"Recent stay at St.Albans Hospital."

Anything else?

I was first seen on 10th Oct, by s Consultant, who decided that I required fairly emergency surgery on my back. We decided that this should be done within two weeks, and I was supposed to be operated on the next week. However, due to not having had the pre-op assessment done, surgery was postponed for one week. On my arrival on the ward, I was designated a nurse to look after me, and by chance this was the ward sister. She was very efficient, and I was booked in, given a bed and was asked to wait. I then met with the Orthopaedic nurse, who went over all the pre-op, operation, and post-op procedures in great detail. I was asked to explain what surgery I was having, so that I would understand what would be happening to me. Later the surgeon also came into the ward, prior to surgery to talk about the operation. The surgery lasted three hours, and was completely successful, although there was a small leakage of spinal fluid, which meant that I had to lie on my back for 24-48 hours. Later the next day I was transferred upstairs into a private room. All the staff were very helpful during this difficult period, with the night sister even feeding me my supper! The next day I was thoroughly examined by the Physiotherapist, and it was decided that I could sit up, and then to try to stand. The most amazing thing was my complete lack of pain, which meant that I could move forwards on my recuperation at a very fast rate. The next day, I was allowed to walk, and I was able to walk over 200 yards on that day. The physio staff were present to help at any time,during the day, which was another bonus. With no other complications I was discharged on the next afternoon. During the whole time I was on the ward, the service, treatment and kindness from all members of the nursing staff was nothing short of exemplary. During my stay, I saw that the wards were cleaned each day; and that there was a wide choice of food,the quality of which, in the circumstances, was acceptable, and also arrived hot at my bedside. I have thanked all the staff for their attention, and would like to mention two members of staff, without whom I would not have made such an excellent recovery. I trust that the Chief Executive of the hospital reads this!