I have always been rather lucky with my knee surgeries in that it seems that I have always had them in the early morning....not so this time. I had to check into Geisinger Medical Center at 10:30 Monday morning. I think I was told I was scheduled for a 11:55 am surgery. I never did go up to pre surgery until 12:10 pm. That's a whole lot of waiting.
Shelly's parents came down to help look after Zack until I got home from the hospital so they were there until the point where they needed to come back here to be home for Zack when he got off the bus.
Pre surgery was pretty much routine. You get prepped with an IV or two, vitals are taken and you get ready for the call from the OR that they are ready for you. The anesthesia Dr came in and gave me a nerve block which was something new for me. In prior surgeries I have had mostly spinals, and maybe a couple general. To block the knee they press down between your thigh and groin to find your femoral artery and near there you get an injection of the block. It's kind of freaky cause it makes the knee cap jump about a dozen times or so until it takes effect. That and a little something to make me sleep and not remember the surgery and I was good to go.
Shelly tells me that I went to pre surgery at noon, started surgery at 2:30 and didn't get up to my room until after 8pm.
Everything is pretty much blank the rest of that day.
Tuesday they started me on some exercises and took me down to PT/OT. They also put me on the machine that flexes your knee for you. Tuesday morning I finally got to eat which was the first in 36+ hours. I know I didn't sleep very well that first night. I don't think anyone can in the beginning as the nurses are in every so often to take your vitals, ect. My surgeon came in the first thing to look at my dressing and to check on me. He told me the surgery went very well. I asked him how it looked in there and he said I had bone spurs the size of his pinky......ouch.
I am on coumadin for 6 weeks after the surgery so they have you monitor a couple of blood levels.
Zack came to see me Tuesday after school. That was very nice since I missed my buddy. He still is concerned at times, although he helped Shelly a bit this morning when she changed the dressing. He pats me on the head and gives me a little kiss and tells me I am doing well.
Tuesday night I slept very well and mwhen my dr stopped my avbout 7am Wednesday he asked me how I felt and if I wanted to go home that day. I was out of there by 1pm I think.
The plan is that I have home health nurse stop by and draw my blood and administer my case and someone will come by to give me my physical therapy here at home. When the nurse came to visit Thursday morning my resting pulse rate 120-130 which is high. There was no signs of infection or chest pain or anything that would readily explain the increased heart rate.
The Nurse called my primary care Dr and let his office know of what was going on. Just five minutes after she left the my primamry Dr's office called and wanted me to head to the ER. They processed me pretty quickly, not those horror stories you hear about someone waiting for hours. I was in and out in 1.5-2 hours. They ran all kind of bloodwork on me, they did chest x rays, CT scan with contrast and an EKG and everything came out normal.
So here I am today. I still don't know why my heart rate is what it is but I see my primary Dr Monday afternoon and if he thinks it is warranted, he will give me something to lower it.
Shelly took off a cople of weeks from work so I could come home and not go into a rehab facility so I owe her alot of thanks....if not more jewelry ;) to pay her back.
The best news is that from the time I woke up in my room at the hospital to now I have not needed anything for pain.....and not for the lack of them trying to give me something. I have a walker that I am using to get around the house but, although certainly not a pretty sight, I can manage some unassisted walking on my own.
