11 min

Hospital Tales and Musings on Medical Mysteries: An Update from David Watts

Autoimmune

In short

David Watts reports back the day after a muscle biopsy taken to confirm or rule out polymyositis, describing the four-centimetre incision, the pathologists waiting in theatre, and a badly swollen thigh. He talks about the anxiety of waiting for results, the cost of treatment, and his plan to bring other people's stories and non-Western approaches onto the show.

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Why did David have to go into hospital?

For a muscle biopsy, part of the process of establishing whether he has polymyositis in addition to his existing conditions. He had previously listed the things that could potentially be wrong and was still waiting on a diagnosis. The procedure had to be done by an orthopaedic surgeon, one of very few able to perform it.

What actually happens in a muscle biopsy?

Surgeons made roughly a four-centimetre incision in his thigh, worked down to the correct depth and muscle, then excised a piece measuring one centimetre by three centimetres. The sample was cut into three pieces and handed to pathologists waiting in the operating room, who rushed it to the labs for analysis.

How did he feel about hoping for a diagnosis?

Torn. He hopes they get a diagnosis so that he at least knows, but he does not want it to be polymyositis, because it is not fun and adding another autoimmune condition to his growing collection is not something he wants to look forward to.

What did he notice in the operating theatre?

Two women from the pathologists waiting to take the sample looked horrified, apparently never having been in theatre during surgery before. As he went under he thought that there is a first for everything, and hoped they would not trip and fall, because he was not doing the procedure again.

How was the recovery the day after?

Worse than expected once the local anaesthetic wore off. Initially it was manageable because the area around the cut was pumped full of local anaesthetic, and he wondered why he had been given painkillers and anti-inflammatories. By morning his left thigh was swollen to the size it used to be, rather than a stick.

What does he say is the hardest part of a medical process like this?

The waiting and the not knowing. He relays a friend who was unexpectedly found to have breast cancer and faces a double mastectomy, and who told him the worst part for her was the waiting and not knowing, with the constant anxiety and the mental side of it.

Why does he want people to talk about what they are going through?

Because so many people are struggling — physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually — and do not discuss it, sitting in their corners feeling alone, lost and abandoned. He wants to create an environment where he shows up warts and all so others in any kind of pain can talk about it.

What is he planning for future episodes?

Guests. Several people have already said they would like to be on the show, and he wants to move beyond 250 episodes of his own story. He also wants to explore approaches beyond traditional Western medicine, and how people without medical aid or a hospital plan manage treatment costs.

How does he use meditation?

For two things: switching his brain off at night so he can sleep without too much pain, and clearing his mind to get into a better mindset. He describes swinging between feeling he has the day beaten and wanting to lie in the fetal position with the blinds closed.

In their words

Taken from the recording, word for word.

I kind of hope they do get a diagnosis, at least I know. But then on the other hand, you're going, I really don't want it to be this poly myositis because, well, it's just not fun.

— David Watts

As I'm going under, I remember looking at these two poor women and I thought, well, you know, this is, there's a first for everything and whatever you guys do, please don't trip and fall because I'm not doing this again.

— David Watts

It's that waiting and that not knowing and that anxiety all the time.

— David Watts

There's just so many of us that are going through so much stuff and it doesn't have to be physical like me, mental, emotional, spiritual, and we don't talk.

— David Watts

I can go from feeling like, all right, today I've got you. You, I have got today to feeling like I want to lie on my bed in the fetal position and listen to depressing music with the blinds closed and just feel sorry for myself.

— David Watts

Key takeaways

  1. The biopsy required a four-centimetre thigh incision and a one-by-three-centimetre muscle sample, cut into three and handed straight to waiting pathologists.
  2. David is caught between wanting a definite diagnosis and not wanting it to be polymyositis, which would add to his existing autoimmune conditions.
  3. If polymyositis is confirmed, he understands the treatment involves some form of mild chemotherapy.
  4. Waiting for results, rather than the procedure itself, is what he and a friend facing a double mastectomy both name as the hardest part.
  5. Treatment costs are a real worry — he says they could not afford it themselves, and their business is suffering because he cannot contribute as much.
  6. He plans to bring guests onto the show and to explore other approaches, including oxygen therapy, vitamins, herbs, mindset and meditation.

