One decision I had to make before the surgery was whether or not to have a femoral nerve block to help with post op pain. The procedure involved an injection into the femoral nerve to numb it similar to an epidural. I opted not to do this. It was one more thing that could go wrong. Additionally I was going to only spend one night in the hospital and I didn't want to be at home when the nerve block wore off. I would rather be in the hospital where I could receive intravenous pain medication rather than find out I couldn't handle the pain and have to come back to the hospital after it wore off.
I woke up from surgery in minimal pain. I was already receiving intravenous pain meds through my IV before I woke up so I actually felt pretty good. My pain was around a 4. I was moved to a hospital room which I don't really remember getting there. I slept most of the day and night. At some point during the night I was weened off the intravenous pain meds and was given 2 Percocets every 4 hours for pain. This worked fairly well. Toward the end of the 4 hours my pain would climb up to a 6 or 7 but slowly subside as the pills took effect. I was also put on antibiotics through an IV to prevent infection.
I left the hospital late afternoon the day after my surgery. I could keep my pain under control with the Percocet so I was ready to go home. The worst part about leaving the hospital was standing up on crutches to get in the wheelchair. The blood began to rush to the bottom of my leg and the pain was intense. However once I got settled in the wheel chair the pain subsided a bit and I felt ok enough to leave.
