Please Cut The "RIGHT" Leg!

I had my surgery on Thursday and it went really well ... The Dr. said he got a nice piece of hamstring from my left leg and made a graft that fit my right ACL space great .  He also found that I re-tore my meniscus and had to stitch that back up (so sadly, no walking or weight bearing for 5 more weeks)!  He also told my dad that there was something funny going on with my knee cap and he ended up having to shave that down and clean it up and set it in properly.  Then he told dad that even though the surgery went well he expects me to have a knee replacement shortly down the road ... we are hoping to make it to 50!  Gross!! 

But the anesthesiologist was SUPERB this time around ... he sat down with me and went over every page in my chart and then talked about EVERY scenario we could do.  He wanted me to have an epidural and stay awake because he KNEW that I would not be sick at all if we used that.  But I told him that the thought of it was freaking me out more than I could explain and that alone was going to make me sick (haha).  He then offered a nerve block, which would involve being awake and him poking a needle all the way down the femoral nerve.  So I asked him if I could just go to sleep, and he said if that is the choice I had made he will make sure he does his best so that I don't go to sleep burning to death and that I don't wake up in a violent rage of projectile vomiting.

So he loaded me up with 2 syringes of anti-nausea meds and then came out to see me right before I went in and did a little anesthesia push at my bedside so I was super loopy before I went in.  And the next thing I knew, I was in recovery!  I am so so soooo thankful that I had that guy on my surgical team!!  The last anesthesiologist that I had for my February surgery was awful and didn't read my chart at all!!! 

When my dad was allowed to come back and see me, he told me that he honestly couldn't believe that was me, sitting up in a chair, and fully dressed!  Last time he saw me, I needed 5 nurses to keep my held down, hold a bucket, and give me nausea shots in my butt!  haha – so this time was a lot better for me!

I have only been taking 1 pain pill and that hasn't been touching my pain, so I upped it to take 1 1/2 pills at each dose last night.  This seemed to help me sleep a lot better!  I am just getting fed up with the myoclonic jerks right before you fall asleep ... they make me tense up my legs and that doesn't feel so well.  But I am pleasantly surprised and extremely thankful that this surgery is going so much better than the last 2 I can remember on this knee!  :) 

I am even going to attempt a shower tonight or tomorrow morning.  Now … this is going to be ridiculously tricky as I have a leg brace on from my ankle to my hip and cannot get that wet.  I also cannot get my other incision site wet, but at least there is no formal brace on that.  So … any suggestions you might have would be helpful!  So far I have tape and trash bags in my bag of ideas! 

Joey went home the day before my surgery and was allowed to keep in touch with me on the day of my surgery!  He is deploying to Afghanistan very shortly and that will be a hard day.  I feel a little awful that I have been in and out of consciousness because I haven’t been able to stay awake to talk much.  And what’s even worse is that the COC told us not to expect any contact with each other for at least two weeks after his departure date.

So, that’s it for me!  I just wanted to send a quick hello and let you all know how I am doing ... which thankfully now that I have this sleeping thing under control ... am doing MUCH better.  I hope you are all having a fabulous day and are enjoying the nice weather of summer!!