GCS surgery draws closer: I'm now "top of the waiting list"

[Tills]

Thanks so much @Lori Dee That's really encouraging and very much on my wavelength

xx

[Tills]

Sorry for various posts on this but another curious thing. They mentioned covid yesterday, saying that there is still a lot of it about at the moment and that if I feel ill in the fortnight prior to surgery I need to test myself for covid. The reason? Apart from feeling like rubbish, covid can heighten the risk of blood clots forming through surgery and they would defer the operation.

I confess that I'd almost forgotten about covid. But I reckon I'm going to buy a few face masks for use on public transport over the next few weeks. It will feel very strange to be doing that again but I'd rather play it safe for the surgery.

[Sarah B ✅]

Hi Tills

Who is Tills?  (just joking)
Yes, In answer to your covid question.  In a large international study of surgical patients, 2.2% of patients with perioperative COVID-19 developed a postoperative venous thromboembolism (VTE).  In other words, approximately 97.8% did not develop a VTE [1].

Put simply, about 2 out of every 100 patients with perioperative COVID-19 developed a VTE while about 98 out of every 100 did not.

It is important to distinguish perioperative COVID-19 from having had COVID-19 sometime in the past.  Among patients classified as having a recent SARS-CoV-2 infection, the reported VTE rate was 1.6%, meaning approximately 98.4% did not develop a VTE [1].  Patients with a previous infection had an even lower reported VTE rate of 1.0%, meaning approximately 99% did not develop a VTE [1].

Although the study found that COVID-19 was associated with an increased risk of VTE following surgery, the absolute risk remained relatively low and the overwhelming majority of patients with perioperative, recent or previous COVID-19 did not develop a postoperative VTE.
Your suggestion of wearing a mask sounds like a good idea and stay in side?  Anyway, its good to hear that your surgery day is coming soon.

Trust me its a wonderful day that day.

Best Wishes Always
Sarah B
Global Moderator
[1] COVIDSurg Collaborative & GlobalSurg Collaborative. (2022). SARS-CoV-2 infection and venous thromboembolism after surgery: An international prospective cohort study. Anaesthesia, 77(1), 28–39. https://doi.org/10.1111/anae.15563 🔗
@Tills

[Stottie Girl]

The Hilton sounds like a feasible plan to me Tills. I don't know how you will be in your rcovery but being near a hospital and having room service available, fantastic breakfasts, good views and a free nights stay doesn't exactly sound like you will be slumming it!

You would have been welcome to recover in my spare room for a few days but A) I'm miles away, B) the house is a wreck and C) It's most definitely not a Hilton!

[Tills]

The Hilton sounds like a feasible plan to me Tills. I don't know how you will be in your rcovery but being near a hospital and having room service available, fantastic breakfasts, good views and a free nights stay doesn't exactly sound like you will be slumming it!

You would have been welcome to recover in my spare room for a few days but A) I'm miles away, B) the house is a wreck and C) It's most definitely not a Hilton!

That's so incredibly kind of you @Stottie Girl thank you so much. Made me smile about points B) and C) though 😀 I'm not normally fussy I don't think. I mean, I just spent nearly 2 months in Scotland sleeping on a wafer thin sofa bed and using camping gear all that time, with no fridge so eating only non-perishables, whilst I did the place up. I didn't have a single meal out or takeaway.

xx

[Tills]

Thanks so much @Sarah B

Actually I have to say that I'm quite shocked at how high that incidence is. c. 2% is a high risk. I mean, 1 in every 50 patients at risk of a VTE is a pretty significant risk.

Compare it to, say, the theoretical risk of oral estrogen with which we are all familiar: is that, what, about 1 in a 1000?

Anyway, Parkside's policy is that covid in the 2 weeks prior to surgery means they defer the operation. Seems fairly sensible to me: VTE is definitely not something to play around with.

xx

[Devlyn ✅]

By the way, the food at Parkside is fantastic. You'll be well fed while you're there. 🙂