I am now back at home after being in hospital for two nights recovering from my anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Everything went well and my surgeon is happy with how the procedure went.

Friday started at 05:00 getting up and getting ready to head off to the Mercy Hospital. Trudi and I arrived at 06:25 and I finished off the paperwork. Then the waiting started.

About 07:30 my anesthetist came in and explained what he would be doing. I was going to have a general anesthetic and also a spinal. He explained there is always some risk with this but it was highly unlikely. I could have an injection to the groin if there was any concern but I was happy to have the spinal done as it was their usual practice.

About 30 minutes later the nurse came in asking if I had been prepped for theatre yet – which I had not – because I had been called for. So I quickly got some more paperwork done, changed into my gown, had my knee shaved down, said goodbye to my wife and was then trollied down to the operating theatres.

My surgeon and assistant surgeon, Iain McLean and Peter Larkins then came and saw me and confirmed which knee was to be operated on. Murray Amir, my anesthetist, then came and saw me with his assistant and we then went into the operating theatre.

This is a massive room. So much equipment. I was slid onto the table from the trolley and had my drip inserted into my left arm. I was then asked to roll onto my side and get into the fetal position to have the spinal done. Two quick jabs and a quick sharp pain in my groin confirmed the spinal was in the right place.

Dr Amir then said we had every thing in place and was now going to put me to sleep, “Have a good sleep!”.

I woke up around 10:30 in recovery feeling quite groggy and out of it completely. My leg fully bandaged up resting on pillows. I couldn’t move my feet or legs and or feel anything done below. This was expected. The spinal block would last about 2-3 hours after surgery. However, I was encouraged to try and wiggle my toes and pump my ankles. It would be a while before I had any feeling back in my feet and legs.

Trudi and mum called to see how I was around 12. Still couldn’t feel anything but I started to get movement back in my right leg. The nurses kept checking me every thirty minutes – standard procedure for post-op surgery – blood pressure, temperature, heart rate etc.

I had several machines hooked up to me and some tubes hanging out of my knee – redi-vacs. These were for excess blood and fluid from knee draining out. The machines consisted of a morphine PCA and fluid drip. I tried not to use the morphine for as long as possible. I lasted until 16:00 – the pain was getting very uncomfortable. But I did have feeling back in my feet and I was able to move my right leg and pump my ankles.

The physio paid me a visit and put me on the CPM machine (continuous passive motion). This was to be used for the afternoon and overnight until the morning when the physio would get me out of bed. This was set to run at 0 – 25 degrees of flexion. So not much angle but it is really just there to show that the knee was actually working and bending.

I drifted in and out of sleep over the afternoon as I was still quite groggy from the anesthetic. Trudi turned up after work around 18:00. Then my parents turned up about 30 minutes later.

I felt pretty good but not in much pain. There was a bit of a dull ache around the knee but I felt comfortable with it. However, I did not get much sleep over the night, the nurses kept checking on me and waking me up to do their checks. I did get a little sleep, but certainly not any quality.

Saturday saw the program change a bit with the redi-vacs’ tubes being removed and getting out of bed and learning to walk a bit with crutches with the assistance of the physio.

The nurse told me the redi-vacs would be the most painful part of the whole thing. The tubes themselves consisted of three prongs inserted deep under the skin. These had to be pulled out. The nurse gave me the ready, set, go and the first one was out. It wasn’t as bad as they said it would be. It was a weird sensation more than anything. The prongs are about 15cm long and the slide out from inside the muscle tissue and skin. The second one was pulled out, but took two pulls – same again, not too painful, just a weird sensation. Then the nurse said the third one is the worst because of where it is placed. Not much different to the others – it was probably a little longer. The nurse commented on my pain tolerance saying that it was quite high – a few people have said this – so if this happens to you be prepared for a bit of pain.

After the redi-vac tubes had been removed, the physio put my splint on and got me up and walking on my crutches. She showed me a few exercises – quad clenches, leg raises and ankle pumps which I did quite comfortably. Soon after I was put back on the CPM.

I was on the CPM from then on and overnight. The knee started to get a bit sore and irritable during the night and the CPM started annoying me mostly due to it rubbing on my foot.

Sunday finally came around and the dressing was removed and I had a shower. The leg was put in the splint and wrapped up in a plastic bag so that the wounds would not get wet.

Some more work with the physio included more exercises and working with the crutches and stairs. I was then cleared to leave the office. Trudi came and picked me up and I am now at home.