Mar 19 2008 - On The Other Side Of Knee Surgery
Well, I'm home, on the couch, and drugged up. Here's the story of the day (warning, long).
My mom drove me to the ambulatory surgery center for my 11:10am scheduled surgery. We had to be there 2 hours before, so that meant leaving my parents' house (where I'm recuperating) around 7:30, just to allow enough time with rush hour traffic. We got there a few minutes early, so I got all checked in and then got to sit and wait for the pre-op nurse to come get me. The hospital had built this surgery center building in the time since my last surgery - very swanky, very comfortable, at least as much as this can be for the patients waiting. I went back to pre-op at around 9:50am or so. We did the standard weigh-in/BP/pulse/oxygen checks, all the questions were asked and answered, and then I got to change into the lovely gown (of which I got a choice, however!). She was very enthusiastic about both my OS, Dr. F. (said he's always happy and probably the easiest to work with in the OR, even with his extensive resume) and my anesthesiologist, Dr. M (said he was very mellow, calming, and the best in the hospital). The OS has also been concerned about all of the swelling I've been experiencing, so he ordered the lovely TED compression hose - thigh-high on my right leg, and a knee-high one for my left leg, post-surgery. At this point, it became a waiting game - I was probably changed and "relaxing" on the gurney by 10:10am, so even if we were on time, it was going to be another hour. My mom decided I was doing OK, so she asked if it was alright to leave and go get some coffee and walk across the street to see my aunt (also a doctor, whose office is close by). Each of the pre-op areas had an HDTV, so I had The Price Is Right to keep me entertained until 11. I still didn't have an IV, hadn't seen my OS, etc. 11am came and went, and still no progression - I turned to CNN and got to watch coverage of the horrible storms in the midwest (another reason I love California). Finally, around 11:45am, I saw my OS. What is it about doctors and liking to poke the areas that they know hurt? I think it's a job requirement. He checked to make sure I had the "Yes" mark on my surgery knee, checked that the TED hose were either on or with me, reviewed what he thought he was going to do, and then said as soon as the room was turned over, we'd get started. I also asked him if I could get a copy of the video, since I have videos of the other two surgeries - he laughed at that but said sure. He left, and I met his fellow, who reviewed most of the same stuff. I then met the OR nurse, and shortly after that finally met the anesthesiologist.
Dr. M quickly became my best friend. After waiting around for so long, I was a bit edgy. He did all the standard checks, and then went to get my IV started. True to the pre-op nurse's word, he was very mellow, and put me quickly at ease. I hardly felt the IV go in (I did, but it wasn't that bad at all), and then he went to check if the OR was ready. I'm assuming it was, because when he came back a couple of minutes later, he gave me something in the IV, and I got nice and relaxed. I still held a conversation with him during the ride to the OR (about USC football, of course!), and I remember everything we talked about, but I just didn't care about anything else at that point. In the OR, I moved over to the table, and the OR nurse came over with blankets from what I've termed the "blanket toaster" to cover me up and keep me warm. All of the monitors got put on - this is weird, because I distinctly remember Dr. M putting the pulse monitor on my ring finger and saying he was doing so because he didn't want me to scratch my eye when I woke up, but when I woke up, it was on my middle finger... - and then Dr. M asked me to hold the oxygen mask for a minute. That's all she wrote, folks. I don't remember anything after that.
The first thing I remember is the post-op nurses trying to figure out what they'd done for my surgery because they couldn't read the writing on the paperwork. I drifted back to sleep after hearing that, but then woke up again a while later, freezing cold and shaking and in major pain. The nurse asked me if I was cold and I think I nodded and then said that it hurt (7 or 8 out of 10), so she went to get more blankets from the blanket toaster and the pain meds. She wrapped the blankets around my head and tucked them up under my chin (I had an oxygen mask on), and then gave me something that relaxed me and stopped the shaking and pain, at least for a while. I slept again, but woke up when she shook me and told me to take a few deep breaths. I finally woke up a little more, and realized that it was really hurting again, so she gave me another injection and switched the mask out for the nasal tube oxygen. I became a little more conversant, and was able to ask her how long surgery had taken, and she said it looked like it had been 90 minutes (12-1:30pm). That surprised me, because at checkin, the nurses had said that Dr. F had reserved the OR for 40 minutes, so he obviously found more work to do in there than he'd expected. I also found out that it was about 3:15pm, so I'd been out of it for a while. She gave me a vicodin at that point, saying that it would last longer than the injections. We started taking off monitors and getting me ready to dress and head home. I quickly remembered the post-surgery pain when the nurses put my leg down on the ground so I could stand up with the crutches - holy cow. Either the vicodin hadn't kicked in all the way or this was going to be worse than the last two surgeries. After getting dressed and into the checkout area, I ended up needing another vicodin, as it was going to be a long ride home in traffic, with rush hour starting around here at about 4pm - we left the hospital at 4:30. Ended up getting home sometime around 6pm, and I was pretty much worthless the rest of the day/evening. The only things I really remember were asking for more ice in the ice machine and water to take my drugs. I decided this one definitely was worse on the pain scale than the other two ops.
This picture is taken with me on the couch, my leg elevated on the arm with pillows.
Oh yeah, the nurse who wheeled me to the car noticed the USC stickers on the car and my shirt and asked if it was my favorite team. When I told her I went to school there, she said "No way" and that her nephew had played football there. I asked who her nephew was, as I have season tickets, and she said "he plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers now, #43, Troy Polumalu." Holy cow! He's one of my favorite current or former Trojans! Yay Troy! At least I remember that discussion in my drug-induced haziness...
