At 10am the next morning I was taken to the operating theatre. The surgery lasted 2 hours. My shattered knee cap was fixed with 3 pins and an arrangement of surgical wire around its circumferance to hold the displaced fragments together. The wound was closed using 24 metal staples and my leg was immobilised in a velcro splint to allow time for the swelling to go down. I was dosed up with painkillers and prescribed a course of 4 antibiotic shots to keep away any potential infection in the wound. Also, due to my mother's medical history, it was decided that I was at high risk of developing a DVT and I was given an anticoagulant shot to try to prevent this. I was told that I should be able to leave the hospital the following day, once the antibiotics course was complete. The orthopedic specialist came to see me and told me that the trauma team had been divide over whether or not the damage was too much to try to repair, but that the surgeon had felt it was worth a try. They appeared to be very pleased with the results and he was very complimentary to the surgeon for managing to repair the mess inside my knee.
The next morning, my leg was put in a full cast, from just above my ankle right up to the top of my thigh. Some more Xrays were taken and I was able to see my "before" and "after" images to see for myself what the fuss was about. A physio therapist came to see me to show me how to walk on crutches, partial weight bearing on my injured leg. Crutches forward, bad leg, good leg, crutches forward, bad leg, good leg ...
My case notes and Xrays were forwarded to the hospital in my home town, a supply of painkillers provided and at 4pm I was discharged. Unable to fit my immobilised leg into our own car, my aunt and uncle travelled to collect me and I was propped up with pillows and duvets on their back seat to commence the four hour journey home.
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