Knees....

I checked into hospital on Wednesday morning for my first ever major(ish) operation. Prior to this, the most significant op that I had undergone was to remove an ingrowing toenail - hardly anything to really write home about. But this was far cooler. I had never gone under general anesthetic before, nor have I ever had an IV inserted into my hand before. (OK, lets put this into context-given a choice, I would prefer to have never ruptured my ACL. But since I already have, I prefer to look at the positive side of things).

So I arrived at the Wellington Hospital for my op, expecting a smallish room with a bed, perhaps a 14-inch tv and not much else. But hurrah, the room turned out looking like a bloody hotel suite! Take a look below! It was larger than most European hotel rooms, had a sofa and armchair, a 32 inch LCD TV and a massive balcony with a view to boot! The bathroom was even outfitted with a full set of Molton Brown toiletries. It sure was better than anything I could have expected!





My surgeon came in before the op to employ his extremely scientific method of making sure that he operated on the correct leg - taking a black magic marker, and painting a large arrow pointed towards my left knee. I suppose that its the simple things that work best sometimes, no? I was eventually brought downstairs to the preparation room where my anesthetist unsuccessfully tried to insert an IV into my left hand...twice! Eventually he gave up and just inserted it into my right. He started talking to me about the banking sector - he seemed pretty interested to hear what I had to say but then proceeded to quickly inject the anesthetic when I started talking about Collateralised Debt Obligations. I don't blame him for wanting to shut me up really. Last thing he said to me was "This will happen pretty quickly", and I remember saying "Yes, I can feel it....." and then zzz....

Next thing I knew, I was waking up in the recovery room, seeing everything as a blur, and having the nurse ask me how the pain was. I think I replied that the pain was bad, because I saw / felt her inserting a vial of some narcotic (at least that was what they told me). Then she asked how the pain was again, to which I replied "still bad", and she gave me more of the good stuff. Then I think I was brought back up to my room where I vaguely remember saying some things to the nurses that I probably wish I didnt. I sort of remember waking up and noticing that my (embarrassing) hospital gown had slipped off - which led me to crack some stupid joke to the nurse about how I was revealing some cleavage (not my finest moment, I know). To which she replied "Yes, very sexy" while trying very hard not to laugh at her patient. I think I replied with something even dumber, which went along the lines of "Look, my white (circulation) tights match my hospital gown!). Sigh, I shan't give up the day job I think...

I had Anuj and Charmaine (Thanks for the flowers!) visit me later that evening. I cant remember what I said to them or what we talked about. But I think they didnt stay very long because I was drifting in and out - I hope I wasnt conscious for too much of the time that they were about because I probably would have said something pretty embarrassing. Then Ee and Cait came about - except that Cait wasnt as kind and nice as the rest of them. I vaguely remember her laughing at me being all drugged up and looking for a camera to take photos. And then hearing Ee telling her not to be so mean. Of course, when I asked her about it the next day, she insisted that she was holding my hand to offer comfort, and reading me poetry blah blah blah. I should never have listed her as my next of kin! I shudder to think what kind of evil procedures she would have asked the doctors to perform should she have had to make decisions on my behalf! =)

I woke up feeling much better the next morning. I actually could eat something without feeling completely nauseous. I remember the nurse trying to persuade me to get an injection for the nausea, and me resisting because I really did not want anymore drugs! Peeing was difficult - apparently GA does that to you. And somehow the prospect of peeing into a bottle in bed really doesnt help things at all. And dont even get me started on Number 2. GA completely screws that up as well! Thursday night had far nicer people (take note Cait!) coming round - Patrick and Joyce brought me Chelsea Buns, Bananas and Lucozade, while Jini and Yung brought their great company with them. It actually felt a bit like hanging out in a living room - that was how nice the room was! It really didnt feel like a hospital room at all!

Only thing is that I wish the nurses were a bit younger and hotter. Maybe they reserve those ones for the pro footballers who come in for their procedures. Damn....

On Friday, I checked out of hospital! Made it into the taxi pretty drugged up and was woken up by my boss who called to see how I was doing. He cracked some joke about me apparently placing a 50 million order for structured products with Anuj when he came to visit me because I was so drugged up. You know what? I was talking so much crap that I probably wouldnt have been surprised if I had? I eventually had to hang up because I was too fuzzy to talk.

So all in all, its been pretty good all things considered. The leg is now a lot more mobile - Im actually able to (sort of) move around with only 1 crutch now. But the leg does seem to be getting better day by day. I still am quite drugged up, so not up to doing very much for the moment. The left leg is still twice the size as the left one (see below), but that will apparently take a couple of weeks to come down. It's quite interesting because the left leg was actually quite a bit smaller than the right one prior to the op, because of the atrophy. But at the rate things are improving, I expect to be sprinting by the end of the month!




Thanks for all the concern everyone. Sorry I havent been able to reply all the messages and emails - Ive been quite out of it the past few days. Ill be in touch soon.... =)