Useful things both pre- and post surgery

[mollyc]

Hi Everyone: First, I want to say thank you to Fergy and others for this list. I found it invaluable when I was getting prepared for my surgery (which was last week).  I just wanted to add a couple of things that others might find useful.

First, if you are in the US (or elsewhere) where they send you home the day of surgery, get some bland food to eat the first day. Anesthesia can be hard on the digestive tract and my anesthesiologist told me to eat as if I had the stomach flu the first night after surgery.  So, I had to send someone off that night to get saltine crackers, bananas, ginger ale, etc. I ended up only wanting to eat this kind of food for the first 1.5 days. Never occurred to me in advance that I'd need this, but I really did.

Second, surgical tape is a must.  My leg is wrapped with an ace bandage (which I think is similar to tubigrip that all of you in Europe talk about). It's easiest to secure it with surgical tape rather than use the little metal holders or other methods. Now that I'm actually showering and doing exercises, I find that I'm wrapping and re-wrapping the ace bandage once or twice a day and surgical tape helps with that.  (The first day, I had to use packing tape because we didn't have anything appropriate!)

Third, I just want to echo someone else's earlier suggestion about a tray for bed.  I bought a super cheap breakfast-in-bed type tray from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Cost $19.99. I use it to eat.  But, I also put my laptop on it when I watch DVDs. It's much easier on my neck and sometimes I don't want anything on my lap because of how my knee/leg is feeling.  I've gotten a ton of use out of it and I love that it was so cheap.

Fourth, small pad and pen for by the bed.  I use it to keep track of when I take my meds and when to turn on/off the ice machine.  Given the fog of meds, I found it very hard to keep track of this using just my memory. Normally, I don't have a problem with this sort of thing.  But, my cognitive capacities have been compromised by medication, exhaustion, lack of sleep, etc.  Keeping track in this way has helped a lot. I find myself checking my little record ALL THE TIME to see when I should be doing what.

Good luck to anyone preparing for surgery.  Being prepared has helped make the experience so much more manageable.  Molly

[JoH]

Great list fergy and very helpful

Also liked the lip balm, turbi twist and tray in bed.

I also found using a flask (in rucsac/plastic bag) to get drinks from the kitchen to lounge/bedroom/garden (well the sun was shining for once)  when I was using 2 crutches really useful

Crumpet - agree with fergy about the bike - great for my prehab but you may have different issues to me - once I could get enough flexion, although the push hurt my knee at first, improved really quickly and I felt very stable.

[jjarvis98]

Additional find!
I forgot to tell you! We have lots of "Turbie Twists" in our home, as they were a gift to me years ago from my husband. They are the small triangle shaped towels women use to dry their hair- he got them at a "As Seen on TV" type store.

When I was on crutches, I turned them around and used the top in this same way. MUCH better than trying to strain your knee to move your foot. I also had a Cane near by that I used. Just a generic wooden 'candy cane' cane.



Find some place close to the ground. I used a fold out out couch with pillows from another.



If you get a Cryo-Cuff, install it upside down. A bulk of the thermal mass of the water is in the big pouch, I found that cooling my quads didn't do much so I flipped it around so it was right on top of my swelling. I also applied it directly (or with 1 layer) to the skin. I found they put so much padding in there that it did nothing.

I think for my next ( ) surgery I'm going to get a submersible pump and some tubing and just cycle it constantly.

Also freeze large blocks of ice, they last longer. I found that with bag ice I was changing the ice once per 2-3 cycles of water into the cryocuff. More surface area meant that the ice just melted. A large block of ice is more than enough to cool the water in the cuff over 20 minutes.

[jjarvis98]

Cook before hand. Cook a TON of stuff. I think I got out my big pots and made 5 lbs of pasta. 2-3 lbs of Sloppy Jos. A few pounds of hamburgers. Cooked some chicken.

I also stocked a mini fridge and a microwave near my bed. You never know when you're going to get hungry. My sleep schedule was all over the place. (The night before surgeries I like to stay up all night so I sleep more after and the anesthesia seems to take over faster.

[Chufty]

Thanks for the awesome thread guys, some really good advice here. My surgery is tomorrow and I think I'm very well prepared thanks to you!

[turts88]

Great list, to add to it I would say a wobble board. I would also highly recommend the ColdOne icepack. Fantastic for acute injuries such as ACL replacement, very good for swelling. http://www.coldoneinc.com/icewraps/knee.html Feels very good after after physio

[nathanappasamy]

Hello everybody,



I am looking for people who have had Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction on at least one of their knees to take part in a study focusing on the effects and impact of ACL Reconstruction surgery on someone's Athletic Identity.



As someone who has had multiple knee surgeries, I am very interested in the psychological effects of such mobility impairing surgery and do not believe there has been enough research undertaken in the field. The hope for this study (which is part of an MSc in Psychology) is to provide a greater insight into the short term and longterm effects of ACL reconstruction on a person's sense of Self and Identity. If you have had ACL reconstruction surgery and would like your experiences to count towards our understanding within the field, your contribution is of value.



If you would like to take part in the study (which should take no longer than 15 minutes to complete), please click on the below link for further information. Alternatively, copy and paste the link directly into the address bar of your browser. If you know of anyone who may also be interested, then I would be grateful if you would notify them of this opportunity to participate:



https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NNAquestionnaire



If you have any questions (which are not answered by the information sheet, after clicking on the link), please contact me by email at u1037913@uel.ac.uk, and I'll be happy to help.



Nathan Appasamy

[holwba]

A good starting list and subsequent suggestions. Very useful!

Luckily my boyfriend who I live with has been a saint and taken all the household responsibilities over completely, and where he hasn't been available my mom has always wanted to help, so I was very lucly in that respect.

I'd reccommend to get some very good waterproof dressings - I got a few when I was discharged from hospital, but I have since purchased more. The ones I have are from 'Opsite'. I have had several showers and they really are good and watertight. I have a shower over a bath so was able to sit on the side of the bath, but it was a struggle to get in there in the first place.

Get a few good books, laptop, PS3 anything to take away the boredom once you've got your mind back, and of course always keep your meds nearby.

Supply of tea and biscuits for wellwishers too!