I arrived at Columbia Presbyterian at 7AM on March 14th. After being admitted I was told to wait to be brought to x-ray. Eventually someone came, led me to x-ray, films were taken, and I was brought to the pre-op area. A couple nurses and doctors came in and thoroughly went through my medical history, making sure no surprises were waiting for them in the OR.

I was then moved to another holding area closer to the OR. I met the anesthesiology team who asked me lots of questions about how I react to anesthesia, and how my family reacts to it. Afterwards, my surgeon and his team came in, he put his initials on my bad leg (NY state law), and walked us through the surgery one last time.

At 8:45AM my parents were asked to leave. A doctor inserted an IV, and I was told I’d be waiting until the they were ready for me. About 45 minutes later, I was finally wheeled into the huge OR. It was the most impressive OR I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen quite a few. I was given oxygen, and they began positioning me on the table. Apparently, my height caused some logistical issues, but eventually they worked things out. I was told that they were ready to go and that was the last thing I remember.

The first hour of being unconscious was spent padding, positioning, and preparing the leg for surgery. Next, the lower leg was opened up, muscles were disconnected, and using a saw, an 8″ section of fibula was removed. It was thinned down and prepared to be inserted into the hip.
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Had my 2 week follow-up appointment with my surgeon in Englewood, NJ. A set of x-rays were taken, which were unremarkable. Next the 59 staples in my leg were removed and replaced by steri-strips. It feels great to have them out.

Finally, my doctor came in and did a quick assessment of the incisions and of the leg. He said other than the pink area at the top of the hip incision, things looked great. He gave me a new antibiotic prescription, and after a 5-minute conversation about narcotic addictions, wrote me another prescription for Percocet. I see him again in 6 weeks.

Sorry it has taken me a few days to update you all on my surgery. I’ve been a bit out of it.

I was in the OR for 11.5 hours, I know, really long time. The docs said things went very well.

They cut out about 8″ of fibula, thinned it down a little, cleared the dead bone and arthritis from the hip, drilled a hole in the hip, inserted the fibula, and connected the blood vessels microvascularly. Yea, pretty intense.

The immediate recovery of the surgery was a little rough, I was in tons of pain, but thankfully don’t remember much. Since getting moved to a room, the pain has been manageable, except for yesterday afternoon. I’m still on a lot of morphine.

I ran a fever all yesterday, but since this morning its been a-okay. I’ve had a little bad luck with roommates, but I moved this afternoon and this new one seems good.

I’m taking my time with physical therapy and with getting off the morphine. I’m trying not to rush thing like I did the first time. I stood up out of bed for the first time this afternoon.

I’ll update you all again soon. Thanks for the emails and phone calls!

I’m leaving for NYC in 15 minutes. My mother and I are driving in and staying at a family friend’s condo in Manhattan. My father will drive in tomorrow morning.

This past week my stomach has been in a giant knot. It seems no matter how relaxed I pretend to be, it is a true tell of how nervous I actually am. My parents are naturally even more nervous than me.

I have to show up at the hospital at 7:30AM. After I’m admitted, I need to get a set of x-rays. Then it’s surgery time.

This could be it. This could be the last surgery I ever have on my hip.