On the Bright Side

This recovery process has had it's ups and downs, and I have to say that a few days ago it was more on the down side. It's been pretty stressful around here lately with how much is going on with my dad's surgery and mine. I was in an awfully horrendous mood, and I am in awe of how my mom and Kevin haven't kicked me to the curb and abandoned me yet.

I thought I would be working at my first, big-kid job now, beginning my career in the exact position I wanted to work in. I thought I'd be saving up money and moving out of my parents house since I've been back here since I started grad school. I thought my knee wouldn't still be in a lot of pain nearly 2 weeks after surgery.  I expected to be able to go out to eat with friends still, go to movies, and that I'd have an easier time riding in a car. I also thought I could drive since it's my left leg. My brace is so big that doing anything besides sitting in a recliner is uncomfortable. My contacts are also STILL driving me nuts after multiple eye doctor appointments and new contacts, and this has been going on since January.

I've been frustrated with how long it takes to do everything and frustrated with having to ask for help so much. I've been scared to move too much since it's painful, but even more scared to not move and lose strength or range of motion. I've also been filled with immense guilt for feeling bad about the situation at all, because I know how lucky I am. I have an incredible support system, and this is hopefully just a temporary issue. I've seen plenty of patients who have it much worse, and I should be thankful for all the good health I still have. All of this shouldn't upset me so much. 

So, I've decided to try to look on the bright side of things:

I don't get to begin working when I thought I would, but...

I have the rest of my life to work. Now, I get the summer off! I can enjoy long, lazy days and I get to sleep in every day. It's really nice not worrying about an alarm clock.

Delicious fresh fruit

I have to spend 6 hours a day laying down using a CPM machine, but...

This gives me tons of time to read! I've been finally catching up on reading my Kindle, magazines, books, the newspaper, and short stories. I have also been watching more TV the past two weeks than I have the past 25 years combined. I've never been a big TV person, but I'm finding some shows I enjoy. On that note, I also found out 7th Heaven is on TV again!! Not new episodes, just re-runs, but they haven't had re-runs on for a few years! For anyone who knows me well, you know that is my favorite show of all time. I don't care how cheesy it is. 

So much to read, so much time (finally)

My pain meds were making me nauseous all the time and my appetite has shrunk from sitting around doing nothing but...

I lost some weight without trying at all. Hooray. That never happens! And I've been eating so much chocolate! I know this will come back to bite me in the butt when my appetite picks up again and I'll gain it back, but for now I don't mind.

Enjoying my birthday treats

Both of my knees still hurt and this surgery kind of sucks, but...

Hopefully it will feel much better in the next few months than it has in the past 15 years. Also, I found out some more wonderful news today!!! My MRI of my right knee came back, and I don't have osteochondritis dissecans in it!!!!!! I have some arthritis in my patella (knee cap), but they said as of now, I don't need surgery on the right knee. HOORAY!!! :D

I am going to continue to try to look on the bright side, and to keep in mind that "This too shall pass."

Beautiful orchids from my mom. They were a "Congratulations on your first OT job!" gift, but now I'm sort of looking at them as a recovery plant. They change form purple-blue to completely white, and some of them have already started to. Maybe I'll be better by the time they're all white (I enjoy goofy symbolic stuff like that).

Dad Update: My dad came home from the hospital yesterday. He is doing much better than the doctors expected, so he got to come home a few days early! Almost all of his symptoms from before surgery are gone already, which we are SO thankful for! He's having a difficult time getting comfortable sitting anywhere, but he's okay when he's laying in bed and he doesn't seem to be in too much pain. He's going stir-crazy already though, so we're trying to think of stuff to keep him busy that doesn't involve bending, lifting more than 5 pounds, or twisting. 

Also, Happy 27th Birthday to my older brother, John! Time is flying. I can't believe you're married and have 2 kids now. I hope your birthday was a good one :)

Healthy Healing and a Happy Birthday

Dad Update: My dad's surgery went well for the most part! His ligament was pressing on his spinal cord for so long that when they removed it, part of his dura mater (the outer layer of his spinal cord) came with it. The doctor was stunned he wasn't in there sooner. They ended up putting a few rods and pins in his back, too, because it was more degenerated than they initially thought. The surgery took 5 hours instead of 2, and after he was on bedrest for 24 hours, laying totally flat, to make sure his CSF fluid didn't leak from the dura mater tear. Hopefully this won't cause any complications. Today, he already walked with the nurses a little bit. He seems to be hanging in there!

