Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Surgery again

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Surgery again

    Yes, folks, I get to spend some time asleep while a doctor does something to me.

    I'd been having knee trouble for a few months, and finally, I went to an orthopedist today. He examined my knee, pressed on several points, rotated my foot while pressing on several other points, and told me I need arthroscopic surgery.

    "I perform surgery every Monday," he told me helpfully.

    I have to have my knee X-rayed before I see him again (on Thursday), plus have all the pre-op tests I had before - blood tests, ECG, the works. I doubt that I'll be able to fit all that in by the coming Monday, so it'll probably be the Monday after that. And this guy wants to get it done soon, which makes me uneasy. I have a trip coming up at the end of June, and he told me I'll be ready to travel by then.

    I called my manager, and he was fabulous. "Don't worry about the scheduling, or who's going to be away," he said. "It's your knee and it's your health, and that's the important thing."

    It turns out that he's had the same surgery, though under local anesthetic (they're giving me a general), and he knows how it is. He told me that while working from home is fine, he thinks I'll need some time off just to get used to the discomfort.

    We're going to get it all worked out this week, I think, while I'm running around getting papers and X-rays and hoping the phlebotomist can find a vein in my arm. My veins are so hard to find that several medical staff have resorted to using the one in the back of my hand, and that HURTS.

    Wish me luck!

  • #2
    I have troublesome veins as well, they like to lie deep and roll. Drinking lots of water helps. Good luck on the surgery and hope you have a speedy recovery!!!

    Comment


    • #3
      Surgery again

      I feel your pain. I'm currently recuperating from my fourth knee surgery (high tibial osteotomy). Hopefully you'll heal quickly with as little pain as possible.

      Comment


      • #4
        Glad your boss is so understanding. Best of luck and a speedy and thorough recovery!
        I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
        My LiveJournal
        A page we can all agree with!

        Comment


        • #5
          Thanks!

          I've just learned that surgery will be on Monday. Damn, that's fast. I have to go to a clinic outside town, which I'm not looking forward to (train, then taxi), but an ambulance will take me back home. And I'm going to insist on being taken right to the building where I live.

          I was talking to the doctor about my surgery last year (completely unrelated to this one), and how I didn't like coming out of the anesthetic and having everyone speaking Czech to me, and that I hoped the people at this clinic wouldn't do the same. I also mentioned the trouble they had last year in finding a vein, so that the woman put the IV cannula in the back of my hand.

          I had planned to order some books online so that they would be delivered in time for my recovery, but now - I'll be borrowing them, instead. And I've got plenty of DVDs to watch. The doctor said I can work again the following day, so I'll just bring my work computer home and work from home the rest of the week. Yay for my manager!

          Comment


          • #6
            Your manager rocks!

            Good luck with the surgery. I feel your pain re: the IV. I have to get needles in the back of my hand. It hurts but it beats having someone dig around in my arm trying to pin a rolling vein {shudder}
            When you start at zero, everything's progress.

            Comment


            • #7
              Definitely chat with the anesthesiologist about how you woke up from the last surgery- they've got stuff that'll help smooth it out and make it easier. I've had 8 orthopedic surgeries in the last 10 years (I tear cartilage like people sneeze...) with #9 in 2 weeks and they've always taken care of me and tweaked the cocktail for the best results.

              Comment


              • #8
                It wasn't the anesthetic - that was MUCH better than the time I had my wisdom teeth out, years ago. It was having everyone giving me orders in Czech, and the nurse ripping the tape off my hand to remove the cannula. The anesthesiologist last time was very nice, and told me I could go home a few hours after surgery (which didn't happen; they kept me overnight). I won't have much time to talk to this anesthesiologist, and there's no guarantee that s/he will even speak English.

                I hope that, 24 hours from now, I'll be ready to leave the hospital and come home.

                Comment


                • #9
                  I'm back!

                  Surgery was yesterday, and I must say, they're MUCH better at that hospital than at the clinic where I had surgery last year. Nice nurses, bigger and brighter rooms, etc.

