Update: 6/29/2015Frames are off after one year and 4 days!The day has finally come. My frames are off and I instantly feel a whole lot better. My legs feel a bit light and loose after moving without that weight on them that was present for so long.
Now I have these nifty walking braces to wear for the remainder of consoliation.
When I arrived at the hospital at 4:30am I waited for a half hour before the receptionist arrived. She took my info and signature and had me fill out a questionnaire for the anesthesiologist. When the nurse called me in, I was taken to a scale that can fit wheelchairs on it. She weighed me before taking me over to the bed and weighing my wheelchair so she could subtract the difference and find out my weight.
[As of April 2014 when I was last weighed, I was 99 kg or 218 lbs. I found out today that with the frames on I weighed 80.1 kg or 176.5 lbs. A lot of it is muscle loss but it's also fat loss as I've been eating a lot healthier and cut out all the flour and artificial sugars from my diet. Should make it easier for walking around.]
I changed into my patient cap and gown and then my mom was brought in to wait with me while I was attached to an IV and heart monitor. My orthopedist showed up not long after and explained that the procedure would take about an hour, answered some of her other questions, and said because of my muscle tightness I'll need many months of physical therapy to ensure I get a very positive outcome. I also met with the anesthesiologist and my surgeon's assistant, who were both very friendly and answered questions. There was another guy that came out to take me to the OR and once I was inside and transferred to the operating table I had the oxygen mask put on and was out like a light.
I woke up to a very attractive nurse named Stacey greeting me. She fed me a spoonful of ice and cranberry juice to help alleviate the dry mouth I had upon awakening. We made small talk for a while and an Indian nurse stopped to join our conversation once she heard me say I was in Mumbai, as that is where she is from.
When I looked at my legs I could see that the frames were off, but only one of them had a walking brace on it. My surgeon's assistant Roger came out after the nurse called him to ask about that and he explained that for the only size that fit my tibia (medium), they only had a single walking brace there. He made a call and after I left the hospital I went to the building I usually go to for appointments and was fitted with the left one. Before I left the hospital a nurse asked if I wanted the visiting priest there to bless me and I declined. the nurse got mad and said "You do realize that it's because of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that you're here on this Earth, right?" and my mom joined in on voicing her disapproval. I ended up running into the priest later when another nurse named Honey escorted me to the parking lot and she asked him to bless her. He touched her head and did a blessing and then said it extends to me also.
I'm not allowed to be near my cat until these holes close up. The skin is wrapped in bandages and I'm taking antibiotics again because some pus was present in a few of the holes when the pins were removed. I've been given a narcotic called Norco for pain relief to be taken as necessary.
Planned to take my frames home but because there are so many parts it was taking hours to sterilize. I'm going to pick them up tomorrow.