Surgery part II

I think today went well. I have a big fat knee and I can barely limp along but I'm not using crutches and so far I haven't taken any pain killers so I'll take that as a good sign. As we were leaving to go to the surgery center Lisa asked me why I was wearing pants. What kind of question is that? I don't really want to walk around in my underwear. She explained that she figured my knee would be so swollen and with the bandages and all I wouldn't be able to get my pants on so she figured I should wear a pair of sweats or something. I assured her that all they were doing were pocking two holes in my knee and all it would take is two band-aids to cover those up. Well after waiting for an hour the nurse finally called us in and the first thing he said was, "you wore pants?" I told him the same thing that I told Lisa about the band-aids and he informed me that my knee would be wrapped with so many bandages that I would never get my pants on. Oops. No one said anything to me about wearing sweats. I then had to go through the humiliating process of shaving my leg. I now have a naked leg. He then wrote all over my knee with a felt marker and then while wearing my gown with no back I kissed my wife good bye and went and crawled onto the most comfortable bed I've ever laid on. Actually the bed wasn't what was comfortable but they had a blanket on this bed that was hooked up to a machine that filled the blanket full of warm air. It was divine. The anesthesiologist then stuck this gross looking white stuff in my IV and I went to sleep. That bandage on my arm next to the ID band is from the IV. When I woke up the IV hurt worse than my knew did. While I was under Lisa headed to the nearby mall and bought me a pair of shorts to wear home. The doctor actually offered to let me wear a pair of the paper shorts that they use but I didn't really want to wear paper shorts.

The next thing I knew I was sort of semi-conscious and try as I might I couldn't clear my mind. I stretched and someone told me to put my arms down and I wanted to talk to him but I couldn't figure out how to speak. I formed the words in my mind and very carefully said something to the nurse. I don't remember what I said but I was really worried about saying something stupid so I wouldn't talk until I knew exactly what I wanted to say. I remember thinking this must be what it is like for stroke victims who's minds work fine but they can't get the words out. I then leaned over to check on the machine reading my vitals and I saw that my heart rate was 72, my blood pressure was 120/82 and my oxygen level was 96% so I figured I was still alive and ready to go home. When I told the nurse that he called Lisa in and lifted up the back of my bed and suddenly I was very light headed. That gradually passed and I got dressed and here I am. They insisted on giving me crutches but I refused to use them. On the way home we stopped for an In-n-out hamburger. It was very good and I was very hungary since I hadn't eaten breakfast. I was in no pain but my leg is very stiff. It is now time to go to bed and the pain killers have worn off and while my knee does hurt I don't think I will be using the Vicoden that they wanted me to get. I'm sure that tomorrow my knee will be even more stiff than it is today but I don't think it will hurt any more than it does now. I'm planning on going to work.

The coolest part about the whole thing are these neat pictures that he took. I haven't talked to the doctor yet (I have an appointment for Friday) but I think that shredded looking stuff is the torn part of the meniscus that he took out. I know I'll feel better about this whole operation if he actually found something wrong. I'll feel real stupid if he tells me that everything was fine.

I'm going to take a glass of water and a Vicoden to sit by my bed just in case I wake up in excruciating pain but I'm going to try going to bed tonight without anything. I really don't want to put that stuff in my body if I don't have to.

---------------------trivia--------------------

More babies were born in 2007 than in any year in the history of the United States. Good news, abortions are down, bad news, nearly half of the babies were born to single mothers, many of them teenagers.

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