Mid March, 2026
The day of the operation arrives. As I am scheduled for a morning operation, I am told beforehand that I shouldn’t eat anything after 11 or 12am. Likewise, I am also told that I shouldn’t drink anything after 6.30am on the day of the op. So therefore there is lots of eating and drinking going on before these deadlines, knowing that I will likely be starving and thirsty for a good while before the operation.
Lisa and I get to the hospital and we are met with my nurse for the day. He walks us to the section of the plastic surgery department where the operation will take place, and then takes my height and weight measurements before walking us to a private room. Once in the room, he also gives me a lovely looking gown and very trendy socks and non-slip feet. I’m told that the socks will stop any threat of thrombosis and the non-slip feet will stop me from slipping over on the floor as I walk around. I’m also told that I am hopefully first on the list to be operated on which is great.
During the next couple of hours I am also visited by the Anaesthetist who asks me some questions and walks through what will happen when the anaesthesia is given. I’ll be asleep for the operation so he also explains what will happen when I wake up/any potential side effects that I may get. A little later I am also visited by two surgeons who will be carrying out the surgery. They again ask a few questions, take a look at my arm and explain what they’ll be doing – at that point I am told they’ll use a zig Zag incision procedure for my forearm as this works better than a straight incision.
It feels like a while has gone by since I was visited by everyone, so I decide now is the time to pop on my gown/socks and non-slip feet. I’m fairly nervous so the toilet in my room is used a few times! Then I am given the call that it’s my turn. I give Lisa a kiss to say goodbye and off we go around 10.30am.
I’m taken to the anaesthetic room where I am asked to lay down and again asked a few questions. I then get told that a cannula will be put into my right hand as this is where the general anaesthetic will be injected. After some test solution is injected, the real stuff is put into my hand. I’m told that in a second or two it will feel like I’ve had a couple of glasses of wine. Nothing is happening so I’m starting to think that they must have put the wrong stuff in. Then all of a sudden the ceiling starts to move and I say ‘I think it’s working’…..
The next thing I know is someone is gently saying ‘Simon, Simon, Simon’ next to me. My eyes open and I’m in the recovery ward with a nurse asking me to make sure I am breathing in/breathing out. I’m pretty out of it, but I do remember seeing the clock on the wall – it’s now 1.45pm. Eventually I come back to some level of conciousness and I’m wheeled back to see Lisa on my bed.
Back in my room I am feeling pretty spaced out from the anaesthetic/operation, but I am able to take a look at the new scar on my arm. It’s a beauty! During the next hour or so, I’m given some food and drink which works wonders. As soon as I have eaten/drank, I’m no longer feeling spaced out and start to feel a bit more normal again.
I’m then visited by the surgeon who checks the scar on my arm and the scar on my armpit where the lymph nodes were taken out – I believe 5 nodes were removed. He says the dressing and the wounds look all good.
After a couple of hours Lisa and I are told that I can go home. I’m given a couple of pain killers and then it’s home-time where I am given strict instructions to rest up, keep my arm raised and no heavy lifting for at least 3 weeks. I’m also told to be careful when showering as getting the plaster on my arm and armpit wet could result in it coming off. Ideally the plaster should stay on for about 2 weeks.
Luckily I’m not feeling too groggy after the operation because Oxford are playing Blackburn in a relegation 6 pointer that evening. I’m not fit enough to make it to the match. But I am fit enough to watch it on the TV. Shame I couldn’t be there because we won 1-0 to keep our dream of staying up alive. Get in there!
For a week or so after the operation my arm and armpit is super tight and bruised due to the skin being pulled back together with the stitches. You would think that the incisions would hurt but in actual fact, I don’t think I ever felt any pain where the skin was stitched. Although there was a lot of stinging sensation around the bruising. I did look into this as it seemed odd that the stinging wasn’t where the incisions were, and I found out that this is a good sign as it is a sign that the nerves are attempting to heal themselves. if you are going to go through the same op, I wouldn’t say that the pain/discomfort is bad. If I were to rate it, I’d probably give it a 2 out of 5.
I definitely recommend the doctor’s orders and resting up. The bruising and the stitches do make it quite difficult to use the arm as I normally would, and add the armpit into the mix as that also stops any flexible arm movement, I did end up pretty much doing everything one handed for a few weeks afterwards as my arm and armpit was fairly bruised and stiff which really restricted movement. I’d also recommend a pillow to support the arm when sleeping as well as that really helped me at night. But the short term discomfort will hopefully be well worth it in the longterm.
Proud of my Scar 
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