Just woke up a little while ago… I was a Zombie after surgery but feeling aware and awake now. Surgery went well and the doctor said he was very happy with how everything went. He was able to repair my meniscus instead of just removing it, and he did replace my ACL. He thought I had a torn ACL but wasn’t 100% sure until he got in there. He said I might have a much easier time with things than I thought and said he thought I might be good to go in as little as 6 months.
They gave me a “nerve block” for my entire leg. They gave me “happy medicine” to make me comfortable and then gave me a shot in my groin so numb my entire leg. Going on 11 hours later now and I still can’t feel my leg at all. I think they said it will usually last around 24 hours but can be anything from 8 to 36 hours. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it lasts me until tomorrow morning and I don’t wake in the middle of the might in crazy pain as it wears off.
I really don’t like pain medication and was reminded why today. They gave me percocets and they REALLY messed me up. I was all confused and fell asleep as soon as I got home. I will use them for tonight and tomorrow and then try to get off them 100%.
I was a little confused about the rehab side of things because I thought for the ACL I should be moving my leg a lot and for the meniscus I had to take it easy. He told me to get it moving as soon as possible though and I can bear weight soon but I need to make sure my leg doesn’t go past 90 degrees while bearing weight. He told me to start doing “leg lifts” as soon as I can. I won’t mess with it tonight but will figure out exactly what that means and see what I can do tomorrow. It’s pretty encouraging that I will be able to get going on it quickly. I think the toughest part of the last 3 weeks was knowing I had to wait before I could start trying to get better. Now that surgery is done its like training for a fight… I have a goal in my sites and will keep working to improve.