Ow!

So, 2 days post surgery. I tried to update yesterday, but due to DNS issues (at least, I assume that is what the problem was), I couldn't access blogger. So, you had to wait for an update. I'm sure you are all on the edges of your seats. Or not.

So, let me be the first to say, Vicodin doesn't seem to be my friend. The doc told me I could take as many as 3 every 3 hours if I needed to, but only do that for a couple of days, due to the large amount of tylenol that is in there. Don't want to OD on tylenol. Because that would, you know, suck.

It was interesting going into surgery. I walked in and was getting dressed in my surgical gown when a nurse came in and asked me a strange question. It kinda surprised me. She asked, "Would you like anesthesia today?" I thought that was an odd question. Yeah. I want anesthesia.

So, they hooked me up to an IV, gave me a few oral drugs (one was an antibiotic but not sure what the other one was). I had several people come in and ask what the surgery was supposed to be, and on which leg. I guess it was their way to double check (and triple and quadruple check) to make sure they didn't do the wrong thing. They also wrote the word Yes on my knee with a sharpie. I told them I didn't care which one they did, since both of them need it. They got a laugh out of that one.

So, they wheel me into surgery, where someone is playing Evanessence. For some reason, one of the guys in there thought it would bother me. I told them, "what's not to like about Evanessence?" One laughed and seemed surprised that I would know who it was. I think they turned it off shortly thereafter. I made a joke that they needed to play "Bring me to life" by that band when they woke me up from surgery. After that, got a mask strapped to my face and off to lala land. It didn't take long.

I woke up, in pain, with my eyes streaming. They gave me pain meds through my IV, which helped. However, I was using that arm to wipe the tears from my eyes (the tears were an involuntary reaction - I wasn't crying), so I was keeping the drugs from working, as that was the arm that the IV was in. It got better, though, and they rushed me right out of the recovery room. I expected to be in there longer. I guess not. Surgeon said my kneecap was really "fuzzy" and ragged. He's going to show me a picture on Friday. He said that I had to be in a lot of pain when I was standing up and sitting down. I told him that I wasn't. I hope I get to take the picture home with me. If I can, I'll scan it and host it, so others can see.

That being said, Vicodin doesn't seem to be my friend. I couldn't keep anything down for the first two days. I called the on-call doctor to see what I should do. He told me to switch to ibuprofen and take the Vicodin to sleep. That way, I could get some food into my stomach. I was getting a little shaky, to tell the truth. Last night's dinner stayed down, as well as the shake that my husband went and got for me afterwards (dinner was just a chicken sandwich, so don't go thinking I pigged out or anything). He made me an egg sandwich this morning for breakfast, since I was hungry. I may take the vicodin later on, as my knee was killing me this morning when I got up to go to the bathroom.

Oh, and I will say, my sofa bed is only comfortable when I'm on drugs. Once I stopped taking the Vicodin, it stopped being soft.

I get to shower today, which will be nice. I can wash the betadine off of my leg. It's been yellow for 2 days. A friend of mine (EMT) told me that alcohol would take it off, but I didn't do it. That's a lot of leg to wash with alcohol. I'll finally get to see the holes in my knee. I rewrapped the top of the ace bandage this morning and saw one of the blood spots (nasty looking) through the bandages. After my shower, I get to take off the pressure bandages and put bandaids on the holes. Then I have to rewrap it with the ace. At least for a few days. We'll see how it feels.

I'm curious to see how I'll feel next weekend. Right now, I feel like I pulled some major muscles and twisted my knee. I was hoping to be able to get back to work next week. We'll see how that turns out. I'll be out of sick leave by the end of next week, so, unless I take an advance on my sick, I'll probably just take some of my vacation time. I've got enough stored up.

I'm hoping to sleep in my own bed tonight, as it is infinitely more comfortable than the sofa. I don't know how much time I'm going to spend on the computer, as it puts pressure on the leg in an uncomfortable way. I've got a lap desk, but I'm using it to hold things like my food and drink and drugs. We'll see. It can only get better from here on out. Right?