Surgery Day

Yuck. I can think of an infinite amout of things I'd rather do than have surgery. Once I got to the hospital at noon, they rushed me back to the "preparation room" where I got changed into my very fashionable hospital gown and socks. From there, I had a parade of nurses coming in asking my name, which knee was being operated on, and if I needed anything. They set the IV and I was ready to go. I was very thirsty, very hungry, and very annoyed. I wasn't allowed to eat after midnight prior to my surgery, and it 4:15pm before I went back for the operation (it was supposed to happen at 2pm). All I wanted was a glass of water and a cheeseburger, but that wasn't happening. Finally, the nurse came into my room and it was time for me to say my goodbyes to my fiance. The nurse gave me a "cocktail" to relax me, and after about 10 seconds I was flying high. I remember getting to the operating room, asking the doctor how he was feeling and having them shave my leg. By that time, they were having me breate deeply and I was out like a light. Although I was out cold during the operation, I can give you the brief rundown of what happened. They made a 3-4 inch incision in the front of my knee to remove the middle 1/3 of my patellar tendon. From there, they made two very small holes in the side of my knee and drilled through some bone to get to the inside. One hole was for the camera, the other for the dirty work. They screwed the two pieces of bone that attached to the patellar tendon to the inside of my knee and there you have it... a new ACL. They also sewed up a partial tear of my meniscus, but said it wasn't anything major at all. After all was said and done, I was out of surgery at around 6:10pm. Post-op, I slept like a baby for about 2 hours. Around 8, I woke up confused and as thirsty as I've ever been. The anesthesiologists put a tube down my throat filled with funny-gas to keep me asleep throughout the procedure. The removal of that hurt the hell out of my throat. The combination of that and the lack of water intake for almost 24 hours had me a bit cranky and in the mood for a drink. It took about 20 or so minutes of struggling, but I finally got my eyes open and started talking. After the first couple of drinks, my focus turned to my knee. I couldn't move my leg and boy-oh-boy did it hurt. I told the nurses and they started pumping me full of pain pills. Over the next hour, they served me toast, jello, and a Pepsi. My fiance was allowed to join me, and I began the process of checking out. By 9pm, it was time to go home. The last chore was getting myself on crutches to the bathroom and peeing. The nurse said that doing so was my "ticket out of there", so I did it without hesitating. Before I knew it I was in the car and on my way home. A few more pain pills and I was out like a light at home, new ACL and all.