As far as healing goes, my knee has been getting a little bit stronger each day, and my ROM (range of motion) is thankfully increasing without too much pain. I like to play Kanye West's "Stronger" in my head when I'm doing PT exercises because I'm cool like that, and I swear it makes them less difficult to get through. At my post-op appointment on Monday, I was at 50 degrees on the CPM machine. She said bump it up by 10 degrees each day, so I did, and I made it to 90 degrees on Thursday! Ninety degrees was the goal, so I called to ask if I should increase it even more. She said to stay at 90 for now since it's the "therapeutic range", so that's where I'm at for the next two weeks. Hooray!!!

I've also been hanging my lower leg over the edge of the couch and bed to increase my ROM. Sometimes this REALLY hurts, and other times, it feels totally normal. It always makes me a little nervous. This was me getting to 90 degrees a few days after surgery (when I was at only 40 on the CPM machine) on the side of the couch. It may seem like nothing, and it was something I took for granted every day before, but I was thrilled this first time I got to 90 degrees. Baby steps! 

Ninety degrees for the first time!

My knee is also getting more stable and hasn't been buckling inside the brace as much when I walk. I've now mostly been walking without the crutches. Occasionally I need them a bit more if I'm over-doing it (Like when I went to visit Dad at the hospital-that was a bit much and I ended up needing a wheelchair to get back to the car. Woops.), but typically I can sloooooowly walk without them. 

My dad recently bought a NutriBullet, and the book that it came with has a section on building healthy bones. I doubt I get enough calcium and vitamin D since I'm lactose intolerant, so we've tried to make a few of these smoothies to help my bones repair themselves better from the surgery. 

NutriBullet bone-building recipes 

This is the first one my mom made for me. It had avocado, banana, chia seeds, almonds, and spinach. It was so gross because of how thick it was...but I didn't want to waste it so I drank it anyway. Maybe the next one will be better!

Gross smoothie..the next one will be better!

Another essential part of healing...lots of chocolate. Kevin brought me this bar that is over a pound of chocolate. It's dairy-free but doesn't taste bitter. It's one of my favorites! Thank you, Kevin!

Awesome chocolate bar

I have also been getting all sorts of get-well cards and wishes. They make my day! My mom gave me a book called "Blissful Moments for Women." It has a bunch of Bible quotes and short passages, and it's perfect for right now. My grandma gave me a Willow Tree figurine, and a cross ornament. My cards are lined up on a shelf that I can see while I'm laying in the CPM machine. Erin visited me all day Tuesday and helped out while my parents were in the ER. She helped with my brace and CPM machine, brought Noodles & Co. for lunch, and brought Shakespeare In Love to watch. I was so thankful for her help and company! Thank you to everyone who sent something, called, visited, sent well wishes on Facebook, and who is praying for my dad, my family, and I! I appreciate every single thing everyone has been doing for me. 

Card from my Grandma Votino

Card from the Loisells

Card and book from my parents

Card and gifts from my Grandma Haase

I have also been continuously entertained by this goofy little dude (my nephew) since my parents babysit him 3 days a week,

(John Nathan being a cool dude)

and have had endless cuddles with my other precious nephew. Look at those cheeks!

James taking a nap on me

My birthday was perfect. I woke up to this awesome poster-board sign from Caitlyn, and these beautiful roses from my dad. Each year he gets me my age in roses on my birthday. My mom made me breakfast, and then I hung out with the CPM machine for 2 hours. I took a real shower, too, instead of a sponge bath/washing my hair in the sink. It felt glorious! I never really fully appreciated how amazing a shower can make me feel, or how simple of a task showering used to be compared to now. It's getting a little easier each time though.

Thank you, Caitlyn!

Twenty-five gorgeous roses from my Dad.
Thanks, Dad!

