The day for surgery finally arrived. I would say I was more nervous on Monday, the day before, than on Tuesday when I went "under the knife". We pulled out the couch in the recovery room (aka my living room) before we left to go to the Ambulatory Surgery Center. We arrived early (a rare occurence for me) and when we went into the brand new facility I could tell that at least Jeff would be comfortable. The waiting room was posh as far as I was concerned with a couple computer terminals, tables, and a lot of space.
I was immediately taken into the surgery prep area, given a bag for all of my stuff along with a gown and socks to change into. The nurse got my IV in and double-checked that I was me and went through some pre-surgery questions. I briefly saw my doctor and his resident as he walked out of his previous surgery. He initialed my right leg and that was the last I saw him for the day. The resident went over the gameplan and then I met the anesthesiologist and her resident. She asked if I wanted general anesthesia or a spinal - definitely general! She also told me that when I woke up I would have the option of a spinal block if the pain was severe when I awoke. This puts anesthetic in your femoral artery to basically numb your leg. She said about 20% of patients have severe pain and can use the block but they don't like to do it until after the surgery because it only lasts for 8 to 12 hours.
The resident gave Jeff a prescription for post-surgery painkillers and he gave me a sedative to keep me calm. Then it was time to say goodbye to Jeff and head into the surgery. I was pretty relaxed (with the prescription). I remember being wheeled in, confirming my name and why I was there and that's all, they put me under.
I awoke in the surgery room (I think) and I was in A LOT of pain. It's all pretty fuzzy but I know my leg hurt much worse than I expected. I was rolled into the recovery room. The nurse immediately increased the pain medicine in my IV. I was shaking, moaning, and having trouble communicating. The pain medicine was helping a little and I'm not sure how long this was going on, but they made the decision that the spinal block made sense and I was all for that!
The anesthesiologist and her resident used an ultrasound to find my artery and the nerves around the patella. They were great about getting the injection in around my groin and it only took a few minutes before I was much more comfortable!
Mercifully, they waited till I had calmed down to bring Jeff back. He had been updated by my doctor right after surgery - he said that the MCL was healing well and did not need any fixes in the surgery. They replaced the ACL and cleaned up the meniscus as expected. They are still concerned with some damage on the outside of my knee - something about bone spurs. I'll find out more about that when I get to speak with him on Friday.
Jeff waited with me in the recovery room for 20 or 30 minutes and then I was released to go. Jeff warmed up the car and I got wheeled out. Everything went smoothly and we were on to the next stage - recovery!!
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