Day Before Surgery
The “S” Word. No, not that 4-letter word once shunned by the late, great George Carlin. I’m talking about a dreaded 7-letter word that I’d even cringe at making in a game of Scrabble: S-U-R-G-E-R-Y.
The doc presented me with two options, only one of which (given my age and physical activity) was viable. I could either put it in a molded cast for about 8-12 weeks, plantarflexed so that the two torn ends of the tendon could heal themselves. Or I could opt for surgery, which would have a dramatically shorter recovery time and a much smaller chance of a re-rupture (9.8% vs. 1.4%) [Trust me: this is not something you ever want to go through again! Surgery is a no-brainer!]
To say that I was a nervous wreck the day and night before surgery would be a huge understatement. I had so many questions and fears to overcome, yet only about 15 hours to mentally prepare myself for what would be the scariest day of my life. My surgeon was very open and honest with me. He fully explained the procedure and told me exactly what to expect. I asked question after question, yet his answers whizzed by my ears as I couldn’t help but think, “Is this really happening? I’m actually going to have surgery tomorrow? I’m going to lose complete control of my faculties and put my trust into the hands of a surgeon I just met a few hours ago?” Well, not complete control of my faculties…
It went from bad to worse. My surgeon strongly recommended that I undergo spinal anesthesia (lumbar puncture) rather than general anesthesia. That would entail me being completely awake for surgery. WTF?! Awake?! That’s nonsense!! But after hearing about the complications and risks associated with general, not to mention that rolling me over on my stomach (I had to be in the prone position for surgery) as dead weight would be extremely difficult for the surgical team, I reluctantly agreed to it. I figured I might as well make this as easy for the surgeon as possible. As for the overwhelming anxiety associated with being awake in the operating room? Nothing the anesthesiologist can’t handle: a little midazolam (Versed) would do the trick.
I didn’t sleep a wink that night. My first words when I “woke up” that morning was, sure enough, a 4-letter word. George Carlin would be proud.
Please tell me you typoed 8-12 months, and you really meant weeks.
Schmeck - good catch! And I also meant to add that the torn ends of the tendon may not align themselves properly to heal without surgical repair, resulting in a weak achilles tendon and a high likelihood of re-rupture (ouch!).
Famin:
i went through the same thing. i was really considering conservative approach, except that when it’s not done within a week the chance of re-rupture goes up to about 30%. no brainer on the surgery. i had the spinal block but what they did was wheel me into to room wide awake and fully aware gave me the spinal then gave me some “twilight” drug that helped me sleep. that seemed to work the doc told me a woke up a few times but frankly i dont remember a thing.