Surgery, not looking forward to it.

[wrx-n-ktm]

Surgery, not looking forward to it. UPDATED

I have to schedule a surgery for my ankle that I broke about 1 1/2 years ago. I don't know the full details yet, but I know they want to cut some out of my ankle and replace it with "plugs" taken from my knee.

I have never had a surgery before so I am honestly quite nervous. The fact that I'll be out of work for close to 6 months is no good either.

How has all of your surgery experiences been?

 

[Mayhem Eng.]

Don't do it run for the hills........lol The surgery is the easy part, it's the recovery that kicks ones a$$. Remember your knocked out big time. I had surgery one time and was on the table for 7 hours that was easy. But the recovery that's a totally different story. 6 months will go some what fast, I was out of work for 6 months. Just take your time and heal correctly so you don't have to go back. There going to wheel you in and say something like count backwards from 100 and that's all you will remember. One thing I did as I got into the operating room was to keep talking to keep my mind off of what was going on.

Good luck. "thumbsup"

 

[montana.matt]

Had knee surgery to remove some broken bone and replace it with plastic plugs. Like Mayhem said, the surgery is the easy part. When they wheeled me in, the gas passer told me to think of the funniest joke I could and the next thing I know I'm waking up in recovery. The only real scary part is when the gas passer gives you the mandatory "There's always a chance you won't wake up" talk. One cool thing though, if you've never had an IV, is feeling the cold IV solution run up your arm through your vein they tap in to. Hopefully they'll give you a prescription for some good pain meds. I got Percocet and it worked like a charm. I've been out for 5 months now and just finished physical therapy today. The knee still hurts and probably always will to some extent.
RCC has been my babysitter for the last 5+ months and that's probably the only thing that has kept me from going stir crazy:lol:
Just take it easy and don't push your recovery..... And keep your computer close by with the homepage switched to RCC:lol:"thumbsup"

 

[HITMAN]

I have had 5 surgerys myself. It sucks getting the IV started( they have a hard time finding my veins) once it's in though no big deal. Like most stated the recovery is the biggest kick in the butt, depending how much cutting and moving stuff around etc. Listen to the Doc and take your pain meds. and you will get though it fine. I did 6 months for my broken leg, went by fast. good luck and let us know how it turns out."thumbsup"

 

[ScalerLover]

Look forward to it dude, i didnt but now that i look back it was all good. Had my appendix taken out and lemme tell ya im pretty tolerant to pain but appendicitis is the worse ive ever felt... anyways, your not supposed to drink anything for a long time before surgery....well i had a drink of pop lol... Went into the operating room, balls flopped outta my gown (how embarassing) lol. Next thing i know im waking up and throwing up on myself cause i drank something..... Next thing i know some banging hot nurse is wipin me down, EVERYWHERE......Just a little incentive for ya "thumbsup" Good luck bro. :lol::lol:

 

[Eritex Inc.]

I had a bullet taken out of my hand when I was 15. Long story, but it was a walk in the park. Had the ACL replaced 18 months ago, surgery was cake. The recovery SUCKED!!!


If the doctor says "Stay off it for 6 to 8 weeks." do it. I tried to "man up" after 3 weeks and that was one of the few times I have cried from pain.


Good luck, enjoy the drugs, keep lots of ice packs and pillows around, and make sure the DVD rack if full.

 

[bob1961]

I have to schedule a surgery for my ankle that I broke about 1 1/2 years ago. I don't know the full details yet, but I know they want to cut some out of my ankle and replace it with "plugs" taken from my knee.

I have never had a surgery before so I am honestly quite nervous. The fact that I'll be out of work for close to 6 months is no good either.

How has all of your surgery experiences been?

i'll take ankle surgery over what i had....i've never been in the hospital a day in my life untill i had to have brain surgery august 06....11 days in there after a 10 hour surgery, 3 days in I.C.U. then a week in rehab....had to learn to walk and eat all over again, nerve damage to my right side down to my foot to where i can't run or jog anymore and look like i'm drunk when i try to walk fast :lol: ....my right side of my face is parilized, can't whistle or blow razz-berries at my 11 year son ....lost the hearing in my right ear and my right eye doesn't blink on it's own anymore....i can close it and sleep good but i have to think bout blinking it....i go throught a bottle of eye drops every month....but hey i lived to see three grand kids born in 2008 from all 3 of my oldest kids....ahhh life is good as i was retired at 45 like my life plan was all along, just not quite the way i was planing ;-) ....cheer up with your ankle surgery, it'll be a walk in the park to what i went through "thumbsup" ...........bob

....

 

[Benzbuildr]

My wife works for Dr. Andrews of Andrews sports medicine( the one all of the pro athletes and movie stars go to for orthopedic surgery) He has a ankle/foot surgeon that he sends all ankle and foot surgery's to. His name is Mcbride nation's best. My wife says his patients have pain after surgery but he gets it right. "thumbsup" If you would like to check with him. By the way he is in with Dr. Andrews and Andrews sports medicine. Just some info if you want to check into it. ;-) Why not use the Best.

