Tidbits

[cjsmith]

indyansel, I don't believe this! They're awesome! They arrived in styrofoam with an ice pack. And you knew I liked dark! How'd you know/remember that??

apparentparadox, that pillow thing is a GODSEND. I used it all day yesterday and I'm using it now.

The long-acting local is definitely all gone now. It's interesting learning how to get around without letting either forefoot touch ANYTHING. I am realizing how much easier things would be with one good leg, particularly in the bathroom. But I'm still glad I don't have to go through surgery twice!

I suspect, as ouchy as this is, that I have it easy in the post-surgical pain department. After all, at the bottom of the incision just coincidentally happens to be a spot where I don't have a nerve any more.

Since the local's worn off I can feel my toes... most of them. On each foot there is a spot I will never feel again, and let me just say right now that is the weirdest sensation I have experienced in thirty-seven years on this earth. It's not half so freaky when I know it's an anaesthetic. This is ME; this is how my body is, forever. A local is also, somehow, not quite as complete a loss of sensation. I touch these toes with my fingers and it's like they're not there at all. Someone substituted plastic toes. Except that the other side of each toe is there. At that point my brain segfaults. It simply cannot make sense of the input it is getting.

For some reason I am still thinking of all this as a grand adventure.

Comments

[sunnydale47.livejournal.com]

I didn't want any sedation during my knee arthroscopy -- I wanted to watch it on the video monitor! They gave me a bit of IV Valium to put the spinal in, and I don't remember that at all, but then I woke up again and was just relaxed and happy. I reminded the surgeon to turn the monitor so I could see it, and he did. He gave me a guided tour of the inside of my knee, told me about the procedure, and answered all my questions. I never thought surgery could be fun, but this one was!

On the other hand, I told the proctologist colorectal surgeon that I did not want to be there during my colonoscopy. He made sure I wasn't, and I don't remember a thing, which is exactly what I wanted for that particular procedure!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I'm probably way too squeamish to ever WANT to be conscious during a procedure. That knee thing -- no way could I have done what you did! But knowing that I *was* conscious and yet being unable to access those memories? That's just cruel! :)