Jessica came to visit and brought me the awesome Strawberry Poppyseed salad from Panera for lunch, and then Ashwin stopped by to hang out and brought me one of my favorite desserts in Columbus: a flowerless chocolate torte with raspberry sauce from Hyde Park. Thank you, Jessica and Ashwin! 

My mom made chicken fajitas, salad, and fruit salad for my birthday dinner followed by ice cream cake! My corner had dairy-free cookie dough, and everyone else had real black raspberry chip. It was delicious! I got some pretty awesome presents, cards, and Facebook wishes. My parents are getting me a new camera that I get to pick out as soon as I feel up to it. John & Kel got me an adorable framed picture of Caitlyn and I kissing John and James' cheeks, and Kevin's parents sent me a hilarious card with a gift card for my Kindle. So far I've only rented library books on it, so I'm really excited to buy some books for my Kindle!

Kevin got me a giant box of fancy dark chocolates from Anthony Thomas (I'm seeing a theme here...everyone brings me food!), and ballroom dancing lessons for us to do together once my leg is rehabilitated. I can't wait to get better so that we can start! I went to a ballroom dancing club my freshmen year of undergrad with a friend, and it was so much fun. I've forgotten it all now though, so I am excited to learn again! This will be even more motivation to get through physical therapy and everything. 

Kevin and I after our walk

One of the best parts of the day was going for a little walk. We made it about three and a half houses down, which is the furthest I've gone without crutches, so that was another small victory. It was an incredibly slow walk, but everything seems to be incredibly slow lately.  It felt so nice to get out of the house, and it was a beautiful evening! It was a great way to end the day. 

P.S. I don't know what is going on with the spacing..it's normal when I write then gets messed up when I publish the post. I'll try to figure it out. 

The (Crazy) Past 24 Hours

It has been a CRAZY day in the Votino household. 

The day began with my post-op appointment. I felt incredibly car-sick from riding sideways in the back seat mixed with the pain meds (that I mostly took out of fear of getting my stitches out--the knee felt okay). We're trying to figure out a better way for me to travel.

The athletic trainer came in first and told me that the sutures looked good and healthy, and that they were healing nicely, so they wanted to remove them. To everyone who said it wouldn't hurt, you lied to me!!! It did hurt! Not as badly as I was expecting though, and the athletic trainer was awesome. Two of them felt like a pinchy-pully thing and were just mostly uncomfortable, and the last one stung really badly and brought tears to my eyes as I death-gripped my momma's hand. I am a big baby with that sort of stuff. I could never have been a nurse, and I admire everyone who is one. 

The PA (physician's assistant) was next since the doctor is out of town, and I was told to work on increasing my ROM (range of motion). The guy who delivered the CPM machine said increase 4-6 degrees a day, so I have been increasing 6-7 per day, so I was at about 50 degrees. The PA said I really need to bump it up and to increase it by 10 degrees a day, so that's what I've been working on. It's definitely not comfortable, but I want my ROM back! She also showed me some really cool pictures of what they did during surgery. 

The one on the left has the bottom of my femur and the top of my tibia, at the healthy part, how it should look.
The picture on the right is my damaged cartilage/bone that could've broken off soon. More pictures to come!

When I got home, my I spent some time convincing my dad to call a doctor about his hips/back. They have been hurting for quite some time (I think for over two months), and he's had numbness/tingling down his leg. I told him that's a spinal cord problem and to go to the doctor's and get an MRI. When he was having some bathroom issues yesterday, I insisted he call a doctor because of some syndromes we learned about in school where having bowel/bladder issues is a HUGE red flag. I was scared to death it was cauda-equina syndrome, which is a when there is pressure at the bottom of the spinal cord and it requires emergency surgery.

My dad finally called an orthopedic doctor since we don't know of any neurologists, and they told him to get to an ER immediately because of his signs and symptoms (saddle anesthesia, urinary retention, severe lower back pain, sciatic pain, numbness/tingling in his legs). Everyone in my family was a bit nervous at this point since we don't know of any good neurosurgeons. We talked to a family friend who is a nurse, and she convinced them to go to OSU, saying that's where the best back surgeons are. Around 3:00pm, my parents went off to OSU.

My wonderful parents at Siesta Key last year. My dad is rockin' that beach shirt.

