Went in Friday to have my knee fixed. It's been 2 months since I missed the curb and hyper extended it. I've got through rest, anti-inflammatory medications and injections and none of it worked. With the wedding coming up in June we skipped trying physical therapy before opting for the surgery to help speed up the time line.
Checkin was at 11:30 at Mercy River Valley Orthopedic Hospital. Really like that facility. That's my 2nd surgery there. Had my elbow surgery there in November 2014. They have a quick and smooth check in process their staff is professional. I was assigned my own pre-op nurse. In the span of about 30 minutes I had all my vitals done, my IV in and hooked up had met with Dr Bolyard and with the anesthesiologist. Just spent a little time waiting for the case before me to finish. They took me back to the operating room awake. And I moved over to the operating table. I'm a puker after anesthesia So he gave me anti-nausea meds prior to administering the anesthesia. And that's all I remember until waking up in post op. No Nausea, no real pain, only negative was I was cold and shivering. Post op was just about as quick as pre-op. Checked in at 11:30, was in the truck on the way home at 2:00. Can't beat a 2 1/2 hour procedure from start to finish.
Got home and Jimmie made me a grilled cheese to eat since I was starving. I was using my crutches to take some of the weight off, to keep my balance and to keep the dogs at bay so they didn't knock me over. I slept most of the afternoon. Kay and Melinda brought me snacks. Tyler and Steph brought us dinner. Overall it was about the easiest surgery day I've ever had. Got up a couple of times during the night to let the dogs out. Still used the crutches for balance. By Saturday morning I was walking unaided with just a small limp. The "catch" pain I'd had for 2 months was gone replaced by a stiffness. I removed the big bulky bandage and had a bleeder on one of the incisions. Not a little bit of blood but a steady stream down my leg. A little hard to get band aids over the incisions when I couldn't keep the blood off long enough. Ended up making it bleed twice before it finally stopped for good.
We got out that afternoon and went to Academy and Atwoods and walked all over there. I ended up with over 7400 steps per the old Fitbit on the day after surgery. I did take a pain pill to help me sleep Saturday night which was a mistake. I ended up sleeping in a bad position for my back and could barely get out of bed the next morning. Actually had to have Jimmie put icy hot on it. Tried tanning thinking maybe the heat would loosen up my back. Wrong, ended up having to have Jimmie help me get out of the tanning bed.
Got up Monday morning with a plan of working half day then going to physical therapy. Get a text message with a picture of storm damage at work to start off the morning. Then go out to my jeep and it won't turn over. It's dead. Call Jimmie to come start my jeep.Finally make it to work and end up having an exciting morning there before Jimmie coming to pick me up to take me to my first round of physical therapy.
Physical Therapy seemed like it'd be a fairly easy boring round of muscle flexing and straight leg lifts. But after it was over my leg was literally shaking and worn out. Who knew a few quad, hamstring and glute flexes could wear me out. I'll do these exercises for a week and then go back and get the more "advanced" exercises to continue doing. My followup with my surgeon is next Tuesday. I'll get my stitches out and my goal is to get a full release to return to exercise class and softball. I've already ordered and got in my knee brace to use for ball. I'm not risking damaging what just got fixed. I'd rather wear a brace and be safe then screw it up again since obviously walking isn't my strong suit.
Tuesday I worked 1/2 day again, probably could have pulled of a full day, but my biggest complaint has been being tired. I'm not in a lot of pain. I'm able to walk fairly easily with not much of a limp. I'm having to work on my flexibility both bending and fully straightening my leg. Since the hyper-extension I've been very careful to not let my knee go backwards so know it's lost some of it's flexibility and doesn't want to go completely straight. With stretching and exercises I'll get it back where it needs to go.
Overall I'd have this surgery again in a heartbeat. Least nausea of any prior surgery, least post op pain, smoothest check in and check out process. Ready to get back to walking/running and my Fit Body Boot Camp class. Shouldn't be long now. Worst thing will be getting my eating back in check. I've enjoyed all the snacks Kay brought me. I'm going to have to invest in some sugar free jello and sugar free popsicles because I've let myself get addicted to sweets again. My weight will be back on my butt quickly if I don't curb that quickly. So here's to a summer of recovery and getting down to my goal size/weight. More size than weight. I have a dress I have to fit into in approximately 8 weeks!!!
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