{"id":2129,"date":"2009-03-12T21:35:06","date_gmt":"2009-03-13T01:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/?p=2129"},"modified":"2020-11-28T18:16:59","modified_gmt":"2020-11-28T23:16:59","slug":"arth-arith-arrr-surgery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/index.php\/2009\/03\/12\/arth-arith-arrr-surgery\/","title":{"rendered":"Arth – arith – arrr- surgery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Surgery went well today, so far as we can tell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In summary, I highly recommended:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* New England Surgicare<\/a>.
* Dr. Andrew Chapman<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do not recommend needing<\/em> surgery \u2026 but if you gotta \u2026 this is the way to fly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was \u201cNPO\u201d (nothing by mouth) starting at midnight last night. The only cause for concern there was my raging coffee addiction \u2026 which usually smacks me with a savage headache around 11am. However, redmed<\/a> enforced a \u201cnothing means nothing\u201d policy with the wily gambit of \u201cyou should call your doctor and ask.\u201d Pride won out over fear, and I went without.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We got to New England Surgicare<\/a> around 8:30, and I was processed with speed, efficiency, and respect. It was stunningly good. Seriously, I would recommend that facility to anyone, for any-thing. For all that we all hate the medical establishment and all its incompetent glory \u2026 I figure it\u2019s important to give a shout out to a place that got it right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Everyone was friendly, yet professional \u2026 down to the nice lady who shaved my knee.
* The staff knew what was going on with me. Every point in the chain was a personal handoff \u2013 \u201cthis is Dr. such-and-so. He\u2019ll be your anesthesiologist today. See you in there!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Crap ran on time. My surgery was scheduled for 10am, and I think I lay down on the bed at about 10:03.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Word had been passed to the recovery room about my coffee fixation \u2013 and coffee was available when I regained consciousness. Seriously. I had made some quip about the coffee thing at some point during intake \u2026 and they remembered<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* The nurse in charge of such things asked if I had kids. When I said \u2018no,\u2019 she said \u2018okay, no need for a sympathy crutch then.\u2019 Like, how nice is that? The idea that yeah, of course the kids will want a crutch if dad\u2019s using them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brief digression to note that redmed<\/a> apparently knows every anesthesiologist in Boston. \u2018Don\u2019t I know you?\u2019 he said while they were shaking hands. Yeah. They\u2019re all one big happy family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So yeah, I stripped down and donned the gown. They gave me a nice recliner to sit in while they shaved my knee. The surgeon came in and reviewed the consent form and then wrote on my surgical knee to verify that we were all talking about the same limb. The anesthesia doc went over anesthesia. They walked me back into the room, and we\u2019re all chatting and laughing. They helped me out of the \u201cfront\u201d gown, leaving only the \u201cback\u201d one. I lay down on the bed, and the anesthesiologist started the medication. I remember putting on the oxygen mask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next thing I know, I\u2019m waking up in a curtained off corner of a recovery room, leaned back in a recliner. I had the \u201cfront\u201d gown back on. My leg is wrapped and bundled. All is well. They brought first water and crackers, and then Jen and coffee \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 and a rose \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apparently all patients at this place receive a rose when they wake up. Gotta tell you \u2013 it\u2019s a nice touch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway: Gory details \u2013 I got the \u201ctrim\u201d rather than the \u201crepair.\u201d There were flaps hanging out into the joint, and rough edges all around. I have pictures of the \u201cbefore\u201d and \u201cafter.\u201d This means that I have less meniscus cushioning in my knee \u2026 but also that I get the \u201cshort\u201d recovery. Basically, I\u2019m on crutches through the weekend \u201cas needed for pain.\u201d They want me moving as soon as possible to encourage the joint to stay loose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pain is totally manageable. While I have access to The Good Stuff, I actually have no inclination to use it. Frankly, it hurts less<\/em> than when I injured it. I tweak my back worse than this on a regular basis. Given that \u2013 I see no reason to screw with (a) addiction (b) tolerance (c) constipation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And with that, I plan to return to my comfy seat in front of the TV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Surgery went well today, so far as we can tell. In summary, I highly recommended: * New England Surgicare.* Dr. Andrew Chapman I do not recommend needing surgery \u2026 but if you gotta \u2026 this is the way to fly. I was \u201cNPO\u201d (nothing by…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,61,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health-care-and-medicine","category-just-bloggin","category-real-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2129"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2130,"href":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2129\/revisions\/2130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}