I was trying to keep myself from worrying, so I worked on my PT exercises. I got through about 100 of each of them, until my leg started cramping. I bent it to try to increase my ROM, and when I straightened it it felt like something pulled in the back of my leg and there was a really sharp pain. I started freaking out that I had messed something from the surgery up, and left a message at the doctor's office. I laid on the floor for about 30 minutes and Caitlyn got me an ice pack. Caitlyn was going to help me up before she left for work, but I couldn't straighten it to put the brace on without a lot of pain. She had to leave so I stayed on the floor. 

Luckily, Kevin's wonderful boss let him leave early and he came to help me since the rest of my family was gone. After the ice, I was able to straighten it and get the brace on, and Kevin helped me to the couch. I couldn't put much weight on it without a lot of pain, so I was back to using two crutches when I had been using one or none. I am so thankful he was able to come to my house.

While this is going on, I'm continuously worrying about my dad and that I messed something up in my knee. The athletic trainer called back since the PA had left, and said I probably overworked or pulled either my hamstrings or my popliteus (a tiny muscle behind the knee). She said to take it easy and that if my knee locked at all, to call immediately because that could mean the plug popped out. I'm now trying to balance pushing myself to get my ROM back and taking it easy to not overwork anything.

Itty bitty popliteus muscle

Nathan and Caitlyn got home from work, so we all just hung out waiting to hear news about dad. I was Googling like crazy, trying to find a good neurosurgeon, and my parents were sitting in the ER waiting for the MRI. He finally got in to get an MRI around 6:30pm. They waited a few more hours to hear the results, and they heard there was something on his spine, but that the physician's assistant wasn't quite sure what and that the doctor would be there in the morning. At this point, a million scenarios are going through my head (Tumor? Cancerous or not? Has it spread?). The doctor said it might be a bone growth, but nobody was sure yet. 

Kevin, Caitlyn, Nathan, and I are all anxiously waiting, and then we hear a Buttercup throwing up. Sometimes Buttercup does that if she eats too quickly, so we didn't think much of it. Then she threw up again. And again. And again. Then, there was the worst smell ever, and she had diarrhea in the dining room. This continued for about an hour, with her throwing up or having diarrhea every 5 minutes. I have no idea how she got so sick. Normally I'm the pet person of my house when my mom is gone, but I can reach the ground with my brace. My siblings get too grossed out by it and started gagging when they tried to clean it up...so Kevin volunteered to clean it up. 

Feel better soon, Buttercup!

My mom now refers to Kevin as Saint Kevin. He truly is! I could not have gotten through last night without him. He helped me get my brace, my ice, food, blankets, socks, pillows, cleaned up cat mess, set the garage up for Buttercup, captured Buttercup to put her in the garage for the night since I wouldn't be able to clean in the morning, and comforted me while I had multiple emotional meltdowns from worrying about my dad. 

"Saint Kevin"
(Please excuse my terrible laptop editing.
Those are angel's wings, not blue ears.)

After an exhausting evening, everyone was finally settled and fell asleep. It was far from a restful night's sleep though. My hip was killing me from the PT, my knee was sore, and my pain meds were in the kitchen. I absolutely could not wake Kevin up and ask him to do one more thing, was too sore and exhausted to get my brace back on.

In the morning, we found out some excellent news!! My dad has a ligament bending and pressing on his spine, and he is scheduled for surgery on Friday. If the ligament is calcified, they'll remove it then put a rod and pins in. If not, they'll remove it. While back surgery never seems like good news, and it's scary since it's on the spine, we are thankful it wasn't a tumor, and that it wasn't cauda equina. He really wanted to come home before surgery, and they came home this afternoon since he didn't need immediate emergency surgery. 

The next few weeks are going to get crazy. We're praying for a complication-free surgery and a speedy recovery for dad, and for everything to slow down around here! Thankfully, my grandma is coming to town this weekend to help my mom out, and hopefully I'll be off of my crutches and more independent soon! We are all trying to take it a day at a time. 

P.S. Yesterday was also my Great-Grandma's 100th birthday! She always said she wanted to live to be 100, and she did it! Unfortunately, she isn't doing so well right now, and it's just kind of a day-by-day thing. 

