Latarjet Surgery Day!


 March 15th, 2018

After getting some hours of not so restful sleep, we turned up at the clinic at around 07:00 AM to check-in. I was walked to my station and room and handed over the surgery clothes. I was told to be ready by 10:00 AM just in case surgery could already start earlier. They offered to give me a pill which would help me to relax and I thankfully took it at around 09:20 after changing into surgery clothes.
Pro Tip: Always, always, always change into surgery clothes before taking that pill! I once didn’t and guess what? When they came to take me to surgery I was still in my normal clothes and couldn’t care less to get changed because I was so relaxed and didn’t understand why everyone else seemed to have a problem with my clothes.
The "I don't give a *****" pill

At around 10:20 I was picked up and brought to the pre-surgery area to get me ready for anesthesia. After hooking me up to an IV bag, they started to place a nerve catheter in my neck to be able to directly inject a nerve blocker into the arm. I was told that this usually helps a lot to keep the pain low, so I decided to go for it. Getting the catheter was a bit uncomfortable but nothing out of the ordinary. Once the catheter was ready, they injected the nerve block and I could feel my arm getting numb and I was not able to move it anymore. The block usually lasts between 6-8 hours.
A few more minutes later I was transferred to the surgery room, got an oxygen mask, was instructed to take a couple of deep breaths and the next thing I remember is waking up in another room after the procedure. Anesthesia has different effects on each body. I was not feeling sick or dizzy, but it felt like I had been put into a freezer. I was shaking because I was so cold. The nurse gave me more blankets and after a few minutes I felt normal again. At around 2:30 PM I was brought back to my room and my girlfriend was allowed to see me. I was not in pain (thanks to the nerve blocker) but I still spent most of the afternoon napping.
One of the few moments when I was not napping

My surgeon stopped by in the late afternoon and told me that everything went fine and according to plan. The surgery took a little under 60 minutes, which was due to him having to clean up a few things from my previous surgeries. According to him surgery for patients with no previous surgeries usually even go faster. He also showed me a post-surgery x-ray where you can spot the coracoid bone graft fixated by the two screws.






The nurses told me to ring for help as soon as I had to go to the toilet so that they were able to monitor my condition. That was a great advice because I nearly blacked out the first time I got out of bed after the surgery. However, the nurse helped me to stay on my feet and brought me to bed safely.

After watching a movie in the evening, I tried to sleep which was almost impossible. Not so much because of the pain (they gave me another nerve blocker shot for the night) but simply because I was not very comfortable and felt constant pressure from the surgical drain which they had put into the wound to remove blood. In hindsight I should have taken the sleeping pills that they offered!   

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