She's fine. A bit rough, but fine.
We got to the outpatient surgery place on time, at 11am. They took her back at about noon, and let me go in to hang out with her (and talk to the surgeon and anesthesiologist) at 12:30, so they were already running late.
Got our questions answered, her knee initialed, and the needed info was provided.
She was taken back, after a hug, at about 1pm.
Surgery was supposed to last 2.5 hours, according to what they told her. They did an autologous graft, pulling from her hamstring, as well as trimming the meniscus, so the length wasn't unexpected.
And we started to wait.
And wait.
And wait.
After 2.5 hours, I did start getting a bit nervous (thanks you![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
siamese1 because I was afraid to contact all 10 people on my family text and my sister is of the OMG FREAK OUT NOW type so getting calm support from you and B helped me a lot.) Finally, almost four hours after they took her away, they came out to tell me she was out of surgery and in recovery. I talked to the surgeon over the phone (dude, you're in the next room. Just come talk to us, so we can both hear you, come on).
They said at that point that it would be about 45 minutes.
Well, no.
So. The one person who'd been around on and off in the afternoon came in to... lock things up and turn off the lights. The janitor finished her work and disappeared. They turned off the monitor that showed where AC -the only patient all afternoon- was in the process. We started hearing people leave and offices get locked.
WTF?
Finally, about 1 1/4 hour after they'd said "45 minutes" I was able to go back and see her.
She didn't look great and told me immediately that she'd made a fuss. Her nurse was great and he told her she'd been fine. She was tired and said she was already in pain.
They went over discharge instructions, and finally we got to take her home.
Perry and Linnea, bless their little hearts, set up a bed in the living room for her (because no stairs). She's there, dozing now. We're starting to give meds, we have our spreadsheet ready and have made it clear to all three kids -yes including AC, as much as she groks right now- that nobody but me or dh dispense the oxycontin.
What worries me? This was a lot more involved that the previous ACL surgery and probably because of the opioid issues, they are prescribing A LOT fewer pain meds. We have no breakthrough meds. If it gets too bad during the night? She gets to suffer until the next dose is due. Last time, and this is what fills my heart with dread, she took all the meds she was prescribed, needed the breakthrough meds, and still ended up sobbing for a few hours the first night. She was completely off the opioids long before they expected her to be (this is standard with her), but she needed all the medication and then some the first night. So I'm worried about how this is going to pan out.
A few words in general about the surgery center. My friends... yes, when we got there, AC was the youngest patient by about half a century, I get that. That said, the waiting room with the integrated TV/VCR in the kids area? WTF? And no place for anyone to set up a computer at all, if they needed to work while waiting. Not cool for this era! And it was SO. Freaking. COLD. Both those things, the inability to get comfortable while working and the chill made for a pretty miserable day, especially once added to the worry.
We got to the outpatient surgery place on time, at 11am. They took her back at about noon, and let me go in to hang out with her (and talk to the surgeon and anesthesiologist) at 12:30, so they were already running late.
Got our questions answered, her knee initialed, and the needed info was provided.
She was taken back, after a hug, at about 1pm.
Surgery was supposed to last 2.5 hours, according to what they told her. They did an autologous graft, pulling from her hamstring, as well as trimming the meniscus, so the length wasn't unexpected.
And we started to wait.
And wait.
And wait.
After 2.5 hours, I did start getting a bit nervous (thanks you
siamese1 because I was afraid to contact all 10 people on my family text and my sister is of the OMG FREAK OUT NOW type so getting calm support from you and B helped me a lot.) Finally, almost four hours after they took her away, they came out to tell me she was out of surgery and in recovery. I talked to the surgeon over the phone (dude, you're in the next room. Just come talk to us, so we can both hear you, come on). They said at that point that it would be about 45 minutes.
Well, no.
So. The one person who'd been around on and off in the afternoon came in to... lock things up and turn off the lights. The janitor finished her work and disappeared. They turned off the monitor that showed where AC -the only patient all afternoon- was in the process. We started hearing people leave and offices get locked.
WTF?
Finally, about 1 1/4 hour after they'd said "45 minutes" I was able to go back and see her.
She didn't look great and told me immediately that she'd made a fuss. Her nurse was great and he told her she'd been fine. She was tired and said she was already in pain.
They went over discharge instructions, and finally we got to take her home.
Perry and Linnea, bless their little hearts, set up a bed in the living room for her (because no stairs). She's there, dozing now. We're starting to give meds, we have our spreadsheet ready and have made it clear to all three kids -yes including AC, as much as she groks right now- that nobody but me or dh dispense the oxycontin.
What worries me? This was a lot more involved that the previous ACL surgery and probably because of the opioid issues, they are prescribing A LOT fewer pain meds. We have no breakthrough meds. If it gets too bad during the night? She gets to suffer until the next dose is due. Last time, and this is what fills my heart with dread, she took all the meds she was prescribed, needed the breakthrough meds, and still ended up sobbing for a few hours the first night. She was completely off the opioids long before they expected her to be (this is standard with her), but she needed all the medication and then some the first night. So I'm worried about how this is going to pan out.
A few words in general about the surgery center. My friends... yes, when we got there, AC was the youngest patient by about half a century, I get that. That said, the waiting room with the integrated TV/VCR in the kids area? WTF? And no place for anyone to set up a computer at all, if they needed to work while waiting. Not cool for this era! And it was SO. Freaking. COLD. Both those things, the inability to get comfortable while working and the chill made for a pretty miserable day, especially once added to the worry.
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