It was like a bad case of cramp in the whole of my left leg
David Ball was looking forward to getting back on his feet after a routine operation on his left knee. The 54-year-old was suffering from pains that had become so severe he had taken to using crutches.
The surgery in mid-August – a simple day case operation lasting about 30 minutes – went without incident.
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But three days later, his leg became very painful and started swelling.
Mr Ball said: "It was like a very bad case of cramp in the whole of my leg.
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"It was so painful I couldn't walk on it and painkillers were not doing anything to help."
Mr Ball, of Whitwick, called his GP, who immediately arranged a scan at Leicester Royal Infirmary. The scan revealed he had DVT – deep vein thrombosis.
"I was a little shocked when I was told," Mr Ball said. "I had heard of DVT but didn't pay much attention to it.
"But the doctors and nurses were brilliant. They reassured me and said they could sort it out.
"There was no particular reason that it developed.
"It wasn't due to the surgery, it was just one of those things."
Mr Ball was given an injection to thin his blood to start to disperse the clot.
He will have to take blood thinning medication for at least six months and has to wear elasticated pressure stockings for two years.
He is also on a strict exercise regime to make sure the muscles in his leg are working.
Mr Ball, who works as an administrator in Barden, is on the road to recovery, but is not sure when he will be back at work.
"My leg is getting much better," he said.
"The pain is not nearly as bad as it was, although it does ache a little.
"I am doing exactly as I am told and religiously doing the exercise I have been given. I have to have blood tests every few days to make sure the blood thinning medication is right.
"I am not sure when I will be able to go back to work but over the past couple of weeks I have noticed how much better my leg is getting.
"A few days ago I couldn't even raise it and now I can."
Mr Ball, who is married with a daughter, enjoys running and cycling and is looking forward to getting back to both.
"I am still not sure when I will be able to do that," he said. "I will have to take advice from the doctors and nurses looking after me."
Mr Ball said his advice to anyone who thinks they might have DVT would be not to delay in getting medical help.
He said: "No-one should think they are wasting their doctor's time. It could be very serious."
Comments
by CGLee
Monday, September 24 2012, 9:41AM
“I had a knee operation when I was 22 and developed a "blood clot" in my leg immediately afterwards, which was not spotted for a few days. I was in agony and finished up in hospital for two weeks insted of a day or two and put on thinning agents.
Last year I had an operation on my shoulder, and after telling the surgeon about my leg operation forty years earlier I was advised to wear elastic stockings for six weeks. Advice which I took! When I think about it now I realise how lucky I was at the time. And I'd only been married for two weeks!”