Friday, July 13, 2007
The fourth day: Back to work
Feeling really good today. Got another good nights sleep. I took the bus into work for the afternoon (can't drive easily yet) basically just to get caught up on some emails and such ... no hard labor. I still need the crutches and brace to get along and I am still on the pain meds. When I got back home I basically just slept the night away ... guess it did tire me out walking around today.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Three days after
It is now Thursday around noon, three days after the surgery. Got a really good night sleep ... first good one since the operation. As a result, when I woke up my knee was very sore ... I didn't take a pain med part way through the night and the cryo-cuff was warm. Grabbed the crutches and made it out to the kitchen to get a drink for the pain med. Within a half an hour the pain was under control again.
At this point I am not getting much useful done. The pain meds just knock me out when I take them. That limits what can get done. Eating has not been a problem ... ordered a pizza last night.
I am just waiting now to get the stitches out (next Monday I go back to the Doc) and to start physical therapy.
At this point I am not getting much useful done. The pain meds just knock me out when I take them. That limits what can get done. Eating has not been a problem ... ordered a pizza last night.
I am just waiting now to get the stitches out (next Monday I go back to the Doc) and to start physical therapy.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
The day after ACL reconstruction
Thought I would add my experiences to the web of how my recovery from ACL reconstructive surgery is going. I had read others who have kept a dairy online and it helped me prepare.
I tore my left knee's ACL playing softball 2 months ago. I also hava a bucket tear of the meniscus. I had arthroscopic surgery to repair both on Monday, June 9, 2007 at 9am. They used the patella tendon graft. It is now Wednesday, June 11th at 4:30 am as I start this diary.
The Surgery:
Got into the surgery center and after signing a bunch of forms was taken pretty much immediately to pre-op where they shave the knee, hook up an IV and a heart monitor then walked me down to the operating room. An oxygen mask was put over my face and before I knew it I was waking up in post-op. It was around 1:30 pm when I woke up. I had brought in a knee brace and cryo-cuff that the doc had given me a week prior and they where already on my knee when I woke up, all ready to go. They checked my heart rate and pulse for about another half an hour while I was still a bit groggy. after that I was taken to another room where they got me a coffee and a couple of vicodin (I was dying for my morning coffee ... no drink or food prior to surgery). They also got me a couple of Popsicles to eat. A buddy showed up to take me home at about 2:30pm. I had crutches to help me out but found I could immediately put weight on the leg. Got back to the house where me and my buddy sat out on the porch for a while ... my leg really didn't hurt much at all.
The First Night:
The knee was not hurting at all and could easily bear my weight in the brace without the crutches. I sat down to watch some TV. By about 5pm I started to get a bad migraine headache (yeah, I get those sometimes). I started to feel a bit nauseous by about this time but I am not sure if that was due to the anesthesia or the vicodin or the migraine, but it wasn't too bad. I did not eat that night. I kept the cryo-cuff cold and kept a strict regimen of vicodin every 4 hours.
Didn't sleep to well that night, waking up quite often, but that was partially due to the migraine.
The Next Day:
Still not much pain in the knee when I woke up. Took out the garbage in the morning using just a single crutch for extra support. I cut the vicodin down to once every 6 hours to see if more pain came up. I spent most of the day watching TV and emailing friends that I was still alive. Spent some time out on the porch reading. The doc doesn't want me to drive while I am on the vicodin so I am stuck around the house for a while anyways. Kept the leg iced and elevated. Took a shower by wrapping a garbage bag around the leg to keep the dressing dry. Ate three good meals today, all the nausea is gone. I do have pains in my triceps and stomach muscles but I feel that is due to doing sit-ups each time I need to get up (I am a bit out of shape). One thing I did not expect is that my throat is very sore due to the tube they put down it during surgery. I should have got some throat lozenges prior to surgery to have around.
By about 10 pm my knee is starting to hurt a bit more, especially where the incision was made to take the patella tendon. This is probably due to the reduction in pain meds.
Now:
It is 4:30 am Wednesday morning. Just woke up and the knee is hurting quite a bit more and it is getting harder to bear the full weight on it without crutches (I still can but I do feel some pain now). So I have started to keep the crutches nearby.
All-in-all so far, this has not been a bad experience. I had feared being bed ridden for days after the surgery or not being able to hold any weight on the knee which would have made even getting a drink from the fridge a chore on crutches (as I live alone). I'll try to keep this up over the next few months to keep track of my recovery. Well time to get this leg elevated again ...
I tore my left knee's ACL playing softball 2 months ago. I also hava a bucket tear of the meniscus. I had arthroscopic surgery to repair both on Monday, June 9, 2007 at 9am. They used the patella tendon graft. It is now Wednesday, June 11th at 4:30 am as I start this diary.
The Surgery:
Got into the surgery center and after signing a bunch of forms was taken pretty much immediately to pre-op where they shave the knee, hook up an IV and a heart monitor then walked me down to the operating room. An oxygen mask was put over my face and before I knew it I was waking up in post-op. It was around 1:30 pm when I woke up. I had brought in a knee brace and cryo-cuff that the doc had given me a week prior and they where already on my knee when I woke up, all ready to go. They checked my heart rate and pulse for about another half an hour while I was still a bit groggy. after that I was taken to another room where they got me a coffee and a couple of vicodin (I was dying for my morning coffee ... no drink or food prior to surgery). They also got me a couple of Popsicles to eat. A buddy showed up to take me home at about 2:30pm. I had crutches to help me out but found I could immediately put weight on the leg. Got back to the house where me and my buddy sat out on the porch for a while ... my leg really didn't hurt much at all.
The First Night:
The knee was not hurting at all and could easily bear my weight in the brace without the crutches. I sat down to watch some TV. By about 5pm I started to get a bad migraine headache (yeah, I get those sometimes). I started to feel a bit nauseous by about this time but I am not sure if that was due to the anesthesia or the vicodin or the migraine, but it wasn't too bad. I did not eat that night. I kept the cryo-cuff cold and kept a strict regimen of vicodin every 4 hours.
Didn't sleep to well that night, waking up quite often, but that was partially due to the migraine.
The Next Day:
Still not much pain in the knee when I woke up. Took out the garbage in the morning using just a single crutch for extra support. I cut the vicodin down to once every 6 hours to see if more pain came up. I spent most of the day watching TV and emailing friends that I was still alive. Spent some time out on the porch reading. The doc doesn't want me to drive while I am on the vicodin so I am stuck around the house for a while anyways. Kept the leg iced and elevated. Took a shower by wrapping a garbage bag around the leg to keep the dressing dry. Ate three good meals today, all the nausea is gone. I do have pains in my triceps and stomach muscles but I feel that is due to doing sit-ups each time I need to get up (I am a bit out of shape). One thing I did not expect is that my throat is very sore due to the tube they put down it during surgery. I should have got some throat lozenges prior to surgery to have around.
By about 10 pm my knee is starting to hurt a bit more, especially where the incision was made to take the patella tendon. This is probably due to the reduction in pain meds.
Now:
It is 4:30 am Wednesday morning. Just woke up and the knee is hurting quite a bit more and it is getting harder to bear the full weight on it without crutches (I still can but I do feel some pain now). So I have started to keep the crutches nearby.
All-in-all so far, this has not been a bad experience. I had feared being bed ridden for days after the surgery or not being able to hold any weight on the knee which would have made even getting a drink from the fridge a chore on crutches (as I live alone). I'll try to keep this up over the next few months to keep track of my recovery. Well time to get this leg elevated again ...
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