Posted August 27, 2008, 3:19 pm

Removed.

The surgery was a success. Yesterday morning I was admitted to Enloe Hospital to have the hardware removed from my left knee. I went into the OR around one o’clock and was released by six in the evening.

This being my last (please, oh please) bout of knee surgery, I opted to remain conscious during the operation. So instead of being administered a general anesthetic that would put me to sleep, I was given spinal anesthesia that completely numbed and paralyzed me from the waste down. The main nurse in the OR thought my reactions to the anesthesia and my desire to witness my operation was entertaining, but for me it was a really strange and interesting experience. I actually found the paralysis to be more fascinating than the surgery, and tried my best to explore it while I could.

The process of removing my legs began by rolling me onto my left. A small shot of local anesthetic numbed an area about six inches above my hips and allowed them to surreptitiously insert a much larger needle between my vertebrae and into my spinal cord. The anesthetic that was then injected is heavier than the cerebral spinal fluid into which it was injected, and so by having me lay on my left side it affected the nerves leading to and from my left side the most.

The effect I felt was a light pressure on my lower back, as if someone was pressing their hand against me somewhat firmly. Almost immediately after the toes on my left foot began to tingle with pins and needles as if they had gone to sleep. This sensation started spreading simultaneously up from my toes and down from my hip. Motor control for my left leg was gone before I knew it, and I could barely feel them moving my leg into position, aside from a light pins and needle sensation that remained for a few moments longer at the tip of my toes.

My right leg lasted a short while longer before becoming disconnected from my brain. I asked the anesthesiologist to explain what was happening to the nerves in my back and he explained that as the transmission between nerve cells in my back was blocked, I was losing feeling, motor control, and finally temperature sensations.

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