Kent pensioner Margaret Lucas waited for 15 months for a knee replacement. In the end, she went to France for surgery as part of an NHS attempt to reduce waiting lists.
During Your NHS in 2002, she was recovering from the operation in a French hospital bed.
1825 GMT I was supposed to be taken to another department for an x-ray, but it seems that no-one has turned up yet. The physiotherapist had told me earlier in the day that the x-ray people would be around so they could check out my brand new knee.
When I arrived last Friday they took me for an x-ray quite late. And they're pretty quick - when I had it done the first time I only had to wait 20 minutes.
I arrived with four other people from the UK to have their operations in Lille - all up there were three knees and two hips.
1640 GMT The prospect of being in France away from my family did worry me a bit, but there are so many people floating around, they ask you what newspaper you want and you even get a weekly magazine. There is no chance of getting bored.
My son is a deputy headteacher and so is working all week but he will be coming to visit me at the weekend. He also came with me last week when I came to Lille.
Normally, when you go to hospital in the UK you have lots and lots of visitors, but one day when I was in hospital in the UK I had about seven visitors in one day. I was exhausted, it was too much. So it isn't always a bad thing to have fewer people coming to see you.
A: from Margaret Lucas No they haven't contacted me, but I should think that it will be arranged from here and the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford in Kent. They did tell me that the physiotherapy people would be in touch though. Q: from Peter Berry, UK Has your local health service talked to you about what follow-up services will be available to you on your return? 1439 GMT The standard of care in the hospital is very high. Nurses come in regularly to check up on me and make sure I am OK.
One of them is Sylvaine Puchois who has only been working at the clinic for a month. She has been employed because she speaks good English. She says she enjoys her job and applied after seeing a report about the Louviere looking for English speaking nurses.
1215 GMT I am having my first physio session since the operation. The sessions only last around 10 minutes but I will have them every day for the next two weeks. First the physio, who speaks a little English, bends and stretches my ankle and makes sure the splint is in place before I start the session.
I walk to one end of the room and back with the aid of a Zimmer frame, it is painful but it is worth it because it is the first step on the road to recovery. It is the second time I have walked in one day, and it has only been four days since my operation.
A: from Margaret Lucas I've had pain in my knee for quite some time now, and as I am a keen walker and like Scottish dancing it became worse and worse. I was put on the waiting list for a new knee around 15 months ago and have lived on various painkillers, but it was really getting bad around two months ago.
I went to my doctor to ask for a cortisone injection but he sent me to my old doctor who said he was horrified at how long I had had to wait. He asked if I was prepared to go to France. I said I'd go anywhere if it helped get rid of the pain.
It only took a few weeks for me to have my operation after I said I would go. If only they had thought of sending people abroad 15 months ago. There must be people who are waiting even longer because they are afraid or don't want to go to another country.
I was walking the dog up until Friday, when I left for France. It was really painful but I was determined to keep walking.
Q: from Susan Ford, US How long have you been waiting for your knee operation? 1130 GMT I am having my lunch, which is a cheese tartlet with saut�ed potato and carrots and a yoghurt. 1030 GMT I walked for the first time since the operation today. I went to the bathroom and back with a Zimmer frame. It was painful on the way back but it is real progress. I am very pleased.
I have spoken to the dietician about what I want for lunch. She comes round in the morning to ask what you want to eat. You get a choice of a starter, salad, meat and veg and cheese or yoghurt.
We are even getting wine with our meal on Thursday night. You certainly don't get that on the NHS.
You can't really compare the food here with the food they serve in NHS hospitals. But in Britain they do what they can with the resources they have got.
0830 GMT I have just finished my breakfast. My room has a lovely view; it is just like the park near my home in Kent. It seems awful that we have to do this just to get an operation though.
I had two operations on the NHS last year - two cataracts, and each time I stayed in the Kent and Canterbury Hospital. There is nothing wrong with the nursing care but they are rushed off their feet all of the time. The standard of cleanliness is also not very good. It strikes you how clean the hospital in Lille is as soon as you walk in. It is very sad.
I am due to come out on 4 March. I will have physio everyday. It will be quite intensive but that is very good. You go on a waiting list for several months to have physio back home.
0730 GMT The Clinique de la Louviere is just outside the centre of Lille, a short taxi ride away from the Eurostar terminal.
The operation went very, very well and the pain is gradually going. I had the operation on Saturday and today I am going to walk for the first time, although it will be with a zimmer frame.
I shall have a splint in my leg for a while.
The hospital is marvellous and the care is good. There are two surgeons who come in twice a day. The nursing staff are also very good and come to see me every two hours. I am delighted.
The only problem is the language barrier, but one of the nurses speaks English and we manage to put across our point.
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