Follow Up on the Knee!

Thank you all for praying for me and thinking of me yesterday. I went in to the outpatient surgery unit yesterday morning. The docs were running late. Before they showed up the very nice surgery nurses started working on me. First they had me change into one of those famous hospital gowns but surprise, surprise, they’ve actually discovered the science of wrap around gowns! Whew, just in time for me. Then they asked me the same questions several times, poked me with needles and hooked me up to tubes, took some blood, put some cute slipper socks on me and some other things I’ve forgotten getting me all ready. One interesting item was the nurse pointing to the knee that was to be worked on and asking me, “Is this the knee to be repaired?” “Yes” I replied. Then she handed me a felt pen and told me to write my answer just above that knee. So in bright green ink, I wrote my Yes. Finally the docs showed up and the first thing my surgeon did was look at that ”yes” and signed his initials under it. Then away we went, but not before this very sweet nurse gave me a shot in my IV to take the edge off, ”happy” something she called it. I chose to be awake during the arthroscopey, so after about 15 minutes I was feeling nothing below my ribs, but definitely happy. A blue paper sheet was put up directly in front of me and a monitor was turned on to the left of my head. In a couple of minutes, I saw in front of me my doctor propping up what looked like someone’s bare left leg and scrubbing it with that ugly orange stuff…oh that’s my leg…wow, that’s strange. The leg was let down and disappeared behind the blue paper sheet. I looked up at the monitor and the camera began making its way through my knee like a scuba dive through a watery cave, with fuzzies hanging off the walls. Soon it came to the ugly culprit, a clear rip in my meniscus! That pain maker was going down! Next came this tool that I swear looked like a barricuda. Its whirling sharp teeth chomped at the walls chewing up and sucking away the fuzzies, making its way to that nasty rip. Attacking over and over, it went to work chomping away and sucking it up. When all was clean and tidy, the ‘cuda’ made its retreat, and for a second I saw Dr. McNair’s face on the monitor. What kind of grin was that? Just kidding. He soon came around to my side of the blue sheet and said he was finished; it all went perfect. They wrapped up my leg in some gauze and a very big ace bandage. Soon I was being wheeled into the recovery room and watched over closely by a very nice nurse who patiently stayed with me for the next 4 hours. The down side of staying awake for the surgery was having to stay in recovery until all the feeling comes back and I could stand up on my own. Finally, all was back to normal and Pat came to get me, a beautiful bunch of fall flowers in one hand, and my very own set of prints of the surgery that my doc had left off with him in the other. He got me home, propped up in a recliner with an ice pack on the knee.  My sweet daughter, Mary, came to sit with me too for a while. I’m so blessed. Then it began, the pain, of course and hit #9 for a few hours. By midnight it subsided and I was able to get to sleep. This morning was very encouraging. I’m able to put some weight on it, walk with a crutch to go up and down stairs and feeling good otherwise with very little pain. Tomorrow I go for my first physical therapy session…then the work begins, I bet! I’ll let you know later. Thanks again for caring.