The first week after ACL surgery was quite the roller coaster. Having NO idea what to expect, all considering it went ok…. not good but rather just ok. Bam…. next day I was off to rehab. I had a thousand questions for the therapist and surprisingly left there feeling good. OF COURSE I felt good, it was the fact that I had a nerve block tapped into my femoral artery that distracted me from what my body should really feel. The nerve block’s purpose is basically to limit the amount of feeling from the groin down. Leaving the hospital with a little fannie pack filled with anesthesia that was on a drip to my femoral artery was unexpected…. in hindsight…. a gift from heaven. BUT.. beware future ACL surgerical repaired paitents, once your fannie pack of anesthesia is gone, typically 3 days after surgery, your’re in for a rude awakening. I took a look at my little anesthesia ball only to find it was empty which meant it was time to remove the IV from your femoral artery. Seems scary and a little bit unnerving, but not a big deal. The IV is a little bigger then your floss you use at home and it simply just slides right out and you feeling nothing. Once my nerve block was removed, pain, pain and more pain. Time to up the pain meds. I am not a huge fan of the heavy pain realivers, but became one for a few days.
I was told to keep up on my pain meds religiously. If you skip a dose or are late even by a half hour…. plan on pain. I learned real quick to keep up on my pain meds the first few days. Once the nerve block runs out, expect more pain. I actually ended up giving my doc a shout on the phone and he gave me the OK to up my pain killer dose.
OK!! As much as I loved the pain meds… ON day 5 the pain disappeared and in came the nausea. To my knowledge the pain meds made me sick to my stomach. Ahhhh it was awful. Day 6 was the last day I took a pain pill.
I want to throw out a thank you to my 2 sisters and brother in law. The first week I was completly laid out and not able to do anything on my own. It is pretty crazy that your once powerful leg turns complety into just a slab of meat. Literally my awesome sister’s and bro had to physically pick up my leg and move it every time I had to move. There was no way the first week that I could use my own leg muscles to move my leg. Thank you fam. If you are going to have ACL surgery or already had it and have questions, post a comment and I would love to get back to you.
Tommy Gogolen