TUESDAY- Surgery Day
I got to the hospital at 10:30 in the morning. My good friend/twin Jodi brought me on her way in to work AND she brought me a big bag of movies that I have been putting to good use this week! :) She's so sweet! I got to the waiting room and texted Kassie, my pre-op nurse (employees get to pick their whole entire staff if they have to have surgery...pretty cool). She said she had a big hamburger waiting for me, and promised she wouldn't tell anesthesia I ate after midnight :) (I really didn't eat after midnight, don't worry). I only had to wait in the waiting room for about 15 minutes before they got me in my room and went over all of the paperwork, got my IV started, and got me all prepped. After that, my anesthesiologist, Dr. Seamans came in and talked to me, and let me know I still had about 3 hours to wait. Kassie offered me some versed, a medicine that calms you down and makes you sleepy. I didn't think I needed it but after an hour of watching TV and the clock, and having to get up to pee (I seriously peed 4 times before surgery... nerves I guess because I know I was dehydrated), Kassie convinced me the versed was a good idea. She gave me the first milligram then informed me she hates wasting such good meds so she would be glad to give me the other milligram later :) I fell fast asleep and lots of time passed, and before I knew it Dr. Clarke came in to inform me we were only about 30 minutes away from taking me back. I got the other milligram of versed from Kassie. About 45 minutes later, Ellen, my CRNA and Allison, my OR nurse came to get me to take me to the OR. Allison used to work with the Urology team before she switched to ortho, so Eric and I both know her and she is the best! Ellen and Allsion wheeled me back to the OR, and I remember talking about my weird Hoffa's disease and how they didn't even know we had fat pads in our knees. Then I remember switching from my stretcher to the OR table, and seeing Josh, Dr. Clarke's PA who we go to church with. I also remember seeing the syringes hooked up to the 3 ports in my IV tubing. Ellen must have pushed the big one full of Propofol after that because I don't remember anything from that point on. I thought I would remember being wheeled into PACU, being hooked up to all of the monitors and stuff, but the next thing I remember is waking up seeing Sarah, my PACU nurse charting on the computer. I think I asked her if she was my nurse. I just remember being SO tired I could hardly keep my eyes open. I kept de-satting (My oxygen percentage would go down) to 88%. I remember hearing the alarms and then focusing on taking good deep breaths but then it would happen again. I was so tired I couldn't take enough deep breaths. I remember Jamie, one of our team leads coming over to see me and she said, "Are you really at 88% right now?!" haha. Then I think I asked her if I said anything stupid, lol ...she said I would have to ask Sarah but she didn't think I did. Then I remember Katie coming over and showing me she finally changed her name on her name tag (she got married recently) and she was so excited. I remember trying and trying to wake up because the physical therapists left at 7:00 and I was so scared I was going to miss them. I forced myself up with physical therapy and I felt awful. Awful to the point of tears. Like I was going to pass out, and nauseated. Like, not just nauseated in my stomach but all over my whole body. Luckily Becky and Jodi (2 of the girls I worked with at Good Sam) were there to help me while Sarah was on a break I had to pee so I made it to the bathroom but then had to get back in bed immediately. I got compazine and didn't feel much better. probably because it was a pill and not IV. Then I finally got my vistaril. It is a shot it your muscle. It took care of my nausea almost immediately but made me even more sleepy. Eric said he and Dr. Clarke were talking to me and I slept through everything they were saying. Then suddenly i woke up and felt pretty good. No more nausea and I felt like I should take full advantage of this opportunity to get out of the PACU and go home. Eric went and picked up my meds at the pharmacy, and Sarah and Brittany wheeled me out/carried my crutches and cane lol. I could barely keep my eyes open in the car, and as soon as we got home, it was all all I could do to make it to the couch without falling asleep. I slept for 2 hours at home before Eric woke me up to tell me he was going to bed (I couldn't walk up stairs so I slept on the couch and he slept in our bedroom). I slept the whole night on the couch without waking up at all.
