so today's the day

I'm heading off to have my knee arthroscoped (not sure if that's a proper usage, but what the hell) this morning.

To say I'm more than slightly nervous would be an understatement.

Between the expense, the completely irrational fear that I won't wake up from the anaesthetic (thank you so much, Robin Cook's Coma), and the sneaking suspicion that it won't change much ... yeah.

Guess I'll see you on the other side ... or wait, maybe not such a good way to put it.

well, I woke up

Several hours and a huge cocktail of medications later, I am now the proud possessor of a heavily bandaged knee which won't bear any weight and doesn't like to bend, a pamphlet with new physio exercises to do and a rather less-than-healthy credit card.

It's surreal to sit in a waiting room, be called in by the nurse and within half an hour find yourself being wheeled in to get anaesthetic administered.

And speaking of the anaesthetic - whoo boy! Apparently, along with the knockout-juice, they pumped Fentanyl, an anti-inflammatory, Tramadol, an anti-nausea 'package' and a blood thinner into me. It's probably not surprising, then, that I've been falling asleep all evening while sitting in this chair. Wuff is making a bit of dinner, then I will be developing a meaningful relationship with my bed.

Instructions are to treat the next four days as 'an old-fashioned Sunday' - which is to say, doing nothing much at all - before gradually increasing activity levels. At some point, I'll get any idea of just what, if any, benefit this operation has brought about. The surgeon told me he'd cleaned out the 'muck' (i.e. bits of bone), smoothed out the bone spurs and trimmed up the meniscus.

Here's hoping.