Fleetwood gran speaks about her year since futuristic op

Just over a year ago, she became only the third person in Britain - and one of less than ten in the world - to undergo a space age operation.

Linda , a mental health nurse from Fleetwood, underwent a ribcage replacement procedure, having a 3-D printed titanium sternum implant fitted by a team of specialists at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

It was a remarkable procedure, like something from a science fiction film, which saw her damaged sternum replaced with a made-to-measure, lightweight metal one.

The operation became crucial because Linda’s own ribcage developed serious problems after a cardiac operation three years ago.

Despite that heart operation proving a life-saving success, things went wrong later when her sternum, which had been opened up for the cardiac procedure, started to become detached in a rare and unlucky post-operation occurrence.

It got to to point where she could even twiddle one of her chest bones around and she was in agony as her sternum effectively split in two.

It was because of this that she ended up having the procedure at Birmingham, after a wait of almost two years, after hearing about it and campaigning to get it done on the NHS.

Just over 12 months on from the groundbreaking op, Linda has mixed feelings about the procedure and wishes her original sternum problems had been rectified so she wouldn't have needed to go to Birmingham in the first place.

She is looking into whether more can be dome for people, post-sternum surgery, as she feels there is a worldwide lack of follow up help for those who may be having problems.

She has even set up an international Facebook group for a small number of others who have developed rare sternum problems after undergoing various operations and can help each other with emotional support.

Mum-of-three and grandmother Linda, 53, of Warrenhurst Road, Fleetwood, said: "All the surgeons who operated on me did a god job, but in my case I have been one of those who have really struggled after both of my operations.

"To be honest, there are times now when I have been in agony this year.

"I have suffered a number of infections after the implant and my health has not been great .

"Sometimes I haven't been able to sleep.

"I was worried at one point because there was no way the implant could be taken out because I had no ribcage left - it wasn't survivable!

"Fortunately the screws in the implant have not become infected and I'm on a three-month course of anti-biotics so hopefully that will help.

"They've done everything they can to help me at Birmingham since the operation but I have struggled.

"It has taken a toll on me, it's affected my mental health, which I'm having help for.

"I'm not able to do what I used to do and that makes you feel like you've lost your old self, like you're a different person."

it has certainly been an up and down experience, from the agony of her collapsed ribcage, to the euphoria of having the titanium implant, to the post-op difficulties she has again struggled with.

One of the biggest hardships is that she has not bee able to see her new granchildren in Australia as she has been unable to fly out.

She also has concerns about Covid-19.

But Linda has been able to discuss the issues with those who understand from their similar experiences - those in the Facebook group she set up - the Sternotomy/Sternectomy/Non Union Sternum/Mental Health/ Support Group,

Many of those involved live in the United States and have suffered from collapsed sternums after undergoing various procedures.

Linda, who has worked as a mental health nurse at The Harbour in Blackpool, said: "We've all had similar experiences, we are struggling, but being able to talk to others in the same position is a help.

"We all feel that there is not enough out there to help people like us.

"I'm hoping to raise awareness of it."