Date: 11/6/02
Author: Marty "McFly" Head, Waterski Boats Dallas

Related Items:
The ACL Experience - Part I - Injury and MRI
The ACL Experience - Part III - Surgery
The ACL Experience - Part IV - Physical Therapy
The ACL Experience - Part V - Knee Brace and Last Doc Visit
The ACL Experience - Part VI - Guess Who's Back Wakeboarding

I arrived with my wife an hour early on Friday at Dr. Donegan's office to review my MRI results. When I signed in, I was immediately brought back and Dr. Donegan was in the room with me within minutes.

It turns out that the metal in my knee had distorted a lot of the images. However, there were a few good shots that did strongly suggest a complete ACL tear. But, the MRI only shows around 80% of the knee, and, although the MRI is a great tool to determine knee injuries, it is not entirely accurate.

I had pretty much prepared myself to hear the news that my ACL was torn, so it wasn't too big of a shock when the doctor told me that,. I told him that I want him to go ahead and repair my knee in the best way he sees fit, and that I would be determined to do whatever it takes to get me back to 100%. He suggested that I go ahead and have the surgery and have the ACL rebuilt by using my patellar tendon. I told him if that is what he thought would be best, then that was fine with me. However, I wanted to wait one month before surgery.

So, in the meantime, Dr. Donegan gave me a list of exercises to begin working on to help me during this down time. He said the stronger I was going into the surgery, the better off I would be coming out of it. So, over the next 4 weeks, I began riding the stationary bike a lot. The bike helps with your range of motion in the knee. My knee was still unable to bend all of the way, so I got on the bike and began to just rock the pedals back and forth until the knee would bend enough to go all the way around. Once I could go all the way around, I would ride for a couple of minutes to get the knee loose, then I would move the seat closer to the handle bars to make the knee bend more when I peddled. After a week of nightly riding, I could very easily make the full rotation with the seat moved all the way up.

At the end of August, Dr. Donegan had me come back to his office for a pre-op appointment. During this visit, we went over everything that was going to be done during the surgery. He examined my knee again and tested its strength. He pointed out everything that was going to be done during the surgery and gave me instructions for after the surgery. He told me that during the day or two after the surgery, all I would want to do was lie around and relax. But after that, I would want to get up and move around because I would probably start getting "cabin fever." I was told that I should be able to walk off of my crutches in about a week's time, and that I should be in my brace no longer than three weeks or so.

I also received all of my prescriptions and was told to go ahead and get them filled. Of course I was prescribed pain killers, but I was also prescribed a week's worth of antibiotics and some incredibly strong anti-nausea medicine.

The final 2 weeks before my surgery wasn't too bad. I had come to terms with what I would be going through for the next six months. I had talked to many people that had gone through the same thing that I was about to go through as well. I heard all kinds of stories from, "It was the absolute worst experience of my life!" to, "Yeah, it wasn't so bad..I actually walked out of the hospital an hour after surgery."

The only thing that concerned me was that two good friends of mine, Gary Morrison of Hyperlite, and Jeff Stephens of Waterski Boats Dallas, had bad ACL experiences. But, I was willing to take the risk of getting the surgery done and, hopefully, coming out for the best on the other end. Plus, I really trusted my doctor and just kept the mind set that the stronger I am going into this surgery, the stronger I will be coming out.

About a week before surgery my knee felt wonderful. It felt strong and it really didn't bother me anymore. I still could not bend it all the way, but I could come really close. Although I was strongly instructed to not do any running, jumping or cutting motions, I did get back on the board for a long set of just relaxing. Even though I rarely left the water, it was great to get behind the boat again. I had the strongest desire to go wake to wake that I could hardly stand it, but better instincts (and not wanting to face the doctor with more damage than I began with) helped me decide against it.

A couple of evenings later, I played nine holes of golf since I knew I would not be able to play again for a few months. Once again the knee felt great. Dr. Donegan had told me that my knee would eventually start feeling better and that it could even feel 100% again. I did notice that the knee would give out on me every now and then and that it felt week whenever I jumped down from 2 feet or more. But walking around and twisting and turning felt just fine.

The night before surgery was a little nerve racking. I was instructed to not eat or drink anything after midnight, and I was told to wear a loose pair of shorts because, after it was all said and done, my knee would be heavily bandaged.

