The day of surgery was long and exhausting. I'll try my best to remember the timeline of events...
4:45am - Wake up and shower. I know this will be my last shower for a while so I make it a good long hot one.
5:00am - Feed Mya (my pup) and go to make coffee. But crap I cannot have coffee. I cannot have anything after midnight the night before. I think - it's too early to be up and not have coffee.
5:15am - Get dressed and make the couch with sheets.
5:30am - Parents arrive to take me to the hospital. I'm so nervous on the car ride there all I can do is ask my parents questions about my first major surgery...
Side story... I have a blood disorder called hereditary spherocytosis which basically means that my blood is round like a ball instead of round like a penny. When I was born, I was very jaundice. Then growing up I had very little energy. I received a bicycle for my 6th birthday but all I could do was sit beside it in the basement. So the summer between kindergarten and first grade when I was 6 years old, I had my appendix and spleen removed. I ended up having two spleens because of the blood disorder but they took them both. After the surgery, my dad made me walk around the nurses station every day. I started walking bent completely over in a 90 degree angle. As I got better, I walked straighter and then in turn got home earlier than expected. That 6 year old little girl was still in there and I was determined to get better after the ACL surgery.
6:00am - I check into the surgery waiting room and wait.
6:30am - The nurse takes me and a few others to the operating area. She assigns me a room where there is a plastic bag for my clothes and a gown. They first need a urine sample and my only thought is - I haven't had anything to eat or drink in almost 12 hours, do you really think I can get you enough of a sample? But we proceed with the sample and getting on the gown. I'm not a "naked person" in that I don't love being naked all the time. And I definitely don't care for my mom to see me naked either. So I have to figure out how to tie this gown in the back by myself. Luckily bras have provided me a lot of practice. I turn the back of the gown to the front, tie it, turn it to the back and then stick my arms in the gown. All good!
7:00am-ish - A couple of nurses show up to setup my IV. I hate needles and I'm not looking forward to this. BUT in the last 26 years since I've had major surgery, they now give you a numbing injection before putting in the IV. This was awesome! I felt the numbing injection which was not bad at all and then felt nothing for the IV. Another nurse enters and asks if I want the prescriptions filled at the hospital. I immediately say yes because when I'm on my way home - I'm just going to want to get home.
7:00am to 9:00am - The surgeon and anesthesiologist come to visit and talk through the surgery. I'll be having a pain block in my leg, let that set for 30 minutes, then proceed to surgery that will last 1.5 to 2 hours, and finally end in recovery for an hour. I'm thinking to myself - why can't the pain block be added after I'm under anesthesia? I seriously do not like needles. I just have to trust the doctors. The surgeon marks my left knee with his initials I guess as a confirmation.
And then we wait...
10:30am - The nurse comes to get me for my pain block. I'm put in a row of curtained off areas with other patients. Two sweet nurses talk me through everything. One gives me some medicine to calm my nerves and a few minutes later the anesthesiologist comes over for the pain block. Because of the calming medicine - I don't feel anything! I do nod off a little bit.
11:00am-ish - They wheel me back to the OR. The nurse introduces everyone in there to me - all the nurses and assistants. I could not recall their names if I tried but I thought it was wonderful they introduced them so I knew who was going to be in the room. They move me to the operating table (I'm assuming) and stretch my right arm (IV arm) out next to me. They mention putting in the anesthesia and that's the last I remember.
1:00pm-ish - I'm assuming it was around this time, I remember being woken up and moved to the same area where I received my pain block. A nurse just chats with me about how I injured me knee and other topics. I ended up dosing off again. I'm proud of myself that I did not uncontrollably cry like last time. Progress!
2:45pm - I'm moved to a discharge room. On the way there, a nurse gets me a Coca-Cola and saltine crackers. This coke is the best tasting coke I've ever had in my entire life. During discharge, the hospital brings my medication. It might cost more but at least we did not have to stop by the pharmacy on the way home. My parents have already received instructions on when I can shower, how many pain meds, how often to take said meds, and when I can put weight on my leg. Because of the pain block, the surgeon said I should not put weight on my leg the first day because I would not feel it and I would probably go down quickly.
