Monday, May 18, 2009

Reconstruction/Surgery Day

May 18, 2009

Today is the big day. I slept better than what I thought I would and wasn't nervous about the surgery. I arrived at the hospital at 5:00 am in good spirits and joked around with the nursing staff. I spent 2 hours in pre-surgery prep where they shaved, cleaned, and prepped me for surgery. In the pre-surgery room I started to get a little nervous only because every nurse had several questions and explained what their role was in the whole procedure. All I really wanted was to get it over with.

I don't remember much going into the surgery room or in the post op room. In the surgery room, I remember rolling into the room, looking around briefly and then the I was out from the anesthesia. In the post op room I woke up to a conversation of a nurse looking to buy a house. I tried to sell myself to her as a REALTOR, but I was so drugged up I'm sure it didn't make sense.

The surgery itself took less than an hour an a half. I elected to have a hamstring graft done to reconstruct the ACL, had some lateral meniscus removed, and MCL patched up.

When I arrived back to the room I was wide awake and hungry. There was zero pain or discomfort from the surgery, mainly from the nerve block and morphine still in my system. I pounded some graham crackers and apple juice. I was released about 12:00 in the afternoon.

Returning home I was wide awake all afternoon. I had zero pain due to the nerve block still blocking the pain. Sleeping the first night was a little awkward with the large post op brace, but I was able to get a good nights sleep.

I had a wonderful girl take care of me all day. She woke up early to get me to the hospital, took me home, bought me groceries and made my meals for the week. She truly was a life saver.

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