                  I got a kick out of the O.R. nurse asking me if I'd ever done drugs. "Heroin," she said, to make her meaning clear. I held out my arms and said, "Look!" My arms have no signs of drug use (because there has never been any); furthermore, my veins are extremely difficult even for me to find, making any kind of injection very painful.

                  In the O.R. itself, the anesthesiologist told me he'd been to Denver, Salt Lake City, Vegas, and San Francisco. I wonder how the hell he got around, because his English was extremely limited. He told me his wife would only let him bet $10 in Vegas. I call that wise of her.

                  I was largely awake just a few hours later. My roommate, who had her surgery done hours before, had spent quite a bit of time sleeping. By the time I was awake, so was she, and she left only about an hour and a half before I did. Just as the doctor had promised, an ambulance took me home - along with another guy who had had knee surgery the same day. The driver used his GPS to plan the route to my place, and it took us on a scenic tour of the neighborhood. I tried to tell him where to go, but he followed the GPS instead, which took us over some incredibly bumpy streets - you know, just the thing when you've had surgery only a few hours earlier. If he'd listened to me, we would have traveled a shorter distance over smoother streets. Oh, well.

                  This morning, Kittycat jumped up on the bed, near my bandaged leg. When I tried to push her off, she held on - and then ran RIGHT OVER MY KNEE. While I was talking to the doctor's office on the phone. I really hope it didn't cause any damage.

                  I also have to give myself INJECTIONS of anti-thrombosis medication for the next five days. And I hate needles with a passion.

                  So, surgery's over, and now convalescence, and all it entails, begins.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Ah, Innohep injections. It took me more than a week to get the courage up to set needles to my beloved flesh . In the beginning I went to the hospital to get the injections.
                    I had to take them for half a year, Respect for injecting yourself from the first day.
                    Here's wishing for a speedy recovery.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I didn't have a choice. The nurse brought in a bundle of five hypodermics, and one more, and used that one to show me how to inject myself. She stood and watched as I did it, making sure that everything was done right. I gave myself the second injection an hour ago, so four more injections over the next four days. The needles are thin, fortunately, and what really hurts is the injection site afterwards, as the medication sinks in.

                      Moving is easier; I can walk around my place, and upstairs to the landlord's, without the sticks. I think tomorrow, I'll go for a short walk down the street and back (with the walking sticks) to see how it goes.

                      Working from home is going well, too.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I went on my first excursion yesterday. It wore me out! I took the walking sticks just in case I needed them, and I'm glad I did. I leaned on them when my knee hurt, and sometimes I just needed the extra support anyway.

                        My knee is doing very well; each day it feels better, and I can bend it more. I wish I could do some of my yoga poses (such as the cobra) to gain some flexibility, but since I didn't discuss it with the doctor, I'm not going to do anything like that.

                        The stitches come out on Tuesday, so just a few more days of showering with a large piece of plastic wrapped around my leg! I'll be able to wash off the iodine, too. My leg looks like several dogs peed on it.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Quoth Eireann View Post
                          ... My leg looks like several dogs peed on it.
                          ...When I grow up I wanna be a tree...
                          I am not an a**hole. I am a hemorrhoid. I irritate a**holes!
                          Procrastination: Forward planning to insure there is something to do tomorrow.
                          Derails threads faster than a pocket nuke.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            The stitches came out today!

                            I was very surprised to discover that there were only two - one for each incision. The nurse was none too gentle at cutting off the bandages and removing the stitches, might I add. And the knee had what the doctor called "post-operative effusion", which he drained.

                            I HATE having that done. It hurt much more than he told me it would. No surprises there.

                            So, I'm still using the crutches, with the unexpected benefits that I always get a seat on public transportation and when I walk down the street, people get the hell out of my way.

                            I have another appointment a week from today, and I'm still astounded by the fact that my first visit to this doctor was only two weeks ago - and in that time, I've gone from initial consultation to pre-op tests to surgery itself to recovery to returning to the office to having the stitches out.

                            Comment

                            Working...
                            X