Alrighty. Here we go:

Monday: Surgery day

We got to the hospital around 11. They took me back to a room to do a urine test and the anesthesiologist and all these other nurses and my OS came in and asked me questions. The usual pre-op stuff.
A little after 1 I was taken back for my surgery and the last thing I remember is breathing in the laughing gas. Once I was asleep they did a nerve block and then the surgery.

I woke up in recovery about 4:20. I had gotten in there around 3:45 so my surgery was a little over 2 hours. My OS was in there and told me the surgery went great. I was in very little pain because of the nerve block and was not nauseous at all (my last surgery the anesthesia made me throw up quite a bit but they gave me anti-nausea meds in my IV) We had to wait about 45 minutes for a room to be ready and then they wheeled me up and I met my parents then.

I was in very little pain the rest of the day. I made it to the restroom (It took 3 nurses and my mom, but we did it).I took one norco at night just to get ahead of the pain and I went to sleep. I slept pretty well considering the nurses wake you up every 2 hours to check vitals and circulation.

Day 1 Post-Op:

My morning was fine. My doc has me on a normal diet so I was eating normal food right away, even for dinner last night. Mid-morning the block started wearing off. HOLY CRAP it itches!!!! The block is kinda deceiving cause your in very little pain for 18 hours or so and then it hits you. Nevertheless, I'm extremely thankful for it.

Then the PT comes in to show me how to use crutches. This was my first real time up besides the bathroom. I crutched down the hall to the staircase and that wasn't too bad. Then the PT wanted me to go up 2 stairs and back down. My leg got jostled and once I got up the 2 stairs I absolutely lost it. I was bawling and my throat was closing up from the crying and it was awful. They got me down the steps and into a wheelchair. It took a while for me to calm down. I think it was just the fact that the block was wearing off and I hadn't had any pain meds that morning and I had just had surgery like 18 hours ago. I was way overwhelmed. Once I was calmed down, I crutched back to my room and asked the nurse for pain meds. 2 HOURS LATER she comes in with meds, saying that they had to be ordered and it took a while. My mom and I were not happy about that because I was in really bad pain (about a 7out of 10) and they did nothing about it!

The resident doc came in and said that we were welcome to stay another night to get the pain under control and we did. The nurses added motrin in between the norco. That seemed to help.

Day 2 Post-op:

Not much happened, we were just anxious to get home. My OS checked on me and I was released around 1. My mom's friend brought me dinner and flowers which was nice 

I went to bed at 7:30 and slept pretty well.

Day 3 Post-op:

I woke up at 4:15 a.m. to go to the restroom (sorry if this is TMI but just a warning: all the pain meds and anesthesia make you constipated  )

I went back to bed only to be woken up at 6:30 with the worst headache I have ever had in my life. It was an 8 out of 10 and I couldn't even open my eyes it was so bad. I screamed to wake up my mom and she woke up my sister. We put ice on my head and they checked my temperature and blood pressure and both were normal. I was an absolute mess. My mom called my doctor's nurse and left a message and then she called the pain specialist at the hospital but she had to leave another message. She was contemplating on weather or not to take me to the ER. Both took forever to call back (it was around 8 when they did). Neither thought it was because of the norco and they said I was probably dehydrated, but I have been drinking plenty of fluids. Finally the headache got down to a 3 which is manageable.

We then noticed my ankle was really really swollen. A scar that is normally on my ankle bone is like 2 inches above where my bone should be. The nurse said it's probably because I wasn't moving my ankle the whole night and it just got pulled or something like that. So I've been icing it and moving it around (ankle pumps and rolls). I've just been laying in bed the whole day and my pain isn't that bad. I can definitely feel where the screws are because I get sharp shots of pain there. My doc moved my bone more than he thought he could before surgery so he used 3 screws. I also have 2 incisions, one on the outside of my leg a little above and to the right of my kneecap and one a little below and to the right. I haven't seen them (I can unwrap my leg tomorrow but will need to put an ACE wrap back on and of course my lovely brace) but I don't think they're much bigger than 2 inches.

My brace is similar to the Breg quick wrap knee immobilizer and I will be in this for 2 weeks. Then I will be given a smaller hinged brace for 4 weeks. I will be on crutches for 6-8 weeks but am toe-touch wait bearing for most of those weeks except the last 1-2 I will be full weight bearing with crutches for support and to let people know that I'm still hurt.

Overall, I think the surgery went well and am surprised at how little pain I'm in. I hope y'all are doing great and I'll post soon!

Post-Op Day 5:

Hey y'all! Today was alright. It was definitely the worst day in terms of pain except for day 2 with the PT disaster. It's probably from my little shopping adventure yesterday. Which was totally worth it. But still.

I had a meeting for this mother/daughter group I'm in and it was really awkward. I mean, these meetings are always really awkward, because NO ONE wants to be there cause they're insanely boring, but this one was more so than the rest cause of the huge freakin brace. Also, it's really hard to explain what I had surgery for.

Conversation:

"What happened to your leg?"
"I had knee realignment surgery"
"What did they do?"
"They moved my tibia bone over and screwed in place and then did a lateral release to give me proper alignment."

And then they usually make a face like this:  or this: 

Or a combination of the two.

Anywho, it wasn't a bad day overall. I'm just really bored. EXCEPT I GOT THE HUNGER GAMES ON DVD TODAY!!!!! Gah, I love the books and the movie. And I got the 3 disc addition from Target  Target is seriously my favorite store. Like, I have a major problem. I'll go in there for like shampoo or something and come out with 4 dresses, chocolate, and coloring books. And yes, I am a teenager. And yes, I still buy coloring books. For myself.  They just jump in my cart somehow. Ahem.

I hope y'all are doing fantastic! I can't believe it has almost been a week since my surgery! It certainly doesn't feel like it.

Are you having a TTT then? I have had zero pain from mine. The only reason I even know where it is (other than seeing the x-rays last week at the doctor's office, the nails look funny) is that the 2nd week after surgery I was still wearing a brace in public and got out of the car and twisted it and that section ached for a few days. Other than that I haven't had a second of pain. The MPFL was another story. But if you're going for a TTT, it really isn't painful. It sounds horrific and I read all the time that any surgery with bones involved is painful but that wasn't my experience and I've read others on here who had the same combo of surgeries I had who say the same thing. I'd have 10 TTTs to 1 MPFL. I did read a recent post (Sept 30) by someone who had a lot of pain with his TTT but honestly mine was a breeze and I'm still aching 8 + weeks later from the MPFL.

I had my ttt (maquet) two weeks ago and you were right- it wasn't bad at all!  Of course I still have lots of work to do, but am glad I took a shot.  Just hoping that patella is in the right place now