December 9th-The Big Day.

Well, I have an official surgery date. After more than a decade of pain, PT, waiting, and seeing doctors, I finally have a date for my surgery! December 9th, 2010, I will be having surgery to repair my torn labrum, among other things. (See graphic below for explanation). I have never had surgery before, so I am a little scared. Anxious, rather. The prospect of feeling better and finally getting it done is exciting, but I am also nervous. So I guess anxious is the better word.

I found out yesterday. I called Orthopedic Associates and spoke to Dr. Huffard's assistant. Her name is Kara and she is super nice. She said the insurance company approved everything fully (OMG yay! Thanks, university benefits!). We scheduled the procedure sooner rather than later for two reasons: 1. I want to feel better soon, and 2. its the slower time at work now, so being out won't be too detrimental to the office. We landed on December 9th, a Thursday. I have a pre-op appointment December 1st, where we go over all the nitty-gritty details but what I know is the following:

-The procedure takes about 2 hours
-I will be in a brace for approximately 2 weeks
-85-90% success rate
-Lots of post-op and PT will happen after
-I'll be out of work for 3 weeks. Merry Christmas to me!

The first week will be tough I am sure, but then I am sure the pain will lessen and the boredom will increase. I am certain to go stir crazy. It will probably be a while before I can drive, so Ethan, my gracious and loving boyfriend/life-partner/care-taker/everything-person will become my driver and probably also my nurse. :) While being waited on hand-and-foot is every girl's dream (he does this already, without being asked; I'm such a princess at home!) its going to drive me bonkers to not be self-sufficient.

For the next few weeks at work I am squaring everything away in preparation to be gone for 3 weeks. Thankfully, we have 2 amazing work study students, Nina and Molly who are going to cover the front office. They are on break those weeks, so they can be here a lot. I have some catching up and cleaning up to do, but I should be ready! Thank God I work with such awesomely flexible people! its going to be odd being away for that long. I might actually miss it.

Ethan is going to take that Thursday and Friday off, and probably Monday, but then, I'll be on my own, mostly. His family is around, and I am sure they will come and help me. Also, I have some amazing friends, who I know will visit (hinthint). ;)

After the pre-op, I'll get back to you with all the further details. And you can count on daily updates after the procedure, as I will clearly have nothing else to do! Who knows, maybe there will be silly, drug-addled posts. And, coming soon: VIDEO BLOGGING. You'll see instead of just read. Those are bound be entertaining, at the very least.

xoxo

-MK