ACL Replacement, Finally

The day started off with a 5:30 am wake up call (my alarm) and a 6:15 am check-in at the University of Washington Medical Center. The facilities/reception area resembled a new remodeled hotel lobby: clean lines, lots of natural light, open space, and modern furniture.

My surgery was scheduled for 7:20 am. Once I got the call, a tech took me into my 'room', an 8x8 space with a bed and this cool vacuum looking machine called the Bair Hugger. I find out later that it pumps out hot air to keep patients warm.

The next 45 minutes, I met the entire medical team starting with my anesthesiologist, who was a cool cat. Dr. Peter Buckley, a 60-year old+ rugby player with a British accent, and I commiserated about rugby and the reality of aging, mostly laughs. He administered my IV and asked the perfunctory questions: "What's your name? Date of birth? Which knee is getting operated on? When the last time you ate? Health problems?"

I then met the rest of the team, Dr. Buckley's resident with medical student in tow, 3 other murses, my surgeon, Dr. Trey Green, and his assistant (a young orthopedic surgeon, Addison, who also plays flag football at Memorial Stadium). Kind of funny there's a real surgeon at this Seattle hospital called Addison ...

Where was my tending Addison Sheppard from Grey's Anatomy? I prefer this spicy, redhead to the whiny, banal Meredith Grey.

Around 7:20 am, it was time to "get it on!"

Surrounded by my entourage of blue scrubs, I was a rockster rolling at breakneck speed through a series of halls and swinging doors . It was like being in an episode of ER or Grey's where I AM the first person view. Very surreal.

The next thing I know, I bust into this frigid cold operating room that could have been made for a mad scientist. There were a gazillion lamps of all shapes and sizes with tons of medical equipment and supplies on the perimeter of the room. Within a minute of digesting all of the activity (I saw the surgical team as a group of Santa's elite elves on Christmas Eve busily working in the background), I was O-U-T.

Black out. Don't remember a thing.

In the next 2 hours, Dr. Green & Co. do their thing and I wake up back in my 8x8. All in all, it was a smooth operation with very little discomfort. I think the most pain I felt was when Dr. Buckley stuck the IV in the vein on my left wrist. The whole team made me feel comfortable at every stage in the process (nice people), were extremely efficient, and in my view, the medical center deserves to be voted one of America's Top Hospitals, as rated by U.S. News & World Report 2005. Also, props to the UW Sports Medicine Clinic for all of the pre-op work and the forthcoming post-op and rehabilitation.

My resident anesthesiologist was nice enough to take a picture of the operation. The new and improved knee!