Happy 100th Birthday, Great-Grandma Sophie!
This picture was taken November 2012 around Thanksgiving. 

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

(The end of this post has pictures of my stitches. If stitches gross you out please don't scroll all the way down!)

The Good:

I thought I'd have more time sitting on the couch than I knew what to do with, but it's been such a busy few days. On Thursday, John, Kel, and my nephews came over, and my parents made steak, asparagus, salad and baked potatoes for dinner. I was provided with hours of entertainment.

John sang the ABCs to me multiple times. 

I got to hold James! I swear he smiled two seconds after this, and I'm not trying to eat him.

Kevin and John played a game, and I cheered them on. Kevin threw the ball up to the balcony, and John threw it back down. He thought it was hilarious when Kevin would miss or if the ball got stuck between the rungs.

Kevin also juggled for me, but I can't get the video on here at the moment. I got to just hang out with everyone and relax for the rest of the night. The pain was pretty bad by the time time I went to bed though. It's been the worst at night so far.

Friday evening, my Aunt Barb, Uncle Dan, Grace (my cousin), Luke (her husband), and LJ (their two year old son) came in on their way  back home to Chautauqua Lake, NY from Nashville, and my parents had everyone over for dinner. We had a full house. 

After dinner, I was so antsy to get out of the house and was feeling pretty good, so Kevin and I went to Menchie's with Nate and Kylie. Getting in the car was quite a hassle. I sat in Kevin's front seat with the seat reclined. Not super comfortable with the brace.

I also got an incredibly sweet get well card from Grandma Baker and Zeek,

and enjoyed the beautiful spring flowers.

Saturday, my baby sister had her senior prom! I hobbled around on crutches to help take pictures of her and her boyfriend Joey.

Saturday evening, we went to my friend Jessica's graduation party. She just completed her Special Education degree from Ohio University. Congratulations, Jessica! This time, I sat in the back seat which was a bit easier. I managed to play corn hole standing on one leg, and we all played Cards Against Humanity. It was an awesome party, and it was wonderful being out of the house. 

The Bad (and also a little TMI):

I am frustrated with how long it takes to do everything since I am used to moving around so quickly. Getting up to pee is a 10 minute process, and I have a tiny bladder so this happens quite often. I am still trying to figure out how to go to the bathroom with a full leg brace on, because the million ways I've tried so far are incredibly uncomfortable. 

Showering is quite an ordeal, and so far I've only sponge bathed because of my stitches. Kevin installed a long-handled shower head in our downstairs bathroom, and my mom tried to wash my hair while I sat next to the tub. The chair didn't quite reach to the tub, and the floor was soaked within about 10 seconds of her trying to wash my hair. 

She wiped up the floor so I wouldn't slip, and I stood with my brace on hunched over the tub washing my own hair. Then I sat in a chair and washed myself with a soapy washcloth. What normally takes 15 minutes turned into an hour long process, and was was completely worn out by the end of it. I felt a million times better though since I had felt so disgusting since the surgery. This is definitely giving me more perspective to what my patients go through. 

The CPM (continuous passive motion) machine is becoming more painful the more degrees of ROM (range of motion) that I have to add. It feel like my skin is stretching way too far, and that the stitches are going to rip. I dread it now. 

I am in a battle between wanting the relief of the pain meds, and not wanting the side effects. I spoke too soon when I said I wasn't getting any side effects! I have been incredibly nauseous the past few days, and I'm not sure if it's the meds or a bug that went through my family. Half of of my family has had a 48 hour stomach bug this week, so it may be that. 

Here comes the TMI part...apparently pain meds are notorious for causing constipation. Combine that with not being nearly as active as normal and finding it difficult to even sit on a toilet because of a full leg brace...and you know where this is going. It's causing quite the problem, so I'm trying to only take the pain meds when I absolutely need them. So far, that has been every time I use that awful leg bending machine. These have been staples in my diet the past few days:

Coffee, Metamucil, Colace, and hot water. Plus tons of fruits and veggies.

I've also been taking extra strength probiotics because my body doesn't handle antibiotics well, and they pumped tons of antibiotics in my IV during surgery to prevent infection. I'm trying to prevent any additional problems the antibiotics may cause. 

