Modified Brostrom Recovery Blog – The Procedure

I showed up at the surgery center and was greeted with the normal check in procedures.  The staff were top notch – professional, able, and most encouraging: human.  The nurses explained everything that was going to happen.  I signed the target ankle with a magic marker then the surgeon came in and also signed it.   Then they photographed it…no chance for mistake there.

The surgeon spent some time talking to me about the procedure.  First, they go in with a camera to get the lay of the land.  They fill the ankle with liquid to give the camera room to maneuver.  After looking around, he would make the call whether it would be possible to re-attach my existing ligaments or whether he would need a metal brace to hold the joint together.  The only downside of the brace is that it’s a foreign object in your body.

They wheeled me into the operating room and started the anesthesia. I was told it would burn a bit going in but I couldn’t tell you. I was out before I knew what hit me.

Woke up with a start about 2 hours later.  I was having some crazy dream that I can’t remember.  I tried to get out of bed right when I woke up but they quickly set me right.  The surgeon came by to brief me.  The ligaments were gone and he ended up using the brace.   I was groggy, but much more lucid than I expected.  After some short instructions on crutches and medication, the packed me up and my wife drove me home.  Meds are a steady stream of regular Tylenol, Naproxen (prescription dose of Aleve) aspirin and some of the hard stuff (OcyCodone) to be used as-needed.

All in all, pretty uneventful and much easier than expected.  I was pretty nervous going in but the experience was much easier than a lot dental experiences.