Show notes

Welcome back to another episode of "Watts Involved." On this week's episode, our host David Watts shares a very personal update with all of us. Episode 251 dives into David's unsettling journey to a medical diagnosis that involves an unnerving muscle biopsy procedure. With his characteristic candor, David walks us through his hospital experience, his concerns about possibly adding another autoimmune disease to his list, and the impressive professionalism of the medical staff during his operation.

We'll hear about the deeper impact of waiting for medical results and the anxiety it brings, paralleling a friend's unexpected cancer diagnosis. Despite physical challenges, David maintains his commitment to community and interaction on social media, emphasizing the importance of open discussions about our struggles, regardless of their nature

Frequently asked questions

Was this at his usual hospital?

No. He normally goes to one specific hospital for most of his treatment, but this procedure was done elsewhere because the surgeon was an orthopaedic surgeon and one of very few people able to perform this particular type of muscle biopsy.

How long was he in hospital?

He arrived at 6 and went into theatre around 8. He was told the operation would take about an hour, and that once he had recovered enough to remember his own name he could go home, which he did.

Where can listeners join the conversation?

On Facebook, where he says there has already been a lot of interaction. He suggests searching for Watts Involved — W-A-T-T-S — or David Watts, and thinks David Watts is probably the better search.

Why did recording this episode take effort?

His office is downstairs. With a hole in his leg and fresh surgery, he hobbled his way down to record before another online meeting, and found walking downstairs was not much fun.

Transcript

The full conversation, 1,776 words.

Right. Another episode. What's involved? I thought I'd just give you a quick update on life, the universe and everything. So if you remember, we'd spoken and I think in the last one, I'd given you my shopping list of things that could potentially be wrong. And they were still waiting on a diagnosis on whether I have this polymyositis as well. So part of the journey to the diagnosis involved me having to go into a hospital yesterday for a muscle biopsy. Now, apparently this was quite a thing. So there's about four centimeter incision on my thigh where they had to go in and get down apparently to the right depth where the right muscle was. And then they had to cut out a piece of that particular muscle or muscle group. And it had to be one centimeter by three centimeters. So centimeter wide, three centimeters long, they had to send it then they had to cut a thing and sorry, they excised that. And then they had to cut it into three bits and hand it off to the people from the pathologists that were waiting in the operating room. And then it had to get rushed off to go and do whatever it is and whatever wizardry they perform, which should, and I say should theoretically, get me a diagnosis on that.

And this is one of those things where you kind of go, I kind of hope they do get a diagnosis, at least I know. But then on the other hand, you're going, I really don't want it to be this poly myositis because, well, it's just not fun. And adding another autoimmune to my growing collection is really not something that I want to look forward to. But the amazing things is and I always like to observe and watch. And, you know, when you go into hospital, you often see people at their worst and we take the nursing staff and the doctors and everything for granted. I went to a different hospital yesterday, one which the one I normally go to one specific hospital for most of the stuff and the polygame treatments, et cetera, et cetera. This one, however, was different. I believe it was because he was an orthopedic surgeon and one of the very few people that could perform this particular type of muscle biopsy. So off I went, booked in and they said to me, you know, it's not like a long operation. You might be in the theater for about an hour or so. And then when you come back and you're out and you've recovered and you can, you know, kind of remember your own name, you can go home. So I was there at 6 and I think I went into the theater at around 8, but for me, while I'm now lying on the table, all the bright lights, they're now busy giving me the, the, the anesthetic, et cetera, et cetera.

