ACL Reconstruction

Angela had her ACL Reconstruction surgery yesterday morning at 7:30. At 9:10 Dr. Shannon came out to tell me the surgery went well and that there were no surprises. He took a graft of one of her hamstrings and made a new ACL by attaching the graft into the tibia and femur with drill guides. Once the graft is pulled through the drill hole and into the knee it is in the same position as the original ACL and it is then held in place with bioabsorbale screws or metallic screws. They did a femur block to help with the pain while she was still under. I was able to go into recovery to help her get dressed for the ride home. She had no problem waking up and was not sick this time. She has on stabilizer brace over the bandage for 3 - 4 days. She is allowed to bear weight on her leg when she is comfortable during so, until then she will use her crutches. I'm going to attempt to get her to start bearing weight on it at least by Sunday. On Friday we will travel to Fort Myers to have her stitches removed and watch the video of the surgery. Dr. Shannon will set up therapy on Friday as well. Thankfully we will be able to do therapy in Clewiston!

We got home around 11:30 on Thursday and she slept most of the afternoon. Around 6:00 p.m. the block began to wear off and she started on her pain meds. By 10:00 p.m. last night she was in intense pain even with the pain meds. Finally around midnight she fell asleep and didn't wake up again until around 2:00 a.m. for more meds. She has done better today but is still taking the pain medication as needed.

Her spirits are great and she is appreciative of everyone that has visited or called. Her best friend, Cheyenne, has been right by her side since she woke up yesterday afternoon. Continue to pray that she will not be in much pain and that her recovery goes well.

Napping once we got home.

Pictures from Surgery that we were given after surgery.