Pre Op
After all of the red tape I had to jump through to finally get my surgery approved and scheduled, I wasn't really sure what to expect when I got to SCOI on Monday. I had a feeling the doctor would be good, but my expectations were met and exceeded!
Dr Carlos Guanche walked right into the room, introduced himself, and went straight into evaluating my situation. He answered all of my questions, and even checked to see if I had piriformis involvement. (He suspected it, and indeed I did.)
He said that in addition to the hamstring repair, ischial bursectomy and sciatic neurolysis he'll be doing, he's going to release some of the inflammation in the piriformis. I asked him what a sciatic neurolysis is, and he said that it is debriding and cleaning away the scar tissue surrounding the lining/casing around the nerve.
I asked him what the recovery time is expected to be, and he said two months to standing normally and three months until I can start lightly jogging again! I was very happy to hear that! We haven't decided whether or not surgery will be needed on the other leg. He said that in about 90% of cases once the bad leg gets fixed, the other leg will get better. I haven't been a typical case thus far, though, (in mine and my other doctors and PT's opinions) so we'll have to see about that. My left leg has significantly worsened as time has passed. We will discuss this further at the post-op appointment on Tuesday.
When I asked him if I will be able to run again, he didn't hesitate in saying that yes I should be able to. In fact, he told me that one of his patients that had my same surgery is now running ultra marathons! Sweeeeeeeet!!! That was music to my ears!!
So my surgery will start at 10:30am on Wednesday, and should last between 60-90 minutes. I will be put into compression stockings and a 90 degree hinged knee brace for the next two weeks, at least, and then possibly at 45 degrees for two more weeks. This will all depend on how my healing goes. I Hibiclensed myself tonight, and took all of my earrings out. (Thank you Steph for your help!) I just ate my last yummy peanut butter chocolate and sea salt bar, and took my last sip of water. I pray to God that I'm not a raging bitch tomorrow after I've gone that long without food or drink. I'll probably be begging for coffee on the recovery table lol!!
Thank you everyone from the bottom of my heart for all of your thought, prayers, and kind words. You guys all mean the world to me, and life would just not be as full and amazing without you. A special thank you to Steph and Ricky for allowing me to take over their room and kitchen and being such amazing hosts!! Also, thanks a million in advance to Lynn for driving me to and from my surgery, and putting up with my uncaffeinated starving hot mess of a self.
I will be back soon with updates.
Happy Trails,
Stacey
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