Left Hip PAO -- The Surgery Itself

For the most part, today* was much like Surgery Day for my right hip PAO. Same fitful night of sleep, same chilly walk to the hospital, same admitting and pre-surgery procedures.

This time, however, I had a cold. It seems like I never really got back to 100% healthy after that cold I had in late September after my first autologous donation. As you'll recall, I had a mild cold during/after the first autodonation, and an oncoming sinus infection during the second and third.

And then two days ago I began to have a sore throat. By last night I could tell that I definitely had a cold (or maybe even a continuation of that same unconquerable sinus infection? Please, don't let it be that!). I was very nervous that today's surgery would have to be postponed, which would have been a logistical nightmare.

Last night I tried to get a good long night's sleep (perchance to heal myself of the cold overnight?). Of course that was not to be, and I had a horrible, fitful night filled with nightmares about the surgery being cancelled, interrupted only by the frequent need to blow my nose.

This morning, the pre-surgery procedure was pretty much the same as it was with my right hip PAO in March. Mom and I walked over to the hospital. I had my vitals and other checks done at admitting. I mentioned there that I had a mild cold but the admitting staff didn't seem too concerned about it as long as it wasn't a cough/chest problem.

Because I had waited around at admitting for so long, by the time I got up to the surgical floor, my medical team was waiting around for me. I didn't even get a chance to change into my surgical pajamas before Dr. Millis signed my hips, his resident Dr. LaRue introduced himself and talked about the surgical strategy, the nurses came to check various things, and the anesthesiologist gave his explanation of the procedure. I did tell them that I had a mild cold but they, too, said they'd be more concerned if it were a chest/coughing cold with fever than the nasal congestion cold I had.

Then the anesthesiologist injectected me with the loopy-loo sedation medication and I was wheeled in to the OR at 7:50. I do remember joking around a lot in the OR as the team prepped me and placed my epidural. I remember there was music playing in the background and I asked what kind of music they were going to play while they operated on me. He asked what I wanted and I told him definitely no heavy metal, as that might make him go overboard with the saw. I think I eventually settled on Händel's Water Music.

While I was in surgery, my mother got regular updates on my progress. At 9:30 Dr. Millis had started in on the left hip, and by 11:00 he was cutting bone. By 12:30 he was putting the screws in on the left side. At 14:15 Dr. Millis was preparing to take the screws out of my right hip. Finally at 15:30 Drs. Millis and LaRue came out to tell my mother that I was all done and the surgery had gone well. He also gave my mother a baggie with the five screws that had come out of my left hip. Souvenir!

Dr. Millis did mention that my superhuman bone density had surprised him once again -- this time he was prepared for how difficult my bones were to saw through, but he was not prepared for how tightly my bones would adhere to the screws in my right hip during the past seven months of recovery. Apparently they had a heck of a time getting the screws out!

He also explained that this left hip surgery was somewhat less invasive than my right hip PAO had been, since my left hip was in better shape going into the surgery than my right hip had been. This time they did not have to open the joint capsule or detach the head of the quadriceps muscle. Also the femoral head did not need to be shaved and shaped for better alignment this time either. Thus the surgery itself was faster and my recovery will likely be quicker and less painful as well.

While Dr. Millis was giving this auspicious news to my mother, I was in the recovery area, awakening from anaesthesia in what felt like the throes of death. I felt like I had hypothermia, and I was shivering so violently that it would be more appropriately termed convulsing. I was also gasping for breath, literally gulping huge lungfuls of air but still feeling as if I could not breathe, as if I was drowning. I was given oxygen and was covered in hot blankets over every inch of my body like a heated white burqa. I remember pleading with them to stop the shaking; they ended up having to give me a horse's dose of Demerol to calm it.

By the time my mother came into the recovery room to see me, I was breathing normally and my convulsions had been reduced to chattering teeth and an occasional body shudder. I was still covered in blankets as they brought me up to my room. I was given some Nubain for the itching and promptly fell asleep.

*Obviously, I did not write this post on the day of my surgery. I wrote it a few days later, but post-dated it for chronological consistency.