(Read part 1 here)
She said she was going to put me under slightly, not all the way, to make me more comfortable…..

–My nose itched terribly and I started reaching to scratch it but there was a plastic cup on my nose and I fell back to sleep. I remember my leg really hurting and mumbling about it. I heard a voice saying they would give me more pain medication. I woke again and my leg still hurt. They said they were adding more. I woke again and realized I had the breathing cup on my nose and reached under it to scratch my nose over and over. The nurse said it was the medication that was making it itch. I was awake and aware now and my leg didn’t hurt much anymore.

–They asked if I’d like my husband to come back in and I said yes. Things seemed to be moving fast now. I think my husband was brought some papers to sign. I don’t remember what else happened until a nurse said I could get dressed and she’d use a wheel chair to take me to the car. I stood to get dressed and noticed I had weight on the knee that had the operation and it didn’t hurt at all. I took a step into the wheelchair and it didn’t hurt. Wow, it didn’t hurt. I also didn’t get nauseous at all from the anesthesia. It was so much easier than I thought this was going to be. My husband said it was only about an hour wait during the surgery and waiting for him to be called back into recovery.

–I was able to get into the car easily. My knee bended easily and I stepped into the front seat of the car. At home my husband handed me my crutches and helped me out of the car. I couldn’t maneuver the crutches to go up the steps because of the way the door opens out. So I just stepped up the stairs, normally without them. No pain. I could walk and climb stairs normally.

–I moved around carefully at first but it was like it was before I ever got injured. How could that be? But I iced it and did the exercises like I was instructed to do. I slept on the couch with my leg elevated.

–Day 2–

–I woke up and there was absolutely nothing wrong with my leg. No pain, I had full range of motion and no locking or catching. I was instructed to remove the dressing and take a shower on the 2nd day and rewrapped the ace bandage. The instructions said I could bear weight on the knee as was comfortable. It was just fine. I didn’t need crutches at all. I didn’t even limp at all. I couldn’t believe it, it was a miracle.

–I wanted to go shopping and then drive out to the peninsula see if we could spot some new migrating birds coming into the area. By the time I came out of the second store, I started feeling my leg. Just a little tingling, nothing that hurt. We drove on to the peninsula. About 20 minutes later I decided to take a pain pill. My leg started hurting so bad we had to go home.

–My leg had swollen up above and around the knee. I needed my crutches.
I don’t know if it would have swelled up anyway or if my walking walking caused it. I only walked carefully but normally. I didn’t twist it or anything. The instructions said “weightbearing as tolerated.” It hadn’t been 2 hours since the last icing of the knee. I have to believe it was going to swell anyway. How could it not after surgery? The reason for my surgery, my over-use injury, didn’t swell up until the next day when it happened.

–Day3 and 4–

Pain pills, icing, and elevation is pretty much my day. I can hobble around without the crutches at times, mostly after going through all the exercises and stretches you are suppose to do. It loosens the joint up for a awhile. I can climb the stairs without crutches if I always lead with my good leg going up and lead with my bad leg going down. My knee has a small range of motion but it doesn’t hurt to put weight on it most of the time. But I need to rest it, do the exercises and let it heal. I think when the swelling goes down I’ll be able to do most things. The only real pain is when you have to stretch it and move your knee. It’s like a really sore muscle. It’s quite remarkable they can fix your knee with this kind of surgery.