Oh the fun of surgery!

On August 7th, I went in for surgery to have my torn ACL and Meniscus repaired on my left knee. Dr. Scott Smith was my surgeon and he did a great job! He was so nice to let me WATCH the surgery. Instead of having general anesthesia, I opted for a Spinal with a Femoral Nerve Block so that I could be awake and remember the surgery. I loved it and I know that makes me sound so crazy! I wouldn't have changed a single thing in reguards to watching it. I must admit that it was a little weird feeling the bones in my pelvis vibrate when they were sawing the bone in my knee! The Spinal turned out to be a great thing because my legs were numb, so I didn't feel any pain for at least 10 hours! I have to admit that it was really good for me to be the PATIENT instead of the surgical NURSE--it gave me such a great perspective into how my patients must feel. I hope to be a better nurse as a result of my surgery.

This is me, looking my loveliest, right before they wheeled me back for surgery.

This is me right after surgery with my full-leg knee immobilizer which is locked at zero degrees. Let the fun begin!

After surgery, I was supposed to stay in bed for 2 weeks with my leg propped and iced. Laying in bed got extremely boring. However, I did enjoy reading books and watching approximately 250 decorating shows! Thank goodness for HGTV! Grant was my little buddy while I was home recovering. We spent a lot of time reading books in bed.

The incisions with all the brusing! It actually looks pretty good considering what some look like!

Yippee...I can get out of bed finally with the use of 2 crutches!

Here I am transitioning to 1 crutch and then...

...to NO crutches! Oh, what a wonderful feeling to finally be able to put weight on my foot.

It has been a couple of weeks since this picture, but I am now happy to report that I no longer have to wear my brace! I wore it for one month and it was a VERY HAPPY day when the doctor told me I could take it off! The progress is slow, but steady. I finally started Physical Therapy last week and my range of motion has improved, so I am excited. I do realize that I have about 3 1/2 more months until I am fully better! I hope when everything is all said and done, that I am glad that I chose to have this surgery done because I am dying to get back on the Basketball court!