Cubist
Still wavin'
- Location
- Ovver 'thill
Back in 2012 I was diagnosed with a cam impingement of my right hip. The cartilage has worn away, and I was getting increasing pain in my hip, interfering with a lot of my activities, particularly operational police work. Too early to undergo a hip replacement I managed the pain through medication and struggled manfully on. As the pain increased so did the need for more medication, and eventually it was becoming clear that I wasn't able to function as well as I used to. By the beginning of 2015 I was toying with the idea of seeing a consultant to replace the hip. My reasoning was that with a new hip I would be pain free, and therefore no longer needing to take high levels of codeine etc.
However, on the fated Manchester- Llandudno ride I fell off my bike and amongst other injuries caused a shearing injury to the tissue over my hip. While the other injuries have all but cleared up, the degloving/shear injury has led to a lesion, or a pocket of necrotic fluid exactly where the surgeon would want to cut. He agrees I need a new hip, there are signs of advanced osteoarthritis, and pain levels now need 60mg of codeine every four hours, plus paracetamol, naproxyn and a PPI to counter the effects of the naproxyn, but he cannot operate because of the lesion. Apparently I would suffer all sorts of wound issues and he isn't prepared to take the risk.
Work have been brilliant. They have allowed me to work from home so that I can at least contribute something, but even that has become difficult due to my concentration and decision-making levels, but as time went on it was becoming clear that I would never regain satisfactory levels of fitness before my planned retirement date of July 2017.
Today I have learnt that they are going to retire me early, and I have been given 28 days notice. My pension will be enhanced to a full pension, so all is not lost. I have spent the last eight months (when they first mooted the idea of early retirement) in a state of limbo. Unable to plan or do much in terms of positive activity, it has been emotionally draining, and has taken quite a toll on my well-being. but today I have a sense of enormous relief. I didn't want to finish like this, I've really enjoyed my career, but that's it, it's over.
There are many positives, and I can now bow out with most of my pride and dignity intact. I have some plans for the future, but my priority is to push for some sort of resolution to the lesion so that I can have the hip replacement done and have some of my life back.
However, on the fated Manchester- Llandudno ride I fell off my bike and amongst other injuries caused a shearing injury to the tissue over my hip. While the other injuries have all but cleared up, the degloving/shear injury has led to a lesion, or a pocket of necrotic fluid exactly where the surgeon would want to cut. He agrees I need a new hip, there are signs of advanced osteoarthritis, and pain levels now need 60mg of codeine every four hours, plus paracetamol, naproxyn and a PPI to counter the effects of the naproxyn, but he cannot operate because of the lesion. Apparently I would suffer all sorts of wound issues and he isn't prepared to take the risk.
Work have been brilliant. They have allowed me to work from home so that I can at least contribute something, but even that has become difficult due to my concentration and decision-making levels, but as time went on it was becoming clear that I would never regain satisfactory levels of fitness before my planned retirement date of July 2017.
Today I have learnt that they are going to retire me early, and I have been given 28 days notice. My pension will be enhanced to a full pension, so all is not lost. I have spent the last eight months (when they first mooted the idea of early retirement) in a state of limbo. Unable to plan or do much in terms of positive activity, it has been emotionally draining, and has taken quite a toll on my well-being. but today I have a sense of enormous relief. I didn't want to finish like this, I've really enjoyed my career, but that's it, it's over.
There are many positives, and I can now bow out with most of my pride and dignity intact. I have some plans for the future, but my priority is to push for some sort of resolution to the lesion so that I can have the hip replacement done and have some of my life back.
