Acl Surgery..No fun!!
by Juls
(Long Island NY)
5/4/10 OK so I blew the ACL and meniscus in my knee on March 23rd. It's been a crazy road, ohhh the pain.......what the heck happened? Why God , WHy??? And the fun begins...
It's been a little over a month now and my knee is doing alot better than it was. At first I couldnt walk at all, if I tried to step on that leg I would just fall. I had to wear this ridiculous brace and use crutches, yup I felt like an idiot...but was nice to see that strangers were nicer to me lol Sleeping was almost impossible, I couldn't bend my leg at all and having to sleep with your leg completely straight was no fun...Now I can walk without my brace or crutches although sometimes it still feels like its going to give out on me which, thank God has only happened once. Oh, and in a public bathroom and I couldn't get up so a stranger had to help me (not one of my shining moments)
Right as my injury happened my house was under some big construction and thanks to the love of my life and my family, they pulled together and got pretty much everything done so I could be comfortable. I now have my comfy cozy bedroom that I can hang out in with my 1 leg ha. Haven't worked since which believe it or not is driving me crazy. I miss getting up and going, I almost forget what an airplane looks like. I miss driving to JFK, going into the crew lounge and seeing my favorite Jetblue faces, then going onto the plane, putting up my luggage, boarding and even the passengers yelling at me cause someone stole their overhead bin space lol yea not so much...Just hate not being able to just get up and go when I want.
This Friday I'm having knee reconstruction surgery, which I have been dying to just get over with. Im totally nervous but gotta do what I gotta do....3 days till Surgery
5/6/10 So here it goes, tomorrow is my surgery, it's been a crazy 6 weeks since I injured my knee. Lots going on, getting my house back in order, putting all the construction material away, talking to insurance companies, disability company, doctors visits and during all this trying to keep my sanity. Not working is strange since Ive worked my whole life since Im 13. Money is dwindling away and getting worried about the debt I may wind up with. As of now I already have a stack of hospital bills sitting next to my bed and I havent even had the surgery yet...imagine if I didn't have health insurance whew. I have someone coming to my house this morning to set up some machines I'm going to need for after surgery. It's amazing how fast life can really change and how things can turn everything upside down.
Not really looking forward to being cooped up in this room for God only knows how long but I know my honey will be here with me and hoping I'll get to see the other love of my life, my nephew Ryan who always seems to make my pain go away <3
My knee today is hurting a bit and a little swollen, most likely cause of all the running around (not really running) and getting all my things together for tomorrow. Today I am going to do much of nothing, going to try and relax most of the day so I'm good to go in the morning. I already feel bad for my mom and Rich since I know I'm going to be a pain in the butt while Im laying here recovering, I'm going to need help going to the bathroom, they are going to have to serve me food and drinks and whatever else since I won't be able to stand...showering?? haa Who knows when I'll be able to do that, I'll be stinky Im sure lol Thank you and Im sorry and I love you both in advance lol
It's my last day with my old knee, so strange how I'm going to have a dead persons body parts put into my leg and will become my own. Kinda freaky but thank God for the person who gave it up so I can have a new knee :-) If it wasn't for the donor I would have to take my own pieces from another part of of my body....1 day till surgery
5/8/10 Day after surgery,,,,
So my surgery was successful and everything went great! I now have a new ACL :-) I had a wonderful experience in the hospital (Franklin General) From the first person I saw to sign in to the last nurse I spoke with before I left, I was treated like a queen! They were all wonderful. I have never had such a friendly and caring group of doctors and nurses. Made alll the difference in the world. I can't wait to send them a thank you card and letter letting them know how wonderful they were with me :-) They definitely need to be recognized!
So I got to the hospital at 830am and basically didn't have my surgery till about 130pm, the waiting was torture but before you knew it I was awake, crying in pain. The surgery went fantastic but the pain was overwhelming, my whole body shook uncontrollably right after I woke up. I could not believe I was in that much pain. They gave me a numbing injection in my leg and a few doses of morphine and finally the pain went away enough to live with. I new I was going to be hurting but I never thought that much, on a scale of 1-10 it was a 10 for sure! Now, the day after and with percocet its still like a 6 or 7. Soo, im very happy that the surgery went well but totally miserable because of this pain :-( I just keep praying that the pain meds work better.
While at the hospital mom, Rich and Rob were there with me...their comfort was great and much needed. They were awesome and so thankful I had them at my side. My brother gave me flowers with a card, that will eventually go into a scrapbook, he wrote "Julie, you knee'd to get better! haha Love you" lol loved it. He always makes me laugh <3 Rich spent most of the day trying to keep me possitive and loved my pillow in my private room lol He's a wonderful man and is taking such great care of me <3
The first person I wanted after I woke up was of course my mommy...she has such as sweet loving touch with things like this. I love her <3
Its 6:30am and cant sleep. My elephant leg is killing me and I'm way too uncomfotable to sleep. I take percocet every 4 hours and I still can't deal with the pain ugh. Though I had surgery on my knee...my entire leg is in pain from my upper thigh to my foot. Amanda and Dan came over lastnite to visit me and Amanda rubbed my foot which was like heaven!! Thank you amanda I love you...they also brought me a card and a bag of goodies, magazines, gummy bears, gummy bugs, my favorite!!! :-) Thanks to them I have a bunch of things to keep me busy while Im stuck in my bed. Going to try to close my eyes now,...buh bye
5/11/10 4days post-op
It's 7am and woke up feeling aweful again. My whole body is hurting, my arms from the crutches, of course my leg, my back and butt from laying in the same position for 4 days now, I can't go to the bathroom and my stomach is killing me. I've been praying every day that the pain would go away but it seems to be that more and more I'm hurting and now it's not just my leg :-( I got to speak with my surgeon yesterday and he told me I can increase my pain meds. I took 2 pills yesterday instead of 1 and I felt like I was high. The feeling wasn't good, it was a little too much for me. I'll stick with taking 1 1/2 till I can get off them completly. I have an 11:45 appt to see him 2day to remove the dressing and I can't wait. I'll take anything to make me more comfortable. I really never thought it was going to be like this and know thats it's going to be a long road to feeling normal again.
