I had to travel into a different province (Alberta) in order to have this surgery by one of the only surgeons in North America qualified to do this procedure. I left on the Greyhound bus at 11:50 PM, slept the entire way on the bus and arrived at Banff Mineral Springs Hospital at 8:30 AM. The hospital is a very small, almost boutique-like place. Very quiet, bright and everyone is lovely. My nurse, Ken, is very kind and even though my IV catheter was tricky to place, he has tons of patience. My room is a two-bed ground level room with a gorgeous view of biking/hiking trails. Each bed has their own hilarious TV, and there's free wifi as well. I checked in and was given a "Management of Post Surgical Pain" booklet that was put together by Dr Hiemstra's clinic, Banff Sports Medicine Group. We went over all my paperwork and everything was correct and complete. I had to gown up and scrub my operative leg (Left) from mid-thigh to the bottom of my foot with a hibitane scrub for 5 minutes, and then mark my leg with a YES.
Now I'm just watching Love It Or List It while I wait. I am going into surgery around 12:30 or so. So a couple hours to kill still.
Dr Hiemstra just came in and had a quick chat. She's such a wonderful individual. So kind and genuine. She has one patient before me, who has also crazy lax patellas, so it will be a couple hours before I go in. She asked me about my right knee that's been giving me trouble and said she needs to do the left one first as she isn't sure exactly how it will do, and only wants to do surgery once on each knee, so the left one will teach her how to deal with it. I have never felt so comfortable with a surgeon before, even though I am nervous for the outcome.
Don't Forget What Makes You Strong
. Jingles for a smooth recovery.
