Before she retired in 2014, Alexandra McTeare had worked for the NHS for 30 years – and always believed in public healthcare. But when she experienced severe pain, she was forced to consider difficult choices
When Alexandra McTeare was told she might have to wait three years for knee replacement surgery, she felt desperate. “Because of how miserable your life is, how small it has become,” she says.
The problems with her knee started in 2017. “It was painful and would swell up, particularly in the heat.” She would take painkillers and keep her leg elevated when she was sitting down, and did stretching exercises for her muscles. But over the next few years, “it gradually got worse, the intervals between swelling episodes reduced and the pain increased”. It reached a point where it was no longer bearable.
