So oh well, I thought. Let's change them up. Get fresh knew ones. Seemed reasonable.
And then I met my excellent and caring anesthesiologist, who described for me what I could be given to perhaps help me with the expected excruciating pain.
Excruciating pain.
Yep. According to him, knee surgery is probably one of the very worst surgery one could have, and the MS gave him pause about how my pain could be controlled, given the nerve confusion and conduction problems.
I think he was trying to talk me out of having them both done at once. Instead he made me more convinced I needed to get it over with as the thought of going through this twice sounded horrific.
For pain relief' according to plan:
- advance Baclofen to reduce spasms, increase dose significantly for the first few days.
- advance acetaminophen, antiinflammatories, and morphine
- two nerve block shots in the back of my knees
- two ongoing drip nerve blocks for the front of my knees - down low so as not to affect the motor nerves but to cover the sensory ones. My legs are all of 24 inches long in entirety. Given the need for a long incision for the surgery itself, I figure these will end up somewhere near my groin.
- patient controlled analgesia for general pain.
And that's just for the first 48 hours. I'm thinking I should do a liver purge now just to get my cells working.
Plus I'm thinking he wasn't kidding about the pain.
It's a bit panic inducing, though the doc was so caring and sweet. As is my surgeon. They must see something in my face because they look at me and say, intently, "we'll take good care of you."
It is amazing how much a kind look, a hand on the shoulder, a voice of concern and a gentle explanation go towards easing my fears.
Two weeks from today...new knees...excruciating pain. Ooooh.
I am taking my aching knees for a walk today to keep them toned.and doing my knee exercises like a mad thing.
And hoping the MS induced numbness hangs around for the next several weeks...
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