2.18.2011

Surgery Thread

This story will be told in installations, as I am too tired for long term computer use today.

Yesterday afternoon, I had my first real surgery, with IVs and anesthesia and whatnot. It was surgery to replace my ruptured ACL and to trim back torn pieces of my miniscus.
The process went very smoothly and all the nurses and doctors were funny and professional at the same time. I wasn't hungry all morning, since I had stuffed myself with pad thai the night before. When they took me into the surgery room, I lay down on the bed and they laid wonderfully warm blankets on me. The anesthesiologist (a very funny guy who also volunteers to help poor children in Guatemala) started applying sensors to my body and said something about me feeling a sensation when the anesthesia starting to enter my bloodstream, and then... nothing. I woke up from what seemed like a deep sleep (I think I even had weird dreams) in a strange room. Oh, yeah, I thought, I had surgery today. It was the recovery room, of course. I have to admit, it feels very weird to think of being unconscious and people doing thins to me and my body without my direct knowledge.
From what I hear, I was very pale coming out of surgery, but my color gradually returned as the time progressed. My mum was able to come in and sit with me both in pre-op and in the recovery room. Stacey also came by and helped by keeping my mum company and then helping us by leading the way back home. (Thank you, dear Stacey!)
So far, I've done a lot of sleeping and taking pain pills on a schedule. Mum made a yummy barley, mushroom, and parsnip soup and plying me with yummy eats like sauteed Portabella mushrooms on toast. I've been drinking water pretty constantly (I was going to the bathroom every 3 hours last night) and have been getting handier with the crutches.
So, every side effect but one have been minimized. I'm not nauseous and the pain is well managed, but I get tired very easily. In fact, I feel another nap coming on.

Later, a description of how I got the injury, what the surgeon did and how she fixed it.

Thank you, everyone, for your help and support!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

so glad that everything went smoothly. Gets tons of rest and fluids. Don't forget to eat some fiber to help with the "stopping up" action of the pain meds. Love you!!

Anne said...

Your post reminded me of how dry my mouth was post-op. It was horrible! Did you have that? I couldn't drink enough water, either. Glad you are still feeling well, if tired.

Anne C. said...

Yep, I have horrendous dry mouth. At least it'smaking me drink large amounts of water, which is good for me.