Week 1, September 27th- October 4th:
My surgery was scheduled on the 27th of  September at 11:30. I walked I to the children's hospital and was greeted by a nurse who actually coached field hockey, so I already felt very welcomed. I was taken into a waiting area where I waited for maybe 5 minutes and the. Was taken for my wight, height, etc. then they took me to a pre-op area. They gave me scrubs to change into and I was just laying  on the hospital bed. They put a warm blanket over my arms so to help the veins stand out a little more when they prepared to put the IV in. The nurse nicked the vein on my right arm, and eventually got it on my left arms when another nurse came to help. I warned her that my veins were small! Then, he anesthesiologist came in to give me a nerve block. They gave me medicine that completely felt like y brain was clouded over and I acted absolutely wack. I was quite a character from what I remember. He put an ultrasound to my left hip, ( if it wasn't clear I got surgery on my left knee) and then slid the needle in and I could see it on the screen! It was really cool. After that all the doctors came to visit me. I liked their little caps. That's all I can really remember. Then they rolled me into the operating room. I said a lot of weird stuff, did a lot of weird things, and then the next thing I knew I woke up in this post op area. Just a warning. Anesthesia can have weird side effects, a lot of people are really nauseas, but it also loses you body's ability to regulate temperature so I was really hot and sweating. They made me go to the bathroom which was a process seeing as that I fell asleep in the wheel chair and on the toilet. I was EXHAUSTED. After they helped my go to the bathroom they sent me home. Fast, I know. The nerve block worked miracles though and I didn't really feel anything until a little over a day later when it wore off. The one thing I felt when I did have the nerve block was my incision on my shin (where they took out my hamstring) hurt. Not unbearably but it wasn't comfortable. I was taking 3 ibuprofen and one OxyContin, alternating. That helped with the pain too. The process of going to the bathroom was definitely the worse part of everything that week. Word of advice, move a bed or something you can sleep on to your first floor. All I remember is when I got the okay to shower I had to go upstairs and I felt really sick from all the energy I was using. The shower felt good but the getting changed was really hard. My mom helped me with everything. Also, you may think that everyone is over exaggerating or that it won't happen to you but you cannot move your leg by yourself. It. Doesn't. Work. Trust me I have never been so frustrated before. After the fourth day you start feeling better. I think that I stopped taking OxyContin about 5 days after surgery. I was out of school for a week a rightfully so. I wouldn't have been able to do it. Also, ICE ICE ICE, it's like heaven on your knee, it feels, great.
So that was my first week. As well, your leg is locked straight in your brace. No fun.
-Becca