An Ayrshire cancer patient is getting back to normal life after her leg was saved during remarkable surgery in the middle of Covid restrictions.
The extraordinary operation carried out at the NHS Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, during the pandemic to save Jan Ritson’s leg was a resounding success.
Almost two years after the Stewarton woman’s shin bone was removed, sent to another hospital for radiation treatment and then reinserted back into her leg during a 12-hour procedure, keen golfer Jan is making the most of life after her recovery period.
The rare and complicated operation in August 2020 at the height of the pandemic consisted of removing Jan’s tibia from her left leg at the Golden Jubilee, then taking it on a 20-minute journey to Glasgow’s Beatson west of Scotland cancer centre in a sterile container.
At the Beatson, the bone received radiotherapy and was then repackaged and brought back to the Golden Jubilee, where the skilled team was waiting to insert it back in place – all while Jan was asleep on the operating table.
The surgical squad, led by consultant orthopaedic surgeon Ashish Mahendra of Glasgow's Royal Infirmary, and teams from NHS Golden Jubilee and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, carried out their work with the aim of saving her leg and avoiding amputation.
Reflecting on it all, Jan said: “I feel everything has gone according to plan. They did say that it was going to be two years before everything was healed and I’d be walking properly again.
“I still have some pain in my ankle, which may not be as a result of the operation, but could possibly be age related. I’ve recently had an MRI scan which should indicate if there are any concerns.
“However, I’m back playing golf every week, walking much better and I’m absolutely delighted with the outcome of this.
“I can’t praise Mr Mahendra and the teams at the Golden Jubilee highly enough. Mr Mahendra even came in on a day off, just to make sure I was okay and I didn’t have any issues, which I think is just amazing.
“Everything went extremely well. The teams were amazing and the care I received was second to none. I’m absolutely delighted with the whole process, and the staff were really superb in every respect.
“I feel that I’m a very, very lucky person and extremely lucky to still have my leg.”
Jan is also encouraging anyone who may have symptoms of bone cancer to seek help immediately.
She said: “The earlier cancer is diagnosed, the better chance you have of survival so you must go and get and checked out for an early diagnosis if you’re worried about your symptoms.”
Mr Mahendra said: “For the kind of tumour that Jan had there are two main things that we look at – the most important is from the cancer point of view and the second is the leg function after reconstruction.
“The other thing that we have to closely monitor is the disease showing up at any other place because it was a high grade tumour that Jan was diagnosed with.
“The chances are higher in the first couple of years and after that they are strongly in favour of the patient, but it has all gone to plan so far.
“The collaboration was immense, and everyone involved from the Jubilee, the Beatson and the Royal Infirmary put in a massive effort to make sure that the surgery was as straightforward as possible.”
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