Overall, I am lucky and the recovery process is going incredibly well, but there are definitely frustrating moments. 

The Ugly:

Here

.

..

...

..

.

come

.

..

...

..

.

the

.

..

...

..

.

.

stitches! 

You were warned. They actually really aren't bad at all, but I know some people are easily grossed out. I unwrapped the bulky bandages for the first time last night, and my knee looked about how I expected it to. The doctor signed my leg before surgery to be sure of which leg he was operating on. 

Lastly, I have my follow-up appointment tomorrow morning. I am not looking forward to getting the stitches out. I'm not sure if that happens tomorrow, or later. Hopefully everything looks good though! 

Post-Op Day 1 (Thursday 5/2)

I have always been pretty empathetic, but having this surgery has given me a completely new perspective for all of my patients that I saw during fieldwork that had knee surgeries. I find it ironic that they were the patients I was always scared to move in and out of bed because of how much pain they seemed to be in, and how any wrong bend could cause more pain. My fears while helping them transfer were correct; any wrong movement is very painful!

It is also giving me a lot of insight for how to treat my future patients who are in pain, who have had surgery, and who have big changes in their current plans or little detours towards their long-term goals and dreams. I am also quickly learning how much of an impact even small limitations can have on us participating in meaningful occupations (there's the OT in me), and how lucky I am to have such a great support system. 

Last night, I didn't get much sleep because the painkillers really don't seem to be doing anything to reduce pain or to knock me out. I am also not having any side effects from them, which is fantastic, because usually I get every side effect known to mankind. My body tends to be super sensitive with just about everything. Even after not sleeping well, I woke up feeling pretty good! I am putting almost all of my weight on my left leg already (with the brace on), and using the crutches just a little. 

It is definitely painful. For most of the beginning of the day, I'd say it's been a 7-8/10 on a pain scale. I think more of the pain is on the outside from the tightly wrapped bandage rubbing against the stitches than in the actual femur. I'm not sure how many incisions there are yet. I get to take the bandage off on Saturday. I've been trying to balance resting and working through the pain to do all of the exercises I'm supposed to be doing. I thought I'd be bored, but the first day flew by with the amount of things I'm supposed to do each day to help the recovery process!

Fancy-schmancy CPM machine that bends/straightens my knee.

What I am Doing to Take Care of My Knee (what the doctors, nurses, and physical therapist said to do):

1. Taking all medications as needed
2. Icing to reduce swelling, on 20 minutes and off  60 minutes all day
3. Completing physical therapy exercises (I have to do some of them 200 TIMES per DAY! This is why I went into OT, not PT. We assign sane amounts of home exercises. Although I'm sure they will be beneficial in the long run.)
4. Using the CPM (continuous passive motion) machine 3x/day, 2 hours each time. This machine flexes and extends my knee repeatedly to ensure that I maintain my ROM (range of motion). I started at 30 degrees today, and I'm supposed to add 4-6 degrees per day.
5. I'm drinking TONS of water, trying to eat pretty healthily, and drinking lots of green tea. I just feel like I should be treating my body the best that I can so that it can heal as quickly as possible.

I am so grateful for Kevin, my family, and my friends. My parents have been cooking for me and picking up my medications, Nathan has been helping to set up the CPM machine (that thing is heavy!), Kevin is keeping me company and providing tons of support, Kylie helps get my ice packs, Caitlyn gives me tips and tricks on wearing the bulky brace since she was in a similar one all of last summer, and my nephews provide endless entertainment. Everyone at my house has helped me adjust the excessive amount of pillows that I have been using countless times to try to make me comfortable, and my extended family and friends have been checking up on me and calling daily. Kevin's parents sent awesome balloons with a wonderful note. They came when my knee felt particularly terrible, and they look so cheerful! The balloons instantly made me feel better. 

I am incredibly thankful for all of the support from everyone around me. Day 1 wasn't so bad thanks to all of you, and I hear the first 48 hours are the worst!

 Get-well balloons from the Andersons. Thank you!!

