Day One Post-OP

I had my surgery Monday, January 14th in the early afternoon. My OS said the operation was successful in fixing the problems going on in my left knee. Overall, it took an hour and a half. My surgeon first did a scope to double-check for any unseen damage, removed a loose piece of cartilage, and shaved the damaged cartilage under my patella. He then went ahead with the full anteromedialization of the tibial tubercle (Fulkerson Osteotomy).

Upon waking from surgery, I did not feel as bad as I expected to. Granted, that was due to the nerve block plus the anesthesia given to me. Despite the amount of pain medicine in my system, my leg still hurt a good deal. My ankle was (and still is) incredibly swollen and sore, in addition to the knee. Is this common with osteotomy?

Throughout the rest of the day after waking from surgery, I continued to doze off and on. My parents were there with me until visiting hours ended. It was nice to have their company for a while. As midnight approached, I could feel the nerve block wearing off. My pain got progressively worse in a short amount of time. I could not sleep for longer than 45 minutes to an hour at a time my first night post-op. I cycled from short naps to being awake for an hour or so at a time, then I would drift again for a short while. Three or four times throughout the night, I had to call the nurse for a bed pan. This is the first time I’ve ever used a bed pan in my life. I cracked a couple jokes with the nurses about it to relieve how awkward I felt about having a nurse wipe my bottom.  Thankfully, my nurses were easygoing and we shared a couple of laughs.