Surgery is scheduled

September 10th, 2013. 4:15 in the afternoon. OMFG D:

I am terrified. I have no idea what I am in store for, but in less than two weeks, I will have a metal plate in my knee, and be even less able to walk than I currently am.  I am putting together a pre-op todo list for myself, and sharing the Q&A session I had with the Dr's assistant.

How much is it going to cost?

A LOT, but thanks to having insurance, the maximum i can pay in-network for anything is about 2k.  Definitely not cheap, but if I can be walking again in December, and back to living my life the way I want to by early next year, there is absolutely no price I wouldn't pay.  

Am I going to have to stay overnight in the hospital?

Nope- barring anything crazy happening.  Even if he has to put cadaver tissue into my knee in order to rebuild the MPFL, I will be going home that night.  I should have someone on-call to drive me home that night.

How long does the operation take?

Roughly 2 hours, from the time he gets in there.  This could vary a little bit, depending on whether he has to do a full MPFL reconstruction, or my MPFL is healthy enough to be tightened as-is.

Will I be put under general anesthesia?

Yes.  I can't eat or drink anything starting at midnight the night before.  I check into the hospital around 2:15pm for the procedure.  So who wants to go get smashed the night of the 9th? (Kidding, obviously)

How long before I start physical therapy?

I have my post-operative checkin with the surgeon at 1 week (tuesday the 17th at 1pm).  At that point he'll write me new physical therapy script and instructions, at which point I can appeal to my insurance on the 24/year physical therapy sessions limit.  I've already burned through 18 of them trying to avoid surgery D:

What are the names of the procedures, again? 

There are three that will be happening:

1. Tibial Tubercle Osteotomy (Fulkerson's procedure)
2. Arthroscopic lateral release
3. MPFL tightening -OR- MPFL reconstruction*

*he won't know which one he has to do until he gets in there and takes a look at how bad off the tissue is- that's just not something you can tell from an MRI, apparently.

Do I need pre-operative clearance/tests?

Nope. Other than the whole messed-up-knee thing, I'm young and healthy.  Yay for being young and healthy.

Pre-surgery checklist for myself:

[Prepping the apartment**] [Prepping the post-op medical stuff] [PUPPY***] 

[Work prep] [Personal comfort Prep] [Morale]

• Move bed to downstairs bedroom
• Move dresser to downstairs bedroom
• Assemble TV stand in downstairs bedroom
• Move TV off of desk upstairs onto TV stand in downstairs bedroom
• Move desk from upstairs bedroom to living room
• Get a reasonable work-from-home setup in the living room
• Get the upstairs bedroom set up with clean linens for my grandmother
• Do quad strengthening exercises compulsively
• Do hip-strengthening exercises compulsively
• Schedule post-op PT sessions with Megan
• Get a second opinion (scheduled for the 9th)
• Investigate renting a CPM machine (continuous passive motion)
• Make arrangements for puppy for the 6 weeks following the operation :(
• Get projects at work into happy state before taking time off for surgery
• Solve internet connectivity issues from downstairs bedroom
• Buy more pairs of athletic shorts (I'LL BE PANTS FREE FOR 6 WEEKS!)
• Do all of the laundry
• Get a haircut. Like... for reals this time.
• Purchase a Wii-U: Legend of Zelda: Windwaker HD is coming out sept. 20!!
• Go to Disneyland.  Twice. At least.

** I live in a loft-style apartment, currently in the upstairs loft-part.  I need to move to the downstairs bedroom; If you'd like to help, drop me a comment or facebook message or text :)

*** The puppy has issues with jumping all over me, that I haven't been able to train her not to do reliably yet.  I can't risk having her jump on my knee after the operation, or tripping me up while I'm on crutches and unstable.  If you or anyone you know would like to do some puppy sitting, transportation of her and her effects can be arranged.  Otherwise, I'm looking into boarding her (which will cost me more than the operation itself, sadly).

As always, I'm trying to keep my chin up.  I'm incredibly grateful to my amazing boyfriend for being here to support me through all of this.  I want to say thank you to all of my supportive friends and family, especially my grandmother, who will also be flying up and staying for a few days immediately following the procedure.  If anyone else wants to visit, I'm not going anywhere for a while.  Text me anytime if you want to come by and play board games, video games, or just hang out.

<3