I look around the operating theater and here I see these two poor ladies from the pathologist waiting in anticipation to take my sacrifice of living flesh and go and take it down to the labs and that the look on their faces, they were, they were like horrified. Obviously they'd never done this before and they'd never been in a theater when a surgery was being performed and, and then had to sort of take the, the, the sample as such and rush it into a lab. And as I'm going under, I remember looking at these two poor women and I thought, well, you know, this is, there's a first for everything and whatever you guys do, please don't trip and fall because I'm not doing this again. So anyway, off they went, I went to sleep, woke up and sort of, as soon as I was able to, I was like, right, I'm, I'm out of here and got to learn it to come and pick me up. And we came home. Initially it wasn't too bad. I thought, okay, I can, I can deal with this because they sort of pumped the area around the cut full of local anesthetic as well. And I was wondering why they'd given me all these painkillers and anti-inflammatories, et cetera, et cetera, right up until I woke up this morning and I saw that my left thigh looked the way it used to look and not like a little stick. And that was mainly due to the swelling. So now I've got one sort of normal because it's all swollen looking thigh and one little stick thigh. And I just thought I'd report in and let you know. So now we wait, now we wait and we see what those results are. And I think, I don't know if I've, I don't know if I mentioned, I mean, we know this, that my brain is like porridge at the best of times, but I think I mentioned a friend of mine who let me know, or maybe that was on Facebook, I think it was, that she'd gone to the doctor and out of the blue, they detected breast cancer and she's going to have to have a double mastectomy. And she said to me, she said, you know, the worst part for her is the waiting and the not knowing. And I think that's true. It's that waiting and that not knowing and that anxiety all the time. And of course, all of the mental issues. So if you haven't checked out what I'm going to be doing on Facebook, just kind of look at what's W-A-T-T-S involved or David Watts. I think David Watts is probably the better one. And there's been quite a, quite a lot of interaction on Facebook. And I love that.

And I encourage that because I think in today's world, and you might be one of those people,

there's just so many of us that are going through so much stuff and it doesn't have to be physical like me, mental, emotional, spiritual, and we don't talk. We don't discuss what's going on with us or how we feel. And we sit in our little corners and we all feel totally alone and we feel lost and abandoned. And it's one of the things that I want to do. I want people, whoever they are, that may be experiencing pain of any form, as I said, mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, to be able to talk about it and to have this kind of environment where I'm saying, okay, look, here I am, what's and all, let's have a chat. And I'd love people to have a chat. And a couple of people have already said to me, yeah, we'd love to, we'd love to be on the show with you. So we're going to set that up and find out a bit more about them because, you know, you listening to me going, oh, woe is me for 250 episodes, may get a little bit much. I also want to bring in what else we do, because at the moment, for me, it's a lot about sort of traditional Western medicine. So it's polygum. And if this polymyotosis thing is, is, you know, if they diagnose it as that, apparently the treatment for that is some form of a mild chemo. So yay me. But what are other people doing? What happens to people don't have a medical aid or a hospital plan facility and an organization that will pay for this. You know, every time we have to ask for something new, my heart sinks, because I never know what, you know, are they going to say yes, they know what happens. I know we couldn't afford this if we had to pay for it ourselves, there would just be no way. And we already are in terms of our business, not being as successful as I'd like, and as we would like, purely because I'm not able to contribute as much.

So I want to talk to these people and I want to find out how it affects them and what we can do, what are the other things that you can do? You know, there's, there's, I've heard a lot of stuff about oxygen therapy, for example. I've heard a lot of talk about vitamins and what vitamins you should use or herbs or this or that on the next thing. I've heard a lot about mindsets. I've heard a lot about meditation from from my side at this stage. Meditation is certainly one thing I do. I use it for two things. Number one, to try and switch my brain off at night so I can go to sleep without too much pain. And, you know, the other one is just to kind of clear my mind and just try and get into a better mindset because it can go up and down. I mean, I can go from feeling like, all right, today I've got you. You, I have got today to feeling like I want to lie on my bed in the fetal position and listen to depressing music with the blinds closed and just feel sorry for myself. So those are the kind of things we're going to be talking about. As I said at the beginning of the video, just want to give you a bit of an update as to what was happening with me and this whole muscle biopsy. And then also the bit I forgot to mention, our office is downstairs.

So if you if you have a look and you can no doubt see in the pictures behind me, you can see the animals are wandering around and there's all sorts of things. Many, many lots of fish tanks. We might talk about that at some stage, but it's downstairs being your operative thing. I got up this morning and decided I need to do this. I've got another online meeting a little bit later on this morning and sort of hobbled my way out here and then realized hole in the leg, fresh surgery, walking downstairs, not so much fun. Anyway, the tractors arriving outside, which is probably a sign that I should sign off. So to each and every one of you, listen, thank you. If you like what you hear, you know, there's that whole like and subscribe thing. Please do that. It'll certainly help me and hundreds of thousands of other people. Take care. Look after yourselves. Be kind. We'll chat soon.

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