As I wake up from the haze of anesthesia, I keep asking "what did the doctor say?" to my husband. He apparently tells me many times what the doctor said, but I keep asking anyway. Funny how everyone seems to have a certain thing they get "stuck" on after coming to. Keith's was trying to continue selling the doctor a bike and asking if I had called his mom. Anyway, we laugh now, but there was not much laughing going on that morning for me.
The surgeon told my husband that everything went really well in surgery. They ended up finding a 95% ACL tear and no meniscus damage. Yeah! I was worried about the meniscus because of the MRI combined with the symptoms. Looks like that stubborn 5% of the ACL was the root of the pain pre op. I know I'm stubborn, but really, did all my parts have to be stubborn too? I guess so.
Nothing can quite prepare you for the first time you try to "walk" after having ACL surgery for several reasons. Number one, the blood rush is something that you can't understand until you feel it. Kind of like when the doctor says "when you feel like you need to push" during labor. No words can quite give it justice. Number two, after all that work pre op to get that quad to fire there you are with a giant, heavy wet noodle hanging from your rear end (that is bare and hanging out of a hospital gown at this point). Number three, dizzy from the meds and already in some pain you realize that this is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. Oh man. I guess it's too late to turn back now...
Somehow, by the grace of God, we were discharged and made it home with some Potbelly sandwiches in hand. Half of the sandwich filled me up and helped calm my uneasy tummy. Most of the rest of the day was a blur with intermittent pain, drug induced sleep and feelings of "what in the world did I just do to myself?". It was clear that I had made my nest on the couch and that is where I was going to stay for at least the night and next day. Everything I had read about this surgery from real people said how it was one of the most painful things that they had ever been through and the second day seemed to be the worst. My mantra became "stay ahead of the pain" and I did a pretty good job. Surgery day down.
Showing posts with label surgery scheduled. Show all posts
Showing posts with label surgery scheduled. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
time scheduled
Surgery is scheduled for Wednesday morning at 7:30, and I have to be there by 6:15, which means I have to leave the house at 5:45. I'm so excited about that! I guess I'll get up at 5:00 to shower with my cool anti-microbial soap and put on my cozy clothes. It's not like I have to worry about eating breakfast...
I am really glad surgery is scheduled for the morning, but that time of the morning has caused a bit of a wrinkle in things for the family. This is one of those times that I really miss having family in town. You can't just ask a friend to wake up at that hour of the morning to get your child up, fed and on the bus when they have their own children to wrangle in the morning. At this point, it looks like Little I is going with us to the hospital and hanging out with Big K. Maybe being there will help with her anxiety about the procedure. She keeps asking when the surgery is and I know that she is worried about the unknown. I am happy to be so close to being on the road to real recovery even though I know it will get much harder before it gets easier. There is a certain amount of comfort in the fact that it will be "fixed".
Going through the checklist:
anointing of the sick, check
special soap, check
comfy clothes, check
ice pack cooler thing, check
books and movies, check
extra pillows, check
Tylenol, aspirin and vitamin C, check
prunes, check
new ACL...
I am really glad surgery is scheduled for the morning, but that time of the morning has caused a bit of a wrinkle in things for the family. This is one of those times that I really miss having family in town. You can't just ask a friend to wake up at that hour of the morning to get your child up, fed and on the bus when they have their own children to wrangle in the morning. At this point, it looks like Little I is going with us to the hospital and hanging out with Big K. Maybe being there will help with her anxiety about the procedure. She keeps asking when the surgery is and I know that she is worried about the unknown. I am happy to be so close to being on the road to real recovery even though I know it will get much harder before it gets easier. There is a certain amount of comfort in the fact that it will be "fixed".
Going through the checklist:
anointing of the sick, check
special soap, check
comfy clothes, check
ice pack cooler thing, check
books and movies, check
extra pillows, check
Tylenol, aspirin and vitamin C, check
prunes, check
new ACL...
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
surgery scheduled
My appointment with the surgeon went well today. He seems like a nice enough guy who I'm sure has done thousands of ACL surgeries. I know for sure he did 4 last week alone. He has recommended that I go ahead with the surgery since I am an active person who enjoys activities that involve running, jumping, turning etc. We talked about the different options available for the "new" ACL. "Dead guy" as MB calls it, is not his first choice because of my activity level and its higher failure rate. I can't say that I was really disappointed about that, as the thought of "dead guy" did not sound very appealing to me! He did a very good job of going through the process of explaining why he made the recommendations he did. So, it looks like we are going with the patellar tendon and have a surgery date set for April 28th.
PT is going well. I am going onto the "transition" program which is the "insurance only gives me 20 PT visits per year and I'm going to need them post op" program. It allows me to develop a plan with my PT and work out there at the Cube on an "independent" program. She is happy with my progress and thinks it will be fine. I am almost equal on extension and was able to flex to 135 degrees today. I added the leg press to my list of exercises along with a balancing exercise where I throw a medicine ball against a trampoline thing and catch it. It feels so good to be making progress and start doing some normal activities again. I get tired fast though, and don't have a lot of muscular endurance back yet. This means that things are really falling apart at home since I can only do bits at a time and can't move like normal yet. I can push all the dirty clothes down the stairs, but can't wash them and fold them as fast as they accumulate. Getting them back up the stairs after they are folded, is out of the question. Isabella has really been a helper, but is 6 and leaves EVERYTHING out all over the place. I can't pick it all up and don't have the energy to make her do it either. It looks like someone robbed us!
PT is going well. I am going onto the "transition" program which is the "insurance only gives me 20 PT visits per year and I'm going to need them post op" program. It allows me to develop a plan with my PT and work out there at the Cube on an "independent" program. She is happy with my progress and thinks it will be fine. I am almost equal on extension and was able to flex to 135 degrees today. I added the leg press to my list of exercises along with a balancing exercise where I throw a medicine ball against a trampoline thing and catch it. It feels so good to be making progress and start doing some normal activities again. I get tired fast though, and don't have a lot of muscular endurance back yet. This means that things are really falling apart at home since I can only do bits at a time and can't move like normal yet. I can push all the dirty clothes down the stairs, but can't wash them and fold them as fast as they accumulate. Getting them back up the stairs after they are folded, is out of the question. Isabella has really been a helper, but is 6 and leaves EVERYTHING out all over the place. I can't pick it all up and don't have the energy to make her do it either. It looks like someone robbed us!
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