Arthroscopic Surgery Revisited

We got up bright and early this morning to got to Los Alamitos Medical center. Dr. Kanu Patel would perform an arthroscopic procedure on my left knee. We got to the hospital as requested at 0530 and I mentioned to Cathy on the way in that I was a little nervous. The reasons for my anxiety had to do with some unreasonable delays I had experienced in person on two occasions at this place plus on the phone with them yesterday.

Everything went smoothly. The surgery was scheduled for 0730. At about 0615 we were directed to a place called Same Day Surgery. There, we were greeted by very pleasant nurses and staff. I was very impressed by their courtesy and their professionalism. They even wrote "YES" on my left leg just above the knee to guide them to the correct place to cut. Dr. Patel is well-known to the nurses for being on time and not appreciating needless delays and today was no exception. He was there and ready to go. The Anesthesiologist impressed me too.

Fade to black.

At 0810 I woke up in the recovery room. Other than a little throat discomfort that I assume was due to entubation for anesthesia, there was no discomfort. In fact I checked my leg and found it heavily bandaged, so I felt secure that something had been done.

After the surgery, Dr. Patel went and talked to mom and told her that based on his observations during surgery that I really should have had a total knee replacement. He's probably right of course but we wanted to at least try this first.

At 0910 after the required one hour in recovery, I was moved back to Same Day and mom was summoned to my side. I felt great but needed to use the facilities. I got crutches and instruction on how to use them and off I went. Still no pain in the knee so I walked gingerly but kept the crutches at the ready just in case.

Then we headed for home at about 1015. Everyone was great at the hospital and my impression is now very favorable. There was still no pain in my knee but I assumed that I was still under the influence of some form of anesthesia.

Even though there was still no pain, we stopped on the way home and got the prescriptions filled.

When we got home, I obediently went to bed and elevated my leg. At noon there was still no pain and I walked out back to read in the sun. I elevated my leg out there too.

Well, it's now 1730 and still no pain. I mean none. I should shut up because I'm not going to get the sympathy I was anticipating. If this continues, I will probably have to start painting again tomorrow. Now that I think it through, I think maybe there is some pain there after all.