Reconstruction day is finally here!! Here’s how it went:

• 6:00am – alarm goes off
• 6:36am – out of bed (lazy!)
• 6:40am – last shower for 10 days!*
• 7:50am – head to Waltham (BOSS)
• 8:30am – arrive and Dave gets a coffee and muffin. Bum! I can’t eat or drink. 
• 9:10am – get called to the back. I change into a gown, pee in a cup (pregnancy test I bet?), take Dr. S’s preop cocktail of 2 Celebrex and 2 aspirin. Then I head inside to my preop bed in a room that had maybe 6 other people. BP is 117/70, a bit on the high side for me. They put an IV into the crook of my right arm and start giving me fluids. They let Dave come back for a little bit and then send him back out to wait. The anesthesiologist (Dr. F) and Dr. S come by to do some paperwork, sign my knee with their initials and then swap my right sock from the grey to a red one. Then Dr. F comes back and gives me a sedative in my IV. Using an ultrasound to locate the femoral nerve, he gives me a local and then administers the nerve block. It was 3 syringes of something. The first one was pressure but nothing too painful. 
• 10:15am – I get wheeled into the OR, not wearing my glasses so I can’t see anything. The graft guy shows me my graft but I can’t see! Then Dr. F puts a mask over my face and tells me to breathe. I ask “don’t I have to count backwards?” He says no, and that’s the last thing I remember. 
• 1:00pm-ish – I wake up in recovery! Apparently I slept for about an hour after surgery. Once I’m up, they let Dave come back and then they give me lots of blankets because I’m shaking from the anesthesia leaving my system. That doesn’t help so they hook me up to Demerol. And saltines (choice of animal crackers, saltines, or Ritz — of course saltines!) and water. 
• They help me get dressed and move into a recliner chair. They go over a BUNCH of paperwork and have Dave sign. 
• Then we’re on our way! The nurse helps me pee and then brings me down to Dave with the car. Drive home and set up on the couch while Dave goes to get my drugs! 

PS – I think my first words were “can I give Dr. S a hug?”