Surgery Date

Finally...I have a surgery date! May 6th.

I met with the surgeon yesterday and he liked the progress of my knee. April 29th will be my last day of Coumadin (blood thinner) and the medicine needs to be out of my system for at least 5 days prior to surgery. I have my pre-op appointment April 19th. During that appointment they will do a blood draw, but I'll probably have to go in to have it drawn again the day before surgery just to make sure the medicine has completely cleared out of my body. They are concerned about excessive bleeding during surgery if my blood is too thin.

Overall, the surgeon said my leg strength was good and the extension/straightening was OK. He wants to see a little more improvement prior to surgery. He suggested sleeping with a rolled towel under my ankle at night to get my leg to straighten out for hours on end. I tried it last night and wasn't so fond of it. I didn't sleep very well and woke up with a very sore knee. I'll give it another try tonight or at least set my mind to starting out that way.

I've decided to do the hamstring graft for the reconstruction. I don't like the idea of using a cadaver graft only because I know I'm healthy enough to use my own tissue. I considered the patellar tendon, but did not want the scar tissue and chronic knee pain on the front of my knee cap. I think the hamstring will be best.

The doc told me to plan on no cutting sports (Taekwondo) for about 9 months after surgery. I'm hoping that's conservative. I can't imagine not doing my form for 9 months! Not sparring is a little more understandable. With that being said, there is no way I want to go through this again and I want the best possible outcome after surgery! I will just have to take it slow and be patient. With regards to work I will most likely be on the desk through the fall and possibly until the New Year. Uggh. That may require a lot more patience. Hoping for the best and a shorter time line!!