Tomorrow is the big day! I am still a little anxious but there is plenty to do in the meantime to keep me busy. And if I was thinking about maybe postponing it (and I was), that thought was eradicated when my knee slipped out cleaning my mat after PureBarre this morning. Fine, fine - I will go!
There are so many things to remember before I go in tomorrow morning. Tonight we will get the couch all ready, as well as the recliner (that might be better to sleep in the first few days). I'll have to take off my nail polish (boo!) so they can check my nailbeds to make sure I'm getting enough oxygen during surgery. No food or drink after midnight tonight - then tomorrow morning, no makeup (again, so they can check my color), no lotion (so that all the little sticky monitors will adhere to my skin), no deodorant.
The surgery is at 9:15, but we will get to the hospital 2 hours early. They'll check me in, and move me to a pre-op area where they will start an IV. Because I confessed to the anesthesia nurse that I am a little anxious, they will probably give me something to relax me at that time as opposed to right before they take me in. I hope so, because otherwise I am going to be tempted to make a run for it.
I will most likely have general anesthesia, and they will harvest a section of my hamstring to make the new ACL. They'll drill tunnels into my tibia and femur to thread the new "ligament" through, and secure it with screws. If he has to replace my PCL like he thinks, they will use a cadaver tendon to do that. The whole thing should take about 2.5 hours. As soon as I am awake, they are going to have me start working to straighten my leg - they are sending me home with a CPM (Continuous Passive Motion) machine that I will start using that day. I'll put my leg into it for several hours while it just bends and straightens it for me. I will have crutches but they want me to start trying to put weight on my leg as soon as I can. The more active I am the better my healing will be - so I am all for that! They'll also send me home with a machine that goes around my knee and will circulate ice around it. This is all pretty high tech - so I am happy that I waited to have my surgery! All of these things will help my comfort as well as my healing, so I feel very lucky to have access to them.
I'll probably be pretty out of it tomorrow but if I can update this I will - it might not make any sense. I will also be busy making Mark wait on me hand and foot while I do the opposite of what he tells me to do. I am sure he can't wait!
Showing posts with label surgery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label surgery. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
The Beginning....
So, after all of these years, it looks like I am finally going to fix my sketchy knee. It all started about 20 years ago, when I broke my leg and tore my ACL while snow skiing. At the time, they elected not to do surgery because of my age - but warned me that eventually I would need to have it done if I stayed active.
Fast forward 20 years - I'm 35, and thankfully very active! Over the years I have been able to work around my injury and stayed active in many ways - dance, yoga, aerial training, even pole dancing. But over the past couple of months, it's started to give way. There isn't a lot of pain, but it has become quite unstable - slipping out of joint and such. That is the most nauseating feeling ever - and after consulting with my husband and physical therapist, have decided to move forward. I've put it off for years mainly out of not wanting the downtime - but if I take out another ligament with it, it could be even worse.
I saw my new orthopedic surgeon last week - he pulled my leg in every direction imaginable, and confirmed that my ACL is, indeed, toast. I'm getting an MRI tomorrow to see if there is anything else in there that needs repair, and then will meet with him on 4/4 to talk about the results and what options there are. But he did confirm that surgery would be involved - eek!
I will try to post tomorrow about the MRI - the idea of being in a tube doesn't make me super happy, because I am sure I will have to pee at some point since I won't be able to move. In the meantime, my personal game plan is to be as active as possible and be as strong as I can so I will heal faster. Don't know what my doctor would think of that, but it sounds like a good plan for me!
Fast forward 20 years - I'm 35, and thankfully very active! Over the years I have been able to work around my injury and stayed active in many ways - dance, yoga, aerial training, even pole dancing. But over the past couple of months, it's started to give way. There isn't a lot of pain, but it has become quite unstable - slipping out of joint and such. That is the most nauseating feeling ever - and after consulting with my husband and physical therapist, have decided to move forward. I've put it off for years mainly out of not wanting the downtime - but if I take out another ligament with it, it could be even worse.
I saw my new orthopedic surgeon last week - he pulled my leg in every direction imaginable, and confirmed that my ACL is, indeed, toast. I'm getting an MRI tomorrow to see if there is anything else in there that needs repair, and then will meet with him on 4/4 to talk about the results and what options there are. But he did confirm that surgery would be involved - eek!
I will try to post tomorrow about the MRI - the idea of being in a tube doesn't make me super happy, because I am sure I will have to pee at some point since I won't be able to move. In the meantime, my personal game plan is to be as active as possible and be as strong as I can so I will heal faster. Don't know what my doctor would think of that, but it sounds like a good plan for me!
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