Answers

Well, I had my last appointment with my OS before surgery. I got all my questions answered and two pieces of good news. First, I don't need an osteotomy! Second, my insurance approved the ACI after the peer-to-peer review! It's actually going to happen. I am getting more nervous, but unfortunately it is still over a month away. I just want it over with.

If you are curious, here are the answers to the questions I listed last time.

- 24/7 care really isn't needed, but it would be good to have my husband off work and around for the first week. He still asked off for two weeks since recovery is different for everyone and it would be better for him to return early than have to stay out longer than planned.

- Again, no osteotomy! The 51" long leg X-ray showed good alignment in my knee. This is very good news as an osteotomy would have increased the chance of complications, increased the pain, and put more limitations on my rehab protocol.

- As for what hardware I will need, the answer was yes, yes, and yes. I knew the CPM machine would be needed, but that was the first time we discussed the Bledsoe brace. It's huge! The ice machine will be nice since it means I will have continuous icing and not need to refreeze ice packs.

- Regarding the post-surgery meds, they have a pharmacy in the hospital so my husband can just take the scripts down there while I am still admitted. That's not so bad.

- I will have to stay in the hospital for a day or two, depending on so many things that I don't think he wanted to narrow them down.

- He used Google Scholar to print out the research for me. I have not had occasion to use that before, so I didn't think of it. I think I will be looking up some other research as well.

- I don't need to arrange for an in-home physical therapist. The hospital will take care of that. They apparently only brought it up to see if I already had someone I wanted to use.

- I can take the Ryzolt up to the day before. I plan to reduce how often I take it from twice a day to once a day for three days before so I don't stop suddenly.

- He said the drugs he was planning on giving me after surgery shouldn't interact with Rozerem or Lunesta so I should be able to take them if needed. My reasoning for thinking I might want them is because I am a light sleeper but I was really hoping to use the CPM machine at night. I am not sure if I can sleep through the motion and sound without help.

I still have some more things I need to do to get ready, but I can't help but feel like this appointment was a major milestone. The treatment is now defined and approved so there aren't any big questions remaining open.