Easy as One, Two, Knee!

Had a successful (or so Dr. Feldman says) operation last Friday July 2nd. Adam and I were at the NYU Langone Outpatient Surgery Center around 6:15 AM, was prepped for surgery, went into surgery before 8AM, was out by 9, stayed in Post-Op for an hour, and went home around 10 in timr for the Netherlands-Brazil soccer game. Can't really complain!
(**On a side note, Langone was a really nice hospital. I had my shoulder surgery at St. Vincent's last year, and compared to Langone, that place was a dump. Nurses Kathy and Catherine-weird, I know-informed me that Langone is about a year old. The color scheme was cheery, the furniture nice and no uncomfortable stainless steel chairs in sight. My Pre-Op room had a flat screen TV and was a real room, not curtain-divided from the other rooms. The nurses were all very sweet and cheery.)

Back to the surgery. I had my mind set on having a hamstring graft and even worked out almost every day to strengthen my legs to withstand the extra trauma. I voiced my preference to Dr. Mike (the Chief Orthopedic Resident) and Dr. Feldman and explained why I preferred hamstring over donor graft. However, they both addressed my concerns and convinced me that allograft, or donor tissue, was the way to go because the donor will be less than 25 years old, of top quality (apparently Feldman is the busiest doctor in NYU and gets his choice of grafts), less surgery time, and less post-op pain because he won't need to make other incisions. So allograft we go.

Obviously I don't remember much from the time I was given general anesthesia (on my hand, still bruised). Last vision I had was the anesthesiologist swabbing my left thigh for the femural block. I woke up around 9 AM in the Post-Op room and the nurse immediately called Adam in for me. Last year I inhaled a liter of coconut water and a whole shawarma sandwich from Chickpea right after surgery. And then threw up everything. So this year I was determined to look presentable and opted for some apple juice and a graham cracker. Good choice, Kitty, keep it classy!

Things that I take for granted and now has a degree of difficulty x100:
1. ShoweringAdam devised a waterproof "skirt" for my leg with a garbage bag, some packing tape and a towel under the skirt (but over the leg) to absorb any moisture that might have dripped into the skirt. Showering is definitely not a solo job, but I have the best and most patient nurse
2. Dressing
Getting something over your foot/leg when it is immobile and weighed down by 10 lbs makes dressing yourself difficult. I've stayed away from pants and shorts and have opted for dresses that go over my head.
3. Going to the bathroom
You try elevating your leg and going to the bathroom at the same time.
4. Getting something to eat/drink from the refrigerator
Your hands are occupied with the crutches. How are you going to transport the food? You get creative.

As you can imagine, everything is pretty much difficult and takes 10x longer, even with my super ergonomic, shock-absorbing crutches.. Even just adjusting myself on the couch or the bed. I'm really lucky to have the bestest boyfriend in the world who is so patient, caring, and takes care of everything (I'll stop there-there just aren't enough superlatives).

I can't be too active until I have the dressings and stitches out (July 13), but I am back to work..from home.
Kitty