Surgery and Recovery......

Surgery went well.  We arrived an hour early as directed and proceeded to sit and wait.... :-)

I was finally called back and was prepped, which means putting on the backless gown, paper booties and paper hair net...... Not one of my best looks...  Hee hee. :-)

The nurse went and got Mel so he could sit with me.  One by one we met the OR nurses, anesthesiologist and everyone else who would be helping out.   My doctor came in and initialed my knee so we both knew there wouldn't be any mistakes......too funny.....  When my turn came, I walked into the OR room (it was freezing cold in there), got up on the table and got wonderfully warm blankets wrapped around me...(ahhhhhhhh)    I remember the anesthesiologist hooking up my tubes and wires,  the nurse strapped me to the bed and then I woke up in recovery.    That was easy!!!! 

I was only in recovery for about 15 minutes before I woke up.  I guess the surgery took about 30 minutes.  The doctor came by to check on me and he told me that he did do the Lateral release procedure, and that I was a perfect candidate for it.   We were not sure before the surgery if it was going to be needed, but once he was inside he could see that it was needed.   We headed home shortly after and as I watched all the rain and wind, I was sooooo glad I was not at work!!!!  :-)

Had a bit of a rough go of it the first night and early Saturday morning, while we figured out a schedule for my pain meds.......that part was not easy!!!!   At least I know what to do for next time.....

I spent most of the next few days laying on the couch with my leg up, playing solitaire on the iPad, because I was not awake enough to be able to concentrate on a book.  Pain meds are great, aren't they!!!?????    It rained for 3 days and the wind blew like crazy!!!!    Yes, I was soo happy not to be at work!!!!!!

This was day 3 I think......

This was last night, day 5

Still swollen, but I kinda over did it yesterday.....I paid for it last night!!!!

(Look at all those wrinkles above my knees......   Hee hee)

Mel has been a great nurse, cook and house keeper.   I call him nurse Melvina.   :-)

Today I had my post op appointment and got my stitches taken out....just 2

The doctor said I am doing really well considering it has only been a week.  He said I could have the other knee done in 3 weeks if I wanted to.......I will wait until I have therapy for a couple weeks to make that decision!!!!!  I start therapy on Monday.  I don't want to rush things too quickly...

So, here are some kinda interesting, but possibly gross pictures of the procedure.........

This is what the bottom of my knee cap looked like.......crab meat they call it...this was causing all the grinding and pain........

The little roto rooter at work cleaning in all up......

Wa-la.......all smoothed out.........

This shows the bottom of the knee cap and how much better it will fit into the groove of the femur.

The doctor said I was a perfect candidate for this type of surgery......

Anyway, so all is well and now onto the next phase.....it's funny, you think WOW, I'm going to have 3 months off!!!!  And you think of all the things you can get done in 3 months!!! You actually plan stuff to get done that has been needing to be done forever.......things you never have time to do......The thing you forget or don't even realize is that after a surgery you are not moving anywhere near as fast as you normally do.....everything you do is now a chore......   It takes me soo long just to walk out to the car.  The thought of driving to the store, of having to make it clear across the parking lot, and then thru all the aisles of the store, then back to the car and then how many trips to unload the car.......it almost makes me want to just stay home and forget about food!!!!!    Luckily I had done a lot of shopping ahead of it time and I also froze a lot of meals so it would be easier.   I still like my fresh fruits and veggies though, so a trip to the store is necessary.

I will definitely have more patience the next time I see someone walking very slowly trying to reach their destination.......you never know what their situation is.......