Steve Wood’s 3 peaks personal 'Everest' challenge

My story, my challenge, and my request of you …….

 I am asking for your support in helping me raise £10,000 for the Oxford bone infection unit at the NHS Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre. In February 2011 Consultants specialising in treating life threatening infections of the bone and in major limb re-construction, firstly saved my life and then saved my leg after it had been ravaged by an infection which did not get diagnosed and treated early enough. 

Eight years and over 20 operations (including 4 right knee replacements and revisions) later, my leg is as good as it will ever be. I can at last bend my knee sufficiently so that, with a special short pedal crank I can ride a bike again and, whilst trekking up and down steep hills and mountains remains a huge challenge for me with the constant pain I am in, it is that big challenge that I have set myself and need your help with. 

 I have a huge debt of gratitude that I am desperate to repay to the Bone infection unit ( to Oliver Byren, Roger Gundle, Alex Ramsden and Ashok Handa {at the JR} ) for saving my life and my leg and starting me on my very very long road to recovery.  Helping me on this long road too was Mark Booth and his team of therapists at Body Limits – a huge thank you to you all. Finally, I also owe a massive debt of gratitude to a very special and talented revision surgeon in Wales - Rhidian Morgan-Jones, for taking on the challenge of re-building me with the support of his colleagues at The Spire Hospital Cardiff…. between 2012 and now. 

 So, I am asking you to support me generously as, in July 2019 I seek to climb, summit and descend the UKs 3 highest peaks in 3 consecutive days - Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon. This is particularly tough for me as my leg swells up after any significant (even flat) walk and the constant pain I am in affects my ability to push through and carry on without icing and resting my leg between periods of activity. You could honestly say that this is my own 'Everest summit'! 

But, what I have been through these last 8 years that means you should support me? Do read on, but it is a long and woeful tale I am very sorry to say. Details of how to send your support in sponsorship are outlined at the end of the story!

 
My story: It all started back in November 2010 when, a running and exercise 'junkie'  like me was training hard for my next half marathon in Spain. Apart from a 'jock rash' where the seam of my training trousers had been rubbing against my right thigh, I was race fit and raring to go in the Benidorm half marathon, having had a steroid injection the week before to help protect my knee during the race. Unbeknown-st to anyone the jock rash was infected and the surgeon who injected me managed to pick up the infection and inject it, along with the steroid, into my knee!   I then became poorly during the race and felt very 'flu like', ended up with a very poor time and flew back to urgently consult the surgeon with my extremely painful and swollen knee. 

 Catastrophically my infection was not picked up and with my health deteriorating rapidly, I was admitted as an emergency 5 days later. The surgeon then got me on the correct treatment and sought to clear the infection but by this time I now also had a blood clot (DVT) behind the same knee which meant the treatment had to proceed with caution. Things continued to deteriorate and by now I was fighting for my life! At one point the hospitals pastor came and asked me if I wanted him to give me my last rites? You can perhaps imagine my response .... the second word of which was a polite but firm      "....... off!"

 I fought on but I was still acutely ill over the next couple of months. By Valentine’s day 2011 I had deteriorated to such an extent that I again had to be admitted on an emergency basis and put back on IV anti-biotics as by now it was clear that the infection had not gone away and in fact had now gone into my bones and was ravaging my knee and my lower leg. I was taken to the NHS bone infection unit and immediately admitted so that the specialists could take urgent steps to again save my life. Later in February I had a 6-hour major operation to remove my knee joint and all the infection from my lower leg. I found out that because of the extensive amount of infection, my blood supply was really compromised around my knee and I had needed part of my calf muscle to be 'flipped over' and placed on my now non-existent knee cap and knee joint. This would give my knee and lower leg a chance of survival. I also had a skin graft from my thigh placed on my knee.


This picture taken a day after my Op shows how much of my knee had to be operated on in an attempt to eradicate the infection. I look like a Serrano ham!! 

 My emotional state by this stage was at an all time low, such that Julie got the ward doing 15 min observations in case I attempted to jump out of the bedroom window. I didn't and as she reminded me, as I was only on the 1st floor I would just probably make things worse and not end up successfully killing myself so I had better not bother trying! 

 Six months of me being in a 24 hour toe to crutch brace with a couple more DVTs thrown in along the way followed and in September 2012 when everyone was confident I was infection free, once again the NHS bone infection unit stepped in to re-build me. Another long and complicated operation followed and a new knee was put in. Unfortunately, because of the length of operation and the complexity of it, whilst in recovery, they found no blood supply from above my new knee downwards. I was then ‘blue light’ rushed to the John Radcliffe where I was informed that they had got to operate to investigate what had gone wrong, and that there was a 70% chance that they would not be able to secure a blood supply and, if this was so they would have no choice but to amputate my leg from my upper thigh. To say I was devastated at that thought given what I had been through is a massive understatement. However, I had no choice but to endure a further immediate operation. When I woke up to my absolute relief I found I still had 2 legs but was also told that unbelievably I had endured another clot but this time in my femoral artery, which the Consultants had never encountered before given I was on blood thinners since my 1st clot when this all started. Needless to say I am on blood thinners for life now !  Then followed months of rehabilitation, further operations to try to secure more movement and bend, so that I could resume some form of exercise, only to be told in March 2012 that even though my knee was now not stable, 'the NHS could do no more' and that I was very lucky to be alive and still have a leg at all so to go home and accept the limitations in my movement. 

I found that I couldn't function with an unstable leg and I couldn’t resume any form of exercise, which for me was pure torture and so in Dec 2012 I sought a further opinion privately. My new surgeon, Rhidian Morgan-Jones now ascertained that as a result of what had happened to me I now had only one functioning artery down my lower right leg, when everyone else has three, so that if anything happened to that one my leg would have to be amputated. In February 2013 I then had my next major operation to take out the unstable knee and replace it with a new one.

After a year of trying to get more movement with more operations, it was decided that I needed the tendons and ligaments around my knee cutting, with a new hinged knee being put in place, so I underwent another big operation. Then 3 years later the top half of the knee replacement became loose in my thigh and so was replaced, but this time with a much longer one as you can see here. 


..........This time I had 75 staples holding my leg  together, whilst it took months to heal and settle. That was 18 months ago and it has taken me until now to be fit enough to attempt this big challenge.