgeons to the ladies bringing round the tea, without exception the staff were terrific. A really special thank you to the nurses, always there whether you needed pain relief, or a cup of tea at 4 in the morning.

When I was admitted I was anticipating just a laminectomy, during my consultation this was upgraded on the advice of the neurosurgeon to include a spinal fusion. This surprised me. A cynical part of me had assumed that I would only receive the minimum necessary treatment, I admit I was utterly wrong.

A stay in Murray Falconer ward at Kings quickly gives you an insight into the the problems caused by trying to allocate limited resources. While I still believe that King's could greatly improve their communications process, having seen at first hand the severity of cases competing for the beds, I would no longer complain about the delay in my treatment.

Got to take it easy for now, but hopefully it won't be too long before I'm back to living a completely full and happy life. A big thank you to the King's College team who perform near miracles on an everyday basis and give so many people their lives back.