The day has come

The day of my surgery I was anxious. I woke up and did any last minute chores to prepare my house for the impending doom. The weather was beautiful, so I took that as a good omen. In order to take full advantage of my last few hours of freedom, my girlfriend picked me up and we went to pick apples at a nearby orchard. Unfortunately, I couldn't eat any of the apples we picked because of my upcoming surgery. We had great time apple picking and then headed to the hospital. The first two and a half hours at the hospital were comprised of getting registered and being prepped for surgery. I got to change into a very fashionable gown, which even had ports built in to hook up for hot or cold air circulation.

After getting an iv, a team of anesthesiologists came to give me my nerve block in my leg. No more than 15 minutes later, my left leg was completely numb. Another 30 minutes and I was wheeled into the OR. About 8 doctors and nurses were scrambling around me in the surgery room. The last thing I remember were two nurses hovering above me. They were trying to pronounce my last name and giggling about it. Then one said she was giving me the sleepy medicine.

I woke up in the same room they prepped me for surgery in. I was very groggy at first, but woke up fairly quickly. There was two nurses in the room who were talking to me. I don't remember the conversation. My girlfriend then came in the room, and then shortly after was followed by my surgeon. My surgeon told us the surgery went well, and then proceeded with showing us x-rays of my foot throughout the surgery. The last few x-rays showed my foot with four screws and a plate over my mid-foot. The thought of metal screws in my foot was a bit disgruntling, but also kind of cool. After changing back into my street clothes, I got in a wheel chair and the nurses wheeled me out to my girlfriends car. I was fairly coherent at this point. When we got to my house, I crutched inside and to my bed. I had planned ahead and had already laid out pillows to prop my leg up. My girlfriend has been nice enough to stay and take care of me the first week or so of my recovery... without help I really don't know how I would get by. I started taking my pain meds right when I got home. The doctor told me I better start taking them as early as possible. Once the nerve block goes away in my leg, he told me I would be in immense pain. I don't like taking pain medication, but I think it is necessary in this situation. The thing I needed most when I got home was food. I hadn't eaten anything all day and I was pumped full of drugs. Had some spaghetti and donuts for dinner (thanks to my gf). Went to bed with my leg completely numb.