Rapunzel's Leaving the Tower

Today was not good.
Hubby worked graveyard and when he got home he drove me into town to the hospital for my MRI. My dear friend, Val~aka~Fiona, offered to stay home with my kids. (Thank you, Val!) And it was a good thing. We didn't get home until after 5pm!

The MRI was a challenge because they couldn't get my knee to bend low enough to fit in the leg/arm MRI machine. Hurt pretty bad just trying. Was like trying to fit a triangle block into a circle hole.
So they moved me onto the whole body MRI machine instead.

After the MRI we sat in the Dr.'s office for almost 2 hours. Waiting.
He finally came in, after both hubby and I had dozed off several times.
Announced the great news (sarcasm) that my ACL was seriously torn and my Medial Meniscus was torn also. Fun.

Dr. suggests using cadaver ligament to repair my ACL, over using my own surgically gathered hamstring muscles. I agreed. I remember how painful it was to walk for 2 weeks when my own bone was harvested from my hip bone for my ruptured disc surgery about 15 years ago. Cadaver seems to be the way to go, but it'll be weird knowing I have dead people's body parts inside of me. I'm thinking Dr. should just harvest the ligament tissue from my mare, since she's the one that caused all this craziness. gah.

Not sure why I did this, but I mentioned to the Dr that my calf had been sore since New Years Eve. Figured I just overdid myself. He was worried about blood clots.
It was already after 12pm. And I had only had a small bowl of cereal so I could take my Tylenol w/ Codeine before we left since I knew my knee was going to be fiddled with and I wanted to lessen the pain.
I was hungry and feeling nauseous, but the Dr. wanted a Doppler of my leg to rule out bloodclots before the surgery was approved.

I spent 45 minutes on a table having gallons of clear ooze spread over my legs, while they were poked, squeezed and scanned. It was kinda neat to listen to my blood gurgling through my veins at times, though.

Afterwards it was time to head back upstairs to the Dr's office to wait for the Doppler results and to meet with a pre-op nurse.
I was hungry, but we had to wait about 30 minutes until we were seen. Hubby got a call from the Surgery Center while we were waiting asking for $300 up front before the surgery started. Our insurance covers 90% of the surgery, while we cover 10%. Still it's hard to cough up that money on such short notice.
Hubby's pretty upset. Maybe we should delay the surgery. Can they work with us?
They finally worked out a payment plan where we pay $150 tomorrow and $150 in 2 weeks. gah.
But at least the surgery is still on.

I met with the pre-op nurse who went over what not to do before surgery. A very long list. The worst of which is that I can't eat anything after midnight. Not so bad if my surgery was scheduled in the morning the next day. But my surgery is scheduled at 2pm. That's along time without food or water. gah

Hubby and I still hadn't eaten yet when we told to stop off at the Surgery Center to drop off paperwork and meet with another pre-op nurse.
First a tech came in hooked me up with a robot-looking leg brace. It's black and goes from ankle to groin. It has gears and knobs, buckles and dials with numerical settings. It's not very comfortable, but it does keep my knee better stabilized.

Went to the Surgery Center to drop off the paperwork. I'm about ready to pass out from hunger by now. Hubby is exhausted. Hasn't slept in over 25 hours. Hasn't eaten in 10 hours. Not good.

We waited for 30 minutes. Got taken into he surgical recovery area, after filling out more paperwork. The pre-op nurse went over everything the other pre-op nurse had went over with me, but she was really sweet, so we didn't mind. I had also had a melt-down, anxiety attack.

I discussed my terrifying fear of needles and I lost it. Apparently I'm supposed to have a nerve blocker needle installed in my groin to block the pain during and after surgery. This, so they don't have to give me as much anesthesia so this can be an outpatient procedure.
They will want me awake while they install the nerve blocker, so they can ask me if if it's working. gah.

I was also told that there'll be a drainage tube inserted into my thigh that drains off any fluid. I'll have to pull it out myself within two days after surgery. Betcha I'll faint. gah.

Nice pre-op nurse noticed how pale and weak hubby and I looked. Offered me some crackers and juice. Crackers felt like gravel on my tongue. Gave them to hubby instead. Tiny juice can was not enough> I could have drank a gallon.

Finally left the Surgical Center. Met a guy on the elevator who looked at me and said, "That was me 6 months ago" So, I said, "You're doing good now, eh?" He replied, "No, the surgery didn't fix the problems and now I'm back for more surgery. Nice. gah.

Had to wait in the lobby for 30 minutes while hubby got the van. Everyone must have been discharged or admitted today. Traffic was horrible on the way home. Stop and Go.
Still hadn't eaten. We stopped off for burritos. I was so hungry I ordered two.

Finally got home. Val had everything under control. She was cooking dinner for my kids and had even washed my dishes. She didn't have to, but I sure do appreciate it. (Thanks Val) We had brought home a burrito for Val, too. I was too full after my first burrito, so I shared with hubby. I really enjoyed that extra large nice cold coke. I could drink a gallon of that.

But after midnight, nothing else must pass my lips. gah.

I'm really trying to be brave and cowgirl-up like a true Buckaroo Rapunzel, but I'm worried and a little scared. I so appreciate all of your kind words, thoughts, support, encouragement and prayers, my bloggy friends. But if you all could just keep 'em coming a little longer, I would be deeply grateful. Thanks.

From the Tower of,