Advanced Orthopedics

On Friday, December 11th, 2009 I went in to Advanced Orthopedics for my arthroscopic knee surgery on both knees. I was not allowed to eat anything after midnight the night before. But since I had an early appointment, I would not have to worry about a grumbling stomach too long. My appointment was for 10:00 AM. We arrived early, got all signed in and settled into the waiting room. I have to admit I was a little nervous. I tried my best to relax but things were running late that morning and I had to wait for about an hour and a half before they finally called my name. I spent the time on my work Blackberry, sending emails about an ongoing issue we were having. My boss emailed me and told me to turn it off and chill out. But I think it was nice to have something else to worry about.

Finally they called me back. They walked me down to one of the beds where I changed into a nice warm robe and got under a nice warm blanket. At Advanced Orthopedics, they really treat you well. They had a warmer that kept all the robes and blankets nice and warm. After I was all set, the nurse came back and started prepping me for surgery. I had to answer a lot of the same questions about when was the last time I ate, what medications was I on, etc. I had to sign some consent forms and I also had to sign me knees with a little felt tip pen. I also had the pleasure of having my legs shaved from a few inches below the knee to a few inches above. As a man who never had the pleasure, it was sort of fascinating to see my leg hair being shaved off. Not terribly exciting for women or the hardcore swimmers and bikers, but to me it was neat.

Next the anesthesiologist came in and asked me some questions and made me sign some consent forms. Then the surgeon came in to chat me up real quick and also sign both knees. The nurse who was working to prep me for surgery was really great. When she put the IV in, she did a great job. It did not really hurt but it was uncomfortable. She could tell it was bothering me a bit and asked if I wanted a warm blanket for my arm. I agreed and she wrapped the blanket around my arm. The nice warm blanket was soothing and helped me relax. Next, they went and got Melissa who came in to see me before they took me back to the surgery room. Melissa snapped a few pictures with her cell phone.

Then it was time. They wheeled me back to the surgery area and honestly, that is the last thing I remember before waking up in recovery. After I came to, the nurse called Melissa back into the recovery area and went over all my discharge instructions. Melissa then helped me get dressed and I was wheeled out to the car. We had some pillows for the back seat where I laid down for the ride home. They had given me some crutches that I would be using to move from the car to the couch and later from the couch to bathroom. I did not really have much pain. Typically the doctors will shoot the knee full of pain killers during this kind of procedure.

Melissa helped me into our house and to the couch. We have a reclining couch that was perfect for keeping my legs up. I was supposed to keep them above my hips. So we propped up my legs on some pillows, covered me up with a bunch of blankets and my hat and put all the things I would need next to me. I had the tv remote, my computer, my blackberry, some magazines, and a headlamp so I could see during the night. I was all set to stay camped out on the couch for the next several days.

And that is exactly what I did. I basically was on the couch Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. I would get up and use the crutches to go to the bathroom when needed. When my ice needed changing, I would use my arms to lift myself up the stairs to the freezer and get new ice. Once I hauled myself up to the top of the stairs, I would do my leg lifts that I was told to do. I was managing to do the legs lifts at least once a day.

For the first day or two I pretty much ate a box of crackers and drank ginger ale and water. I was taking pain killers which allowed me to fade in and out but also made me less than hungry. While sitting in my cocoon I watched lots of soccer hammered out some of my new blog - this very blog. I had a very strange sloshing around in my knees that was a little freaky. I tried to not slosh as much as possible just because it sounded so weird.

On Tuesday, Melissa came home and insisted that I get up and get out of the house. Before getting into the details, I want to mention that these events happened in December of 2009 which was not long ago. I have been waiting to write about this next part of the story since it happened. But I wanted to stick to the timeline as much as possible. So much of what I have written in my last couple of posts have been setting this next part up. And you guessed it, that will have to wait until the next posting.