WHEN most people think of surgery they imagine a sound-asleep patient, and probably a fair amount of blood and guts.

So when I was told my first Monday morning job at the hospital would be to observe an operation – and a gynaecology one at that – my heart sank.

Arriving in the gynaecology ward, I donned my theatre overalls and hat, and after a soothing cup of tea, joined the theatre team.

I was quickly put right on my ideas of surgery. Val Gregory, the patient, would be awake all the time, and there would be hardly any cutting involved – this, like many modern gynaecological procedures – was done through the vagina wall.

A hysterectomy would be performed first, then the bladder would be put back in place, strengthened, and everything stitched up.

It sounded simple. Consultant urogyneacologist Simon Hill talked me through everything, from the first round of disconnecting blood vessels, through to the finely-balanced placing of the bladder and the final stitching.

Val said the experience was “just like lying on a massage table in a beauty parlour”.

The 70-year-old from Darwen suffered a prolapsed bladder six months ago, and was referred to Mr Hill for surgery. She was sedated throughout the hour-long procedure, and said afterwards: “When I found out I would have to have the operation, I was given loads of information to take home and there was always someone to answer my questions so I knew exactly what would be happening.

“I’d had an eye operation years ago in Manchester which was really quite traumatic, so I was worried and I didn’t know what to expect from the spinal anaesthetic. But I would highly recommend it – it was wonderful!

“I can’t believe how easy it’s been. It’s less than an hour since the operation and I feel fine.

“It was horrible living with the prolapse, wondering if people can see it, always being uncomfortable. It’s going to be a new lease of life now, I hope.

“Being in hospital isn’t like it used to be. Everything’s more relaxed, all the staff are lovely and you know you can always ask questions without ever being made to feel you’re wasting someone’s time.”

Later that morning, Ursula Martin, of Pleasington, had an operation to stop her incontinence, after struggling with the problem for more than 10 years.

She had been so worried about the procedure that she had already seen private specialists three times, only to back out of the operation.

But after her hour-long surgery – a procedure pioneered in the UK in the mid-1990s by Mr Hill – she urged other women to ask for help sooner.

The doctor makes tiny incisions in the abdomen, to thread through specially-designed material to strengthen the bladder. Most women can go home the day after their operation, which is also performed while the patient is awake.

Miss Martin, a retired baker, said: “I had been struggling for a long time, but in this day and age there’s really no need to struggle.

“All I’ve got are a couple of stitches and I’m feeling fine. It will be wonderful when I can go home.

“I had just got used to it and been living with it all these years, but the surgeon talked me through everything and I’ve been really well looked-after. I’m looking forward to getting back to normal.”