I woke up early the next morning and greeted my parents who had come in from Louisiana late the night before. My parents, my wife and I loaded up in the car and made the journey to Metroplex Surgicare in Bedford, Texas in the dreary, driving rain. Once I arrived, I checked in, and was soon called back up to the front for a consultation. My wife and I sat down with a secretary who explained the paperwork side of the procedure. She told me what my insurance would cover and how I would be billed.

After the consultation, I went back to the waiting room and waited for my name to be called. It wasn't long before a nurse came and got me to bring me back to the pre-op room. I was told to remove all jewelry and other accessories I may have in my possession before I went back there. The nurse told my parents and my wife that they would be allowed back to the pre-op room once I was prepared.

I followed the nurse into the pre-op wing where I noticed many doors, which were open. There were patients lying in beds in each pre-op room. They all had IV's and they seemed to be resting very peacefully. This calmed me down a lot, knowing that in just a few minutes, I would be resting comfortably as well.

We came to an empty room, which was just big enough to hold a hospital bed, a little bit of medical equipment and another chair for a visitor. Sitting upon the chair was a garment bag, an ink pen and a hospital gown. I was told to get undressed, put the gown on and place all my clothes in the bag. The nurse then shut the door and left. I made a mad scramble to get undressed and get the gown on and get under the covers before she came back in.

Just as I was covering up with the blanket, the door opened again and the nurse came in. She handed me the pen and told me to mark "yes" on the injured knee and mark "no" on the uninjured one. I did as I was told while she checked all of my vitals and hooked me up to the IV.

At this particular organization, they gave me a small shot to numb the area where the IV would be put into the vein. The nurse tried first to find a suitable vein in the top of my hand. All I felt was a small stick and then it went numb. However, her first attempt was unsuccessful. So we started over and she tried to find a better vein in my forearm. This time it worked and she hooked me up to the proper nutrients that I would need to keep me hydrated through the process. She also ran a smaller bag of antibiotics though the IV system at the same time.

Once I was situated, my wife and my parents were allowed to come in and visit. During this time, another nurse came in and shaved my knee, which included about six inches above and below my knee. She said she would be one of the nurses that actually helps out with the procedure. She then answered a few questions that I had about what would happen when I was knocked out.

The anesthesiologist came in to visit me as well and he explained to us how I would be put under, how I would wake up and what not to do once I got home until the anesthesia fully wore off. He said he would first inject a medicine into the IV system that would really relax me and get me ready for the next step. Then I would be hit with some stronger medicine that would completely knock me out. Once I was situated in the operating room, he would then deaden the main nerve that runs down my leg, so that I would be in no pain whatsoever. Then he told me that once I had recovered and left the surgery center, I would have about two to three hours to get home, get situated and get my pain pills in me before the nerve began to get its feeling back. He also told me not to eat anything until I felt it was ok to do so, but even then wait another 30 minutes to an hour. He said that if I ate anything right away, it would make me sick.

The anesthesiologist was a really great guy with a good sense of humor. He answered every question I had and was very helpful. He said he would be standing right there with me the whole time during the procedure as well. He also said that the anesthesia completely knocks me out. This meant that I would not even dream while I was asleep. So basically, once the medicine was injected into my IV, I would go under and then it would only feel like a few seconds to me and I would be in the recovery room.

Dr. Donegan arrived and he came into my room and visited my family and I right before surgery. He told me that his office had arranged my brace to be delivered and that it was not our responsibility to get one. We were nervous about it because one of the nurses had told us that most offices require the patient to get their own brace, but some do take care of that for you. But Dr. Donegan's office had it all under control.

Dr. Donegan did a simple run down again of what he would be doing. He also explained that when I get home, I just needed to relax, but get started on my exercises as soon as I felt ready. He made sure that I was calm and collected before he left the room to go get ready. He was only gone for a few minutes though, and then the anesthesiologist came in and said, "I think we are ready." He pulled out a needle and inserted it into the IV and told me that this would relax me. All I know is the stuff did the trick because the last thing I remember is seeing him stick the needle into the IV. Then I felt my eyes roll back and all was peaceful.

Check out Part III - Surgery for more of the story.

Part I - Injury and MRI

Part III - Surgery

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