The Final Countdown
Days leading up to MPFL Reconstruction Surgery
T-Minus 7 Days
Until about a week before my surgery I was very zen about the whole thing and almost looking forward to it; I knew all about what I was in for, what to expect, and was just eager to get it over with and be able to trust my knee again. While I love kayaking, I miss hiking, and am eager to be walking with confidence, without a little voice in the back of my mind slowing me down — I’d intermittently gotten short spurts of trusting my knee again in the few remaining weeks before my surgery, so I know I’ll eventually get back to that.
The week before my surgery, I’d planned to get some last minute things knocked out before I couldn’t go out and do things for at least a month. I managed to go out and get a few Fall shirts, but that’s it, becuase I woke up one morning with a migraine that I couldn’t get under control thanks to only being allowed to take my Midrin during surgery prep; I suffer from stress induced migraines, and Midrin usually only kills migraines when used as a second line offense for me — it works great for regular headaches solo. This migraine lasted 16hrs and culminated in a pinched nerve in my neck, which felt like a meat cleaver in my shoulder blade, and radiated like fire down my left arm all the way down to my wrist. Worse yet, pre-op protocol prevented me from taking any aspirin or NSAIDs, which is exactly what would have helped alleviate the migraine and resultant pinched nerve. I called my orthopedist after 4 days of agonizing, debilitating pain, desperate for help, worried that I’d be laid up after the surgery with a paralyzing pain in my shoulderblade and arm; they prescribed a short course of steroids which took the edge off, but I was still in enough discomfort I got nothing productive or last-minute enjoyable done (I had to cancel on kayaking TWICE!) for the week before surgery, other than start worrying.
T-Minus 2 Days
The 48hrs before my surgery were the worst. I wouldn’t call it an anxiety attack, but I did nothing but worry and read and re-read too many online horror stories about the pain and risks of MPFL surgery (which is why I’m sharing this story with you — my story is not a horror story so far). I held short of watching an the actual proceedure on YouTube; I regularly watch medical procedures on YouTube thanks to curiosity and medical fascination, but I know better than to watch a procedure I’m imminently about to undergo. The night before my surgery I went out to see Kingsman: The Golden Circle with some friends, grabbed Taco Bell on the way home, watched the Nationals game while eating said Taco Bell, and promptly went to bed only to lie wide awake the entire night. I didn’t get a single wink of sleep for ~36hrs before I went under the knife for the first time in my life (wisdom teeth don’t really count).
