T-Minus ( Oh Heck.. how many days till Friday ? :) 3-4 Days

[Mr.Box]

SOoo, time has flown by and now I'm a blink of an eye before going under the knife. All the scary questions are now starting to pop in my head. Will I feel it, will I just wake up and be okay. Will I wake up and be in lots of pain. How am I going to deal with two large scars. Will they staple me or sew me up. Etc. etc. etc.

I've tried my best to not take any meds for the last week and half. I ended up taking two 200 mg Tramadol pills on Sept 2nd and 2 sets of 2 Tylenol this past Saturday. From what I've read on line this doesn't mess with the surgery at all. I'll be checking that fact on Wednesday at the Pre-op screenings.

Wednesday is my Pre-op screening, joint replacement class, and doctor check up. I've scheduled Thursday as a vacation day and plan on finishing up the yard work ( Mowing the lawn ) for last time in the late summer / early fall season. Maybe throw down some turf builder fertilizer too! Seems I won't be doing the leaves this year lol.

I did talk to the case worker at HSS last week and have gone with a double plan of going home and having in home care or being transferred to an acute rehab facility. I've opted to see if NY Presbyterian, Morristown Memorial, or Kessler ( Chester ) has space post surgery. Since I'm having a bilateral, the insurance will cover the costs and facility. I however was told if I'm up and doing laps around the nurses station ( hopefully they are cute ), I could change plans and go home only.

I chose the 3 facilities based on one being across the street from HSS, the other two being the closest proximity to my family / home. I couldn't be in the city for almost 2 weeks without my family and it would put so much emotional pressure on them and myself that I rather be near the house.

Kinda nervous, I was the same way leading up to my Arthroscopic surgery 3 years ago. I hate needles.. and well things that are sharp too. Hospitals have way too many of both.

[Woodstock Hippy]

I'd go to Kessler.  They are the number 1 rated rehab hospital in the country and the only rehab rated higher than Rusk.  The other two are unknowns but going home is not a good choice.  Bilateral is serious, you will need the support of the nurses, aids and PT's and your family and a drop by PT are no substitute for the professionals at Kessler or Rusk.  You're going to do great, but let the pro's help you as much as they can.  Enjoy the rest, work hard, and get ready feel good again soon.

Good luck, you're in good hands.

[Spanielsal]

Hey Mr Box, I second Woodstock. You re going to do great but being bilateral the first 2-3 weeks will be harder. I actually think the emotional pressure on your family might be too much for them to handle if you came home right away. Don't forget how bad it makes you feel when you can't make your loved ones better. You will be in pain a bit (better pain I hasten to add) and finding sleep difficult and tasks like dressing yourself and making food and drinks become tougher. You will also get a huge boost in those first weeks if you take the rehab help, launching you into a swifter more successful recovery, just my two-penneth....

 It is miraculous in just 5 weeks I'm feeling great, sure I still have rehab work to do but incision is just plain itchy now with the odd nerve fizz as they re-grow. It's becoming a distant memory.   You will be great. The staff will be excellent. I too hate needles, was really scared. Funnily enough the worst thing that happened was an anti nausea jab, I still have a massively bruised arm from that. Took my IV out too early! 

I'm such a big baby that I'm sure anyone can do it if I can!  Will be thinking of you on Friday! Good luck.

Sal

[hernanu]

You're going to do great, those worries come and go so quickly since the anesthesiologist is your friend and benefactor. All I remember is getting knocked out fast, then immediately waking up in my bed (first time) or in the recovery area (second time) with very cute, very knowledgeable nurses telling me that everything went great.

The scars have actually become comedy props for me in the gym dressing room - generically astonished soccer/basketball/weights person: "what happened?" ... me: "well, I was shaving..."

Woodstock and Sal are giving good advice, do the most to make it easy on yourself early, it pays off in the long run for you and for the ones you love.

[Spanielsal]

Hern, you kill me ..... I was shaving ....

[Tin Soldier]

Don't worry about it.  You're on the glide path and all is set for a proper and well-planned surgery.  You've chosen the right doc and the staff will take care of you, let the professionals do their work and you'll be just fine.  Something else to keep in mind, is that once you go into the pre-surgery area, you'll probably be given oxycontin or some other narcotic.  The rest of the time in the pre-surgery area will quickly become very comfortable and you might be a bit silly, but the nerves go away.  They might give you an early dose of a benzodiazpene like atavan or valium, but I think narcotics tend to do the trick.  You'll probabaly get enough that if you go with the spinal.   

If you go spinal, you might "wake up" during surgery, don't worry about it.  The anesthesiolgist will take care of it.  They might turn up the juice a bit and you'll go back to "sleep".  You won't feel anything and you won't be able to get anxious at all, because of the drugs they are administering. 

You'll be fine.