3:30pm - The discharge nurse wheels me to the car. Because I cannot put weight on my leg, I hop from the wheelchair to the back seat of the car. Once seated, I slid all the way back and laid out for the ride home.
4:00pm - We are home! Dad helps me with the crutches and I slowly hop my way into the house. I plop myself on the couch and mom gets the ice machine - Game Ready - started. I cannot feel the ice much but I've been told it still helps. Thankfully the Game Ready will ice my knee for 30 minutes, turn off for 30 minutes and back to icing.
I'm in for the night and I don't feel too bad. But the pain block is still there.
6:00am - I check into the surgery waiting room and wait.
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| St. Vincent's OrthoSports Center, Birmingham, AL |
6:30am - The nurse takes me and a few others to the operating area. She assigns me a room where there is a plastic bag for my clothes and a gown. They first need a urine sample and my only thought is - I haven't had anything to eat or drink in almost 12 hours, do you really think I can get you enough of a sample? But we proceed with the sample and getting on the gown. I'm not a "naked person" in that I don't love being naked all the time. And I definitely don't care for my mom to see me naked either. So I have to figure out how to tie this gown in the back by myself. Luckily bras have provided me a lot of practice. I turn the back of the gown to the front, tie it, turn it to the back and then stick my arms in the gown. All good!
7:00am-ish - A couple of nurses show up to setup my IV. I hate needles and I'm not looking forward to this. BUT in the last 26 years since I've had major surgery, they now give you a numbing injection before putting in the IV. This was awesome! I felt the numbing injection which was not bad at all and then felt nothing for the IV. Another nurse enters and asks if I want the prescriptions filled at the hospital. I immediately say yes because when I'm on my way home - I'm just going to want to get home.
7:00am to 9:00am - The surgeon and anesthesiologist come to visit and talk through the surgery. I'll be having a pain block in my leg, let that set for 30 minutes, then proceed to surgery that will last 1.5 to 2 hours, and finally end in recovery for an hour. I'm thinking to myself - why can't the pain block be added after I'm under anesthesia? I seriously do not like needles. I just have to trust the doctors. The surgeon marks my left knee with his initials I guess as a confirmation.
And then we wait...
10:30am - The nurse comes to get me for my pain block. I'm put in a row of curtained off areas with other patients. Two sweet nurses talk me through everything. One gives me some medicine to calm my nerves and a few minutes later the anesthesiologist comes over for the pain block. Because of the calming medicine - I don't feel anything! I do nod off a little bit.
11:00am-ish - They wheel me back to the OR. The nurse introduces everyone in there to me - all the nurses and assistants. I could not recall their names if I tried but I thought it was wonderful they introduced them so I knew who was going to be in the room. They move me to the operating table (I'm assuming) and stretch my right arm (IV arm) out next to me. They mention putting in the anesthesia and that's the last I remember.
1:00pm-ish - I'm assuming it was around this time, I remember being woken up and moved to the same area where I received my pain block. A nurse just chats with me about how I injured me knee and other topics. I ended up dosing off again. I'm proud of myself that I did not uncontrollably cry like last time. Progress!
2:45pm - I'm moved to a discharge room. On the way there, a nurse gets me a Coca-Cola and saltine crackers. This coke is the best tasting coke I've ever had in my entire life. During discharge, the hospital brings my medication. It might cost more but at least we did not have to stop by the pharmacy on the way home. My parents have already received instructions on when I can shower, how many pain meds, how often to take said meds, and when I can put weight on my leg. Because of the pain block, the surgeon said I should not put weight on my leg the first day because I would not feel it and I would probably go down quickly.
3:30pm - The discharge nurse wheels me to the car. Because I cannot put weight on my leg, I hop from the wheelchair to the back seat of the car. Once seated, I slid all the way back and laid out for the ride home.
4:00pm - We are home! Dad helps me with the crutches and I slowly hop my way into the house. I plop myself on the couch and mom gets the ice machine - Game Ready - started. I cannot feel the ice much but I've been told it still helps. Thankfully the Game Ready will ice my knee for 30 minutes, turn off for 30 minutes and back to icing.
I'm in for the night and I don't feel too bad. But the pain block is still there.
Thank you! I read this last night before my ACL surgery today and it eased my mind. Hope your recovery is going well!
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