First blog entry after knee surgery

So, this is my first blog entry after having had knee surgery on the 8th of January. The surgery seems to have gone pretty well. Despite the fact that the surgeon made three incisions in my left knee (as opposed to two in my right) this has been a far less painful process than my last surgery.

I really could put weight on the left knee almost immediately after surgery. It was a bit tender on day two, but it was solid afterward. I could straighten it and bend it a bit immediatly without pain. None of this was the case with the right knee. I still have some ugly inflamation above the left knee, and I did bleed a bit (in the shower) from my stiches there last night. However, all things considered, this left knee surgery has been much easier than the right.

I was pretty grogged coming out of the surgery this time. Dr. Bachner came over to me and said "The surgery was successful. We found a lot and lots of things that could make you hurt." It sounded like he did a lot of work. I thanked him for his efforts. That is all I remember.

I do remember that it was approximately 11:30am when they wheeled me into the surgery room. There were atomic clocks posted on the wall all over the joint. It was 1:30 PM when they wheeled me into the recovery room. That means I was in surgery for almost 2 hours. Last time it was just 1 hour. Once again, it sounds like a lot more work was done.

The greater grog and the easier ride may have to do with the pain killers they gave me. I felt very little pain coming out out of the Propofol. Last time the right knee burned and throbbed and ached immediately. The abscense of pain this time may have had something to do with the local painkiller they shot into my left knee. It also had something to do with the double shot of Dolantin the surgical nurse shot into my IV bag. {By that two distinct injections into the bag.} It may have been related to the injection of Torodol they gave me. It could also have something to do with the Vocodine chaser she gave me. It may also have something to with the Norco + Torodol pills the doc prescribed for me to take later on.

Norco is literally twice as powerful as Vicodin. 10mg of Hydrocodone vs 5mg. Torodol is a hyper-strength NSAID that has to be taken with a meal because it can really upset the tummy. It is the very best thing for killing inflamation, but you cannot take it for longer than 5 days.

They obviously weren't taking any chances on me writhing in agony after the surgery. Once again, it sounds like the Doc did a lot of work on my left knee. I greatly appreciate the fact that I was able to sleep well all week. This has helped me to recover faster.