 

[BJoe]

Mom had her knee replaced in August, surgery went ok and she saw some interesting things on the meds. Recovery had sucked though, she finally went back to work ealier this month and is slowly getting back into it. She has had a major problem with water retension (guess it was a byproduct of the blood thinners) and it's ben bad enouhg that she has had trouble getting in and out of their Town & Country after standing/walking around alot, so she's ben on water pills too to get rid of that.

 

[Stormin2u]

It will all be worth it once you get back on your feet without it you'll just have debilitating issues for the rest of your life. Recovery is not any fun but being physically challenged isn't the way to go either.

 

[wrx-n-ktm]

Thanks for the info. I am not looking forward to the rehab at all! Of course it's my right ankle, so that means I won't even be able to drive myself around cus everything I have is standard shift. Looks like the PS3 is going to get some usage finally!

I'm supposed to find out when it will be scheduled on Tuesday, they said most likely the begging of March. Luckily thats when resident evil 5 comes out!!

 

[DarkSoul]

I don't want to scare you here, but, go ask who the best OR nurse in the surgery center is, then, ask him/her who the best and worst orthopedic surgeon is (you will have to ask this on the sly). Then, once you know, don't obviously go to the worst guy.

My wife has been an OR nurse for 15+ years now, and has worked in every field of it from pediatric cardiac to brain to orthopedic surgery, she has been considered the best nurse at the 4 hospitals she has worked at, and I sort of laugh each time she starts at a new place, after a few months, she comes home with a list of surgeons (and nurses) that should anything happen to her, don't let these people touch her, let alone operate on her.

Just like any school, there are always the top students, and the bottom students, the scary thing in medical school, is even if you were the worst student, as long as you get a "passing" grade, you still pass, that does not mean you are worth a crap.

Now admittedly, you do have many years as an intern, hundreds of hours of supervised procedures and so on, so you obviously have to have skills to be in there holding a scalpel, but still, you want the guy that this stuff came to like he was born to it, or the guy that had to bust his ass twice as hard as anyone to "get it".

Always screen your surgeons, do some background on them, its your health after all.

And, the wife just mentioned this, don't go to a teaching hospital, they are all resident students.

 

[champ7times]

the therapy sucks. was in a motorcycle accident in 05'.somebody made a left hand turn in front of me and i t-boned them at 45 mph. broke my pelvis in half,hip,upper leg and tail bone.was in shock trauma for a month. the drugs where good. was supposed to be out of work for a year and a half but bills where piling up. so i am not the type to sit around. after four months of siting around i started to walk a little bit each day. from my bed to the TV. and then a little farther each day. when i went to therapy . the therapist came out to the waiting room to get me. he stuck his head out the door looked around then went back in. came back out and called my name.when i stood up his face was in shock. he was expecting me to be in a wheel chair.yea i pushed myself but if it starting hurting i stopped. i still ride today i just got some cool scars now.here is the one on my upper leg the others are x rated

 

[robsdak]

just have it. it is not all that bad, just think of the consequences if you don't. i twisted my left ankle dec 05', got dicked around till mar 07' when i had the surgery. rehab for 2 1/2mo. never better. you will be alright, just the jitters. just pick your dr. carefully, the best is worth the money.

 

[wrx-n-ktm]

The thing that is going to suck the most is trying to live off of short term disability checks for 6 months! The max I can get is $300 a week and that gets taxed. Plus I have to still come up with the $85 a week for my medical insurance.

 

[robsdak]

that would suck. i feel your pain, i was off almost 7mo. with mine. it is just one of the things that you have to work thru and do the best you can.

 

[wrx-n-ktm]

No going back now. I have it schedualed for March 31st.

 

[Del Montess]

For the surgery part, drink a ton of water the day before. If you're well hydrated it'll be a lot easier for the nurse to get the IV. If she doesn't get it after two tries, tell her to get the IV expert on the unit--its an unofficial title, but there is always someone they go to if they have problems w/ an IV.
and everyone else is right, surgery is the easy part. I've had 3, and that's by far the easiest part. What sucked last time was my anesthesiologist thought I had a heart problem and almost wouldn't let them operate, so when they decided to go ahead and do it, I was scared shitless going in.

and don't try to be all testosteron-y (the san francisco treat) and rush the recovery, it would suck way more to end up hurting it again and having to start over than it would to just listen the first time. ( I know about rushing recoveries, screwed myself over by ignoring all the times I sprained my ankle...so now it's broken and needs the same surgery you're getting)


~Jess

 

[wrx-n-ktm]

My biggest fear right now is the money. Being on short term disability for that long is going to catch up to be real quick! I've already sold my 2 prized Boyers! I'm still tearing up over!

 

[caymin last]

Back in the day I was a motorcycle maniac, and tore up my knee pretty bad, never been able to run or walk fast since, I walk with a bit of a limp. The surgery I needed was cost prohibitive( and still is) so Iv'e lived with it ever since, can,t even squat with my leg bent without suffering severe pain, cold damp weather kills me.
I did have appendix surgery though and like the others said the recovery was a B**ch, just take it easy and follow all the instructions from the Doc. Will be holding thumbs for ya!