Knee surgery did not go so well.

LowCel

Premium Member
I went in for work this morning for a few hours then went to the hospital. My appointment was scheduled for 10:30, surgery at 12:30. Around 12:00 they finally called my name so I was able to get started. The surgery started around 1:30 and only took about thirty minutes. I woke up a little later an everything seemed fine. I did notice that I was in quite a bit of pain though so they gave me something that was supposed to be a little stronger than morphine. About 30 minutes later they gave me a 10mg Loritab.

After about another 20 minutes they took me to the final recovery room where I was supposed to be for about 30 minutes before going home. My Ace Bandage felt a little tight so I mentioned it to the nurse. She lifted my leg about an inch and that was all it took. Next thing I knew my legs started convulsing, almost like a seizure. Then my arm started. This went on for ten minutes and hurt like hell. They gave me demerol to stop the convulsing.

The demerol seemed to work alright and the convulsing stopped. We thought everything was fine until somebody moved my leg an inch or two. This caused it to all start again. It was absolutely amazing how much pain I was in. I have never hurt so bad, basicly the worst minute of pain I had from the last surgery lasted for about six hours today. I couldn't even start to list all the different pain injections they gave me today, all I know was they were putting something through my IV every 15 - 20 minutes.

The nurses and doctors wanted me to stay overnight but I really didn't want to. I even overheard one of the nurse telling a doctor that she had never seen anyone in as much pain as I was in after arthroscopic surgery. They decided if I could stand to get into the wheelchair that I could go home. I managed to deal with the pain long enough to get into the wheelchair. It brought tears to my eyes, I broke out into a heavy sweat, and I almost threw up from the pain.

I finally made it home and my mom and my neighbor helped me get into the house. This brought tears to my eyes and it was miserable. I finally made it to the couch and I have no intentions of getting up for the next day or two. I don't think I can handle the pain of getting back up.
 
Dang, sorry to hear that Bruce. :( Hopefully the pain will be short lived.

Did you have the same surgery on the other knee? If so, I assume it wasn't as bad?
 
This surgery should have been a little easier since I didn't have the torn meniscus in this knee. I was very sore after that surgery but it did not compare to this experience. It was kind of like my worst single moment of the last one lasted for seven hours yesterday. I have never felt pain anything like I experienced yesterday.
 
Oh man that sucks Bruce. :( Does the doc have any idea why you had that kind of reaction and pain?
I hope you're feeling better today.
 
I'm getting a little ****ed. The nurse tried paging the doctor about three times yesterday evening, he never called her. I called the doctors office today and left a message. The receptionist called me back a couple of hours later and asked if she could help me. I explained to her what was going on and she said I needed to talk to the doctor's nurse. She transfered me and I was on hold for over five minutes when someone picked up the phone and hung it up. I then called back and left another message. That was before noon. I still haven't heard back from them.

In short, I have no idea if the doctor knows what is causing the pain.
 
Whoa I'd be very ****ed that's simply not acceptable.
You've had complications from a routine surgery and somebody should be monitoring your condition. From a pain standpoint and as a possible surgical "snafu" as well.
IOW he dam should be figuring out what caused this.
Sigh guess the many years of working as an RN still kick in.
 
He called back when my wife called their answering service. He acted like it was nothing but if I needed to I could go to the ER and check in to the hospital for pain management. Or I can go in and see him tomorrow afternoon after his surgeries.

I will probably wait and go in next week sometime. I really can't handle riding in a vehicle right now. Actually, I can't even handle going to the rest room right now.
 
Sorry to hear this bruce. Hopefully they will figure everything out for you in a timely matter
 
Here are a couple of pictures of the knee. Not great but might give you and idea of the amount of swelling.

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Here is a picture of my nurse giving me a lap dance.

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Man that is bad. Good thing you've got an excellent nurse on board. :D
Are you getting any better...pain wise or swelling at all?
 
Pain wise it is much better than it was on Wednesday. It is more like the first day after my last surgery. Painful but tolerable. The swelling is getting worse if anything. It definitely is not getting better.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14847158#post14847158 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LowCel
The swelling is getting worse if anything. It definitely is not getting better.
Glad to here the pain level is better. Really watch the swelling though especially if it's getting worse (looked bad enough before).
Make sure your toes have good movement are pink etc...etc.
If it continues to get worse call a frickin' ambulance.
 
I'm not a doc nor do I pretend to be one but Bruce that looks terrible. I would be getting that checked out ASAP!
 
Bruce, I hate lawyers. I won't even work for one, no matter how much money they offer me.

That being said, you need to contact a lawyer ASAP. Not one of those jerks who advertise on TV, and not a class action legal whore, but an attorney with references you can check out.

TR
 
It seems to be feeling a little better today so I am hoping I am on my way to recover. I really don't want to have to get ahold of a lawyer though. If for some reason I did need one my wife's brother is a malpractice lawyer, he is also a parter for Jackson and Kelly.
 
I just took a couple of pictures to show the bruising on my legs. I have no idea why I am bruised so high up my thigh or so far down my calf. Please ignore the terrible quality of the pictures. I didn't feel like hiring a professional to take them.

IMG_0784.jpg

IMG_0785.jpg
 
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