ACL Reconstruction Surgery Day

Prior to ACL reconstruction surgery, what do you have to prepare? I had to use an antiseptic soap the night before and on the morning of the surgery. This soap was supposed to kill bacteria and prevent infection.

At SGH, after being done with all the pre-admission procedures, I was asked to change into the hospital gown and wheeled up into the waiting area. Many rounds of the same questions was asked, some of which included if there are any jewelry on me, any loose teeth, any crowning etc. I guess it’s a matter of being extra safe than sorry in the event of an emergency.

I was put onto a hospital bed and wheeled into a waiting area just adjacent to the Operating Theatre (OT). After the operation admin work was done and a plug was inserted into my left hand vein, I was wheeled into the OT. I was then transferred onto a much smaller and thinner operating bed, which in my guess was to facilitate the surgery.

The anesthetists then took over and tried to put me at ease by talking to me. We talked about the world cup, and at the same time, he started injecting huge amounts of liquid into my IV drip. They then put an oxygen mask over my face and asked me to take a deep breath. I remember trying to reply a question but I was out in no time.

I woke up two and a half hours later in the recovery room after the ACL reconstruction surgery (two hours is an estimate because I overheard the time was 4pm, and my surgery started approximately 130pm after the delays). Immediately, I felt an immense pain in my right leg. On a scale of 1 to 10, the pain was about 8. I couldn’t move my right leg as it was in a brace, but I could feel all the different parts of my knee in pain. I even tried to take a look at my knee but was simply too drowsy to lift up the blanket.

Woke up to my leg in a brace

After they ensured I was sufficiently awake, I was wheeled to the ward at 450pm. By then the pain was consuming me, but I was just glad to sleep. Sleep was drifting in and out of consciousness, due to the pulsating pain that came from my knee.

I was also very nauseous from the anesthesia and had only a few mouthful of plain porridge. I was offered a jab for the nausea but decided against it.

For the rest of the day after my ACL reconstruction surgery, I was still very drowsy and was drifting in and out of sleep. The worse part was really just the pain from my knee. My knee had to be in a specific position to allow me to sleep without the pain, and the worse part is having to find that position because there’s no one fixed position.

My ACL Surgery wound

Having to PEE

Apparently, after a surgery, the nurses will ensure that you urinate, just to ensure that the anesthesia did not affect your bodily system. I tried to do it twice, but I couldn’t do it lying down. So on the third try, I decided to stand up to do it, and the pain in the leg was just intense. So if I still couldn’t pee, the nurses would make the doctor give me some medication and attach a catheter to make sure I urinate.

Over the course of the night I had to pee twice due to the huge amounts of liquid consumed earlier in the night to facilitate my urinating, and just standing up to pee proved to be a very painful experience.

Pain Scale: 8/10

Mobility: 0.5/10