Post-Op Follow Up :)

It's been just over a week since my surgery. Things are going well compared to what I have been through, but since I am feeling much better than my last surgeries, I am also anxious to get moving again.

Here is a recap of the last week;

The surgery took 5 1/2 hours. The three things that were operated on were my medial and lateral meniscus, and my bone.

Here is a little anatomy lesson for those of you who don't know your knee too well. My lateral meniscus was torn a slight bit. The meniscus provide a cushion between your bones. Trimming my lateral meniscus was just a little routine cleaning.

My medial meniscus was completely taken out and replaced with a cadaver piece. It's kind of scary to think that someone else's DNA is in a part of my body. This part went well during the surgery. They use bone plugs to secure the meniscus in place. There is little chance of rejection with this part because the piece was not a "live" culture.

Finally they put a bone graft in my medial epicondyle. I had bone cartilage damage from when I first tore my ACL. At that time, the bone was cleaned up. Since then (five years later) the area has acted like a pothole in the road; the more jumping I did, the deeper the hole got. This surgery was to plug the hole the resulted from the damage. This is the reason I am non-weight bearing on my knee. I can't put pressure on the graft or it could shift it's place.

Since the surgery I spent one night in the hospital. It went good enough. They had some problem with the femoral block but they got that fixed. Joel stayed with me the whole time and was there to help whenever I needed it. He honestly has been the greatest.

I've been home now for a week. The first few days were pretty difficult since I was on the narcotics. I stayed home a lot with Joel. But we did visit my parents a little and we did visit Joel's family. So many people have stopped and sent me flowers. I can't thank you enough. Physical therapy is going great and I love seeing Mike, he always brightens my day. It has been tough learning to not use one leg and its a struggle sitting home but I am managing. I will be back soon enough :)

I have a doctor's appointment next Monday where they will remove my stitches and make sure every thing is looking as it should. I am nervous because there is a chance that the bone plug moved and I might need surgery again but that is a small chance and I shouldn't focus on the negative! Thanks again for your thoughts and wishes :) I am making a speedy recovery, just impatient to use my leg again!!!