Tales of a long-awaited ACL Reconstruction
Day 0 I am on a ward with almost entirely elderly patients. We are in a room together but separated by paper curtains to provide a thinly veiled sense of privacy, but we can all hear each other answering the nurse's questions and speaking with our surgeons. Most of these women are old vets at this: Antoinette's here for her second hip replacement, Cathy has had two partial knee replacements, and here I am trying to keep my cool by stretching my legs out one last time and pacing my paper-walled corner of the room. Just overheard one of the ladies tell the nurse that during her last operation she was looked after by a "rotund black lady whose hands I may have broken from all the squeezing". I seriously hope the hospital staff don't lump us all together. So far, I've spoken to a nurse who practically giggled when I confessed about my body jewellery that we would have to tape up before I go into theatre. Then the surgeon came in to explain the procedure, gain sign...