Mar 19 2008 - On The Other Side Of Knee Surgery
Well, I'm home, on the couch, and drugged up. Here's the story of the day (warning, long).
My mom drove me to the ambulatory surgery center for my 11:10am scheduled surgery. We had to be there 2 hours before, so that meant leaving my parents' house (where I'm recuperating) around 7:30, just to allow enough time with rush hour traffic. We got there a few minutes early, so I got all checked in and then got to sit and wait for the pre-op nurse to come get me. The hospital had built this surgery center building in the time since my last surgery - very swanky, very comfortable, at least as much as this can be for the patients waiting. I went back to pre-op at around 9:50am or so. We did the standard weigh-in/BP/pulse/oxygen checks, all the questions were asked and answered, and then I got to change into the lovely gown (of which I got a choice, however!). She was very enthusiastic about both my OS, Dr. F. (said he's always happy and probably the easiest to work with in the OR, even with his extensive resume) and my anesthesiologist, Dr. M (said he was very mellow, calming, and the best in the hospital). The OS has also been concerned about all of the swelling I've been experiencing, so he ordered the lovely TED compression hose - thigh-high on my right leg, and a knee-high one for my left leg, post-surgery. At this point, it became a waiting game - I was probably changed and "relaxing" on the gurney by 10:10am, so even if we were on time, it was going to be another hour. My mom decided I was doing OK, so she asked if it was alright to leave and go get some coffee and walk across the street to see my aunt (also a doctor, whose office is close by). Each of the pre-op areas had an HDTV, so I had The Price Is Right to keep me entertained until 11. I still didn't have an IV, hadn't seen my OS, etc. 11am came and went, and still no progression - I turned to CNN and got to watch coverage of the horrible storms in the midwest (another reason I love California). Finally, around 11:45am, I saw my OS. What is it about doctors and liking to poke the areas that they know hurt? I think it's a job requirement. He checked to make sure I had the "Yes" mark on my surgery knee, checked that the TED hose were either on or with me, reviewed what he thought he was going to do, and then said as soon as the room was turned over, we'd get started. I also asked him if I could get a copy of the video, since I have videos of the other two surgeries - he laughed at that but said sure. He left, and I met his fellow, who reviewed most of the same stuff. I then met the OR nurse, and shortly after that finally met the anesthesiologist.
Dr. M quickly became my best friend. After waiting around for so long, I was a bit edgy. He did all the standard checks, and then went to get my IV started. True to the pre-op nurse's word, he was very mellow, and put me quickly at ease. I hardly felt the IV go in (I did, but it wasn't that bad at all), and then he went to check if the OR was ready. I'm assuming it was, because when he came back a couple of minutes later, he gave me something in the IV, and I got nice and relaxed. I still held a conversation with him during the ride to the OR (about USC football, of course!), and I remember everything we talked about, but I just didn't care about anything else at that point. In the OR, I moved over to the table, and the OR nurse came over with blankets from what I've termed the "blanket toaster" to cover me up and keep me warm. All of the monitors got put on - this is weird, because I distinctly remember Dr. M putting the pulse monitor on my ring finger and saying he was doing so because he didn't want me to scratch my eye when I woke up, but when I woke up, it was on my middle finger... - and then Dr. M asked me to hold the oxygen mask for a minute. That's all she wrote, folks. I don't remember anything after that.
The first thing I remember is the post-op nurses trying to figure out what they'd done for my surgery because they couldn't read the writing on the paperwork. I drifted back to sleep after hearing that, but then woke up again a while later, freezing cold and shaking and in major pain. The nurse asked me if I was cold and I think I nodded and then said that it hurt (7 or 8 out of 10), so she went to get more blankets from the blanket toaster and the pain meds. She wrapped the blankets around my head and tucked them up under my chin (I had an oxygen mask on), and then gave me something that relaxed me and stopped the shaking and pain, at least for a while. I slept again, but woke up when she shook me and told me to take a few deep breaths. I finally woke up a little more, and realized that it was really hurting again, so she gave me another injection and switched the mask out for the nasal tube oxygen. I became a little more conversant, and was able to ask her how long surgery had taken, and she said it looked like it had been 90 minutes (12-1:30pm). That surprised me, because at checkin, the nurses had said that Dr. F had reserved the OR for 40 minutes, so he obviously found more work to do in there than he'd expected. I also found out that it was about 3:15pm, so I'd been out of it for a while. She gave me a vicodin at that point, saying that it would last longer than the injections. We started taking off monitors and getting me ready to dress and head home. I quickly remembered the post-surgery pain when the nurses put my leg down on the ground so I could stand up with the crutches - holy cow. Either the vicodin hadn't kicked in all the way or this was going to be worse than the last two surgeries. After getting dressed and into the checkout area, I ended up needing another vicodin, as it was going to be a long ride home in traffic, with rush hour starting around here at about 4pm - we left the hospital at 4:30. Ended up getting home sometime around 6pm, and I was pretty much worthless the rest of the day/evening. The only things I really remember were asking for more ice in the ice machine and water to take my drugs. I decided this one definitely was worse on the pain scale than the other two ops.
This picture is taken with me on the couch, my leg elevated on the arm with pillows.
Oh yeah, the nurse who wheeled me to the car noticed the USC stickers on the car and my shirt and asked if it was my favorite team. When I told her I went to school there, she said "No way" and that her nephew had played football there. I asked who her nephew was, as I have season tickets, and she said "he plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers now, #43, Troy Polumalu." Holy cow! He's one of my favorite current or former Trojans! Yay Troy! At least I remember that discussion in my drug-induced haziness...