"Extremely disappointing"

Last year in July I had an accident and ruptured my ACL. Went to St George's and after been see in A&E, I've been sent to the Fracture Clinic, where I had done an MRI which confirmed the ACL rupture. I was sent further to see a surgeon for reconstruction, the referral got lost somehow, after hearing nothing from St George's for 6 weeks, and trying to get it sorted through the maize of being passed around from one person to another, my GP kindly contacted St George's and sorted it.

Finally after waiting such a long time, I've seen a surgeon who clearly told me as soon as I sat down, that he never done the ACL reconstruction for someone over 35 and he will not do it, as I am not an athlete and I don't need my ACL. The surgeon wanted me to stop wearing the hinged brace which was holding my knee in place, and sent me for rehab, however, I couldn't do the ACL Rehab classed as was a time that I could not attend due to work schedule, and the classes are for people who had the ACL reconstructed, which I didn't. I done a Lower Limb rehab instead, and gone to the gym 2-3 times a week.

In the meantime I got a second opinion from a trauma orthopaedic surgeon, who recommended reconstruction and to keep wearing the hinged brace until the reconstruction, in order to avoid further damage to the knee joint due to the instability, he was also against the jumping and obstacle exercises that St George's surgeon recommended.

After months of rehab, I've seen the St George's surgeon again, who still did not want to do the surgery, saying that I do not need it, however, he is not me and he does not have to live with an unstable knee which limits the activities and forces me to change how I do certain activities. I politely asked him to discharge me as I was clearly wasting my time. By By now were 8 months since the accident and didn't look like I was going to get my knee sorted at St George's.

My GP kindly referred me to another hospital, within a couple of weeks I had an appointment and I was seen by a knee surgeon, who will do the ACL reconstruction and I am now on the waiting list for surgery.

I certainly did not expect that my age, 42, is a decisive factor in having the ACL surgery done! Surely, a reconstruction comes at a lower cost and faster recovery time, and will avoid further damage to the knee which in time, will need even more extensive surgery, at a higher cost and longer recovery time!