Day of Surgery

My surgery was scheduled for noon at OSU East, and we were supposed to get there two hours early for check in. Kevin and I got there at 10, and my parents met us there shortly after. We figured we might need two cars depending on how I'd have to sit on the way home. We checked in, and they gave my parents and Kevin my "tracking number" (and a free coffee!). They have a big TV screen in the waiting area and in the cafeteria with each patient's number, and it changes from registration to pre-op to surgery, post-op, recovery, and finally discharged. 

  OSU East (Picture taken from OSU's website)

The longer we sat there, the more nervous I became. Around 11:30am, the receptionist came over and asked if we had been seen by the nurse yet. We hadn't, so he went to figure out what was going on. All of the pre-op beds were full, so I just had to wait in waiting room until one opened up. That was actually fine with me because I had more time with Kevin and my parents! Around 12:15pm, the nurse finally came to get me. My parents and Kevin couldn't come with me at this point, so we said our goodbyes and then they went to get lunch and enjoy the beautiful weather in the courtyard while they waited.

I went to pre-op and did a million things to get me ready for surgery, one of which was the seemingly easy task of peeing in a cup. I had already gone to the bathroom about ten times since we arrived at the hospital due to nerves and I didn't think I had anything left, but when the nurse said she'd flush my bladder if I wasn't able to go in the cup I somehow managed to go a little because that sounded horrific. 

ID band, allergies, and being a fall risk. I also got a party hat (as the nurses call it), bright red socks, and a lovely hospital gown.

The nurses were all incredibly friendly, the anesthesiologist was awesome (he also confirmed that redheads actually do need more anesthesia), and the PA was great. They were very good at keeping me calm and answering any questions I had. The surgeon came in and initialed my knee to make sure he'd operate on the correct one, and I eventually left for the operating room a little after 2pm. I was trying to thank the nurses for being so kind but couldn't get the words out as I quickly dozed off.  I (thankfully) don't remember anything after that until waking up in the recovery room. 

Kevin and my parents came in and saw me around 4:30pm. I was totally coherent and awake, which was much different from my previous experiences with anesthesia. I didn't feel too nauseous either, which was awesome. I am telling you, the anesthesiologist was fantastic! He said they use these monitors on your forehead to measure your brainwaves during surgery to see how asleep you are in order to adjust the amount of anesthesia they give you, and he gave me a few extra anti-nausea medications.

I was in quite a bit of pain and had a massive brace on, but I was SO excited to see Kevin and my parents and to be out of surgery. I also found out some AWESOME news right after surgery; The part that they operated on was further back in my femur than they expected, and it ended up being in a non-weight bearing part of my bone. This means I can weight-bear as tolerated and that I only need to use crutches for a day to a week instead of six weeks!! I still need to wear the massive brace for six weeks, but I'll gladly take that over non-weight bearing for six weeks.

They ended up using a bone void plug made out of cadaver bone instead of synthetic material. He said that they are ground up and made into a matrix that my healthy bone will mesh with. Eventually the cadaver bone will be totally dissolved and my healthy bone will completely replace it. Here is a picture the surgeon drew and showed my parents and Kevin of what they did in surgery:

The bottom picture is removing all the dead bone. The top is removing a little bit of the healthy bone in order for it to mesh with the cadaver bone and ensure a snug fit while putting the bone plug in.

Once we got back home, I got all settled in the reclining chair on one couch, and Kevin settled into the other recliner. He was more exhausted than me and passed out right away. It was quite a long day of waiting (10am-4:30pm, and we finally got home around 6:30pm. Thanks for coming, Kevin!). Hayes and Erin came to visit, too! It was nice to have some friends to talk to to distract me from focusing on my knee. It hurt pretty badly once the meds from the hospital wore off. I ended up staying up until about 3am trying to get comfortable and waiting for the pain to ease up a little since the painkillers that were prescribed weren't really kicking in.  

Nap time.

Giant ice pack with the brace opened up.

My super tan (iodine) leg!

Luckily, we have a guest bedroom with a bathroom downstairs. My mom stayed downstairs with me for the night to make sure I could make it around okay. She is awesome! Kevin and everyone in my family have been incredibly helpful and supportive throughout this whole process, and I am so thankful for all of them.