Steve is currently recovering from surgery to both his hands today. Steve went in for the surgery at 13:30 and came out of surgery at around 18:00. I was with Steve for an hour before he went into the operating theatre and I accompanied him to the theatre which is located in the Burns Centre. Prior to the operation going ahead Steve was in a positive frame of mind and we spoke about what was happening in the outside world and usual family stuff.

Whilst in the operating theatre Steve went through complex surgery which involved the surgical Team placing his left hand into what is called a groin flap. This required the left hand being placed under a flap of skin which was lifted and separated from the skin tissue below. The hand is attached with a blood supply from the within the flap to maintain a healthy and constant supply of blood to it.It is like Steve has had his hand placed in a pocket. The hand has been secured within this pocket and will have to remain in this pocket for approximately 3 weeks. This may initially cause Steve some discomfort has he has to come to terms with the fact that he will not be able to move his left arm for the 3 weeks. After 3 weeks the flap will be divided and the left hand will be lifted out.

Steve's right hand has had a graft of skin placed around it and attached to it, this area of new skin has also been attached to a healthy blood supply to enable it to develop into healthy skin around the damaged area.

Due to the complexity of the operation involving the groin flap and the area being very fragile Steve is being monitored by the nursing staff every 30 minutes over night. This is to keep a check on Steve and also to ensure that the groin flap is staying healthy and no complications are developing.

During the operation Steve has had further surgery on his fingers and thumbs resulting in the shortening of these areas.

The surgery went well for Steve and he himself did very well whilst in there. Today was his 13th operation and when I spoke to the nursing staff this evening he was just coming around from the anaesthetic but was recovering ok.