WEDNESDAY- Post-op Day 1
Eric woke me up at 5 something to tell me he was leaving for work. I slept until about noon. Then I thought I should probably get up. I tried to make it to the bathroom but the whole dizzy/nausea all over my body/pass out feeling came on so strong I couldn't make it. I plopped back on to the couch and slept another 2 hours. I tried to get up again because I was starving (hadn't eaten anything since the day before surgery except some shortbread cookies before my compazine pill). I managed to heat up and Eggo waffle but before I could eat it I thought I was going to pass out again. I was so hungry and wanted the waffle so bad, I threw it to the couch from the kitchen, hobbled as fast as I could back to the couch and went back to sleep. When I woke up I ate the now cold waffle. Finally after this nap I was able to get up with less of the pass out feeling. When Eric got home we walked around our condo complex and it was awful. I was nauseated, my knees we hurting, and it was so hot outside. Then we made a trip to Sonic to get a drink and to QT to get some Gatorade and granola bars so I could have some fluids/snacks handy if I still felt like this the next morning. This night Eric carried me up stairs and I was able to sleep in our bed!
THURSDAY- Post-Op Day 2
Before Eric left for work we walked about the condo complex again. I got nauseated and dizzy and wanted to quit but Eric wan't allowing that! He said that nausea sucks but it won't hurt my knees or cause any damage. I guess this is what comes with working in medicine...we see people go through things MUCH worse than knee scopes every day so I know i shouldn't get much sympathy....but it still felt horrible! I went back to sleep for a few hours then when I woke up I felt pretty good. I drove to the gym (a 30 second drive thank goodness), and did 10 minutes on the stationary bike. i was supposed to do this on Wednesday but there was NO way. I would have passed out I know it. I walked into the gym and people stared at me the whole time. I know i looked pretty funny. I still have "YES" written on both knees from where Dr. Clarke marked my surgical sites. The bike was going so slow, it wasn't even on! But I did it. When I got home I did my PT exercises then iced my knees and I was so tired. I rested a while and then I even made spaghetti for Eric and me for dinner. After this I was hurting pretty bad and even had to take a pain pill. I was upset I had to take a pain pill because before this I was just treating my pain with round-the-clock Aleve, but I guess my "active" day was a lot for my knees to take. I slept very well that night though!
FRIDAY- Post-Op Day 3
I woke up feeling good this day so I got up, showered, and got dressed right away. I did my PT exercises, then decided I wanted to make oatmeal cookies. I went to the Fry's by our house to get the ingredients. I was walking SO slow and again I got several stares. After walking around the store for about 30 minutes, I was finally ready to check out. The lady at the check out asked why I was walking so slow and I explained to her i had surgery on both my knees 3 days ago. She acted like she felt really bad for me and she helped me get my items onto the conveyor belt and basically did everything for me. When I got home from the store, I was hurting the worst I had hurt yet, so I took 2 pain pills and fell asleep. Then when I woke up I felt pretty groggy/nauseated, and felt like this the rest of last night. I was able to do my PT again, but it was pretty painful. Eric and I had dinner, he cleaned up the kitchen which was a mess, then we went to bed.
Thats it so far! I have my first official physical therapy session on Wednesday. I'm not looking forward to it because I know it will hurt. But I am really looking forward to getting back to work and being able to do normal activities because I am SO SO SO bored! I'm also looking forward to finding out if the surgery worked and if it took care of my knee pain. I'm hoping and praying to be able to do a triathlon in the fall!
Thanks so much to all of my co-workers that put up with me on Tuesday, and for all of the offers to drive me home if Eric wasn't able to, and to stop by if I needed anything at home. And for all of the sweet and encouraging texts and facebook messages from everyone. they are much appreciated! I'll update again later...hope you all have a great weekend!
Love,
Megan
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