One week till OATS Please help

[hurt soldier]

I was injured over seas in iraq i didnt get med evacted for 67 days i then had a micro fracture op that was unsucessfull.I am know havin surgery at a veterans affaires hospital next week to have a  oats procedure done.My last mri was n early march and my lesion measued 25 mm i have been tol that is very large the lesion is on my medila femoral condoyle.For the past couple years i have just dealt with it and takin narcotic pain meds.I have taken from  60-90 mlg of percocet a day and stating 2months ago i have used a 74 mcg fytenol patch and takn a average of 60 ml of percocet still.When i went to pre op they refused to tell me what they would use to manage my pain after surgery only saying that a person in my situation with such a tolerance is gonna have to deal with the pain leaving me to believe that my meds wount change and if so not much>the whole reason i have decided to take this op after turning it down for the past couple years is noy jus to be some what pai free but also i want off the meds im only 28 and do not want to be dependent on em any more.i have topped the fytenol asof pre op monday but 2 weeks doesnt seem long enough to drop my tolerance and because i stopped the patch i have needed more percocet back toward  a 100 ml a day.Can any one help me on what the pain will be like i feel as if im having this with no pain control cause my body is use to such a strn amount i wanna back out but i know i have to do this.I have done much in  my life and always thought i was a tough guy i never feared anything not even combat butfor the first time im scared.I know how painful the micro fracture was and i didnt have a tolerance then.Any help or past experiences would really be good for me mentally thank you for reading this and god bless

[lostandhopeles]

First off Thank you for your service. I have two Sons serving.  prior to an injury in 2007 I have had no knee problems.I had the OATS procedure done May 15, 2009. The pain from surgery was not bad. I was on Tramadol for the first two months (bad stuff). I was in the hospital for 4 days due to the insurance company not approving a CPM for home use. You will need one for 6 weeks. iI started P/T one day after getting out of hospital. I have been to therpy 3 days a week since. My range of motion is great now. It was scary at first. I was unable to move the leg. as hard as I tried it just would not move. I could slide left to right but not able to lift off the bad. It took 2 weeks to be able to lift it off the bed. To this point the worst thing has been non weight bearing on the leg. I am currently using a walker. I was told by the O/S in the begginng it would be 6 weeks non weght bearing. At the end of 6 he said lets give it 3 more. When I saw him last week he said lets give it 3 more weeks. I tried to negociate down and was not sucessful. HE said we need to give it 3 months non weight bearing. In the begining of this he said that the surgery was not hard but the recovery WAS. At this time I agree the recovery sucks. Not the pain but the inability do do things. The TV programs will get old the couch will get lumpy and the wlls will close in on you. They have on me. I keep thinking the summer is gone and I have not been fishing, to the flea markets, yard work, all parts of summer. My goal is to be pain free and be able to do all that this fall. God bless and keep the faith.