ACL Reconstruction Surgery

So about 24 hours ago, I woke up from a chemically induced nap when my Orthopeadic Surgeon reconstructed my ACL in my right knee. How cool is that??

I obviously don't remember anything from the surgery because I was out for the whole thing. Here's what I remember...

After getting an IV placed in my left hand, they took me in to another room where there placed a nerve block which was to be used after the surgery was over for the first 24-48 hours to help with the "agonizing pain" that follows ACL reconstruction surgery. (Their description not mine. So far, it hasn't been agonizing but that's because my nerve block is still working -- my right knee is still pretty much numb). After that, they gave me a "relaxer" before they gave me the full-on anesthetics. Just so you understand correctly, they gave me an anesthetic before they gave me the anesthetics. Pretty cool huh? I love Western medicine!! After the relaxer I went back to my pre-op room where Shiree was waiting. At this point, I started to feel the effects of the relaxer. Although my mind was still clear, I felt pretty dizzy and started to get sleepy. Once the relaxer was in full effect, the surgeon came in to talk to me about the surgery. Yes, that's right. My surgeon came in to talk to me after I was relaxed with the anesthetics. Oh well, at least he came in before he actually did the surgery. After he left, I said goodbye to Shiree and they wheeled me into the operating room. It looked like a pretty cool room, but I didn't really get a good look at it because they wheeled me up to the operating table and after I transferred over to the table, they placed an oxygen mask on my mouth and it was really uncomfortable where they placed it. So I reached up to adjust the mask and...

the next thing I remember was waking up in post-op looking at a clock while someone was calling out my name. I tried to open my eyes, but everything was pretty hazy and blurry. So I just closed them and went back to sleep. When I woke up again, it was about 30 minutes later and I was much more cognizant, but still pretty hazy. The funny thing was that as soon as I could put two sentances together, Luisa (my nurse) was getting me ready for discharge. As she wheeled me out of post-op I can still remember that the room was spinning. I love Western medicine!

The effects of the anesthesia lingered for a few more hours and I remember a few things about what happened and what I said. For a more detailed account, read Shiree's post from yesterday about our funny "conversations." In my defense, I am pretty sure that even under heavy anesthetics, I would still know that the 18th Amendment was about Prohibition and not the 12th. But then again, I was pretty loopy. ;)

All in all, it went great! I had a great surgeon and I have some pretty cool equipment that is helping me with my rehab. Although, it turns out that when they opened me up to do the surgery, there was no meniscul damage and my MCL was healing just fine. The funny part was that my ACL was not completely torn. How funny! I am still glad I had it repaired, but I am just glad that my ACL was tough enough to hang on for two whole months after being ripped during church basketball.

For anyone who's interested, the doctor made a video of my surgery and added some pretty cool pictures. I am happy to schedule a viewing for any one that wants to see the inside of my knee :)