Stock up on Wet Wipes or similar (something antimicrobial) because you won't be able to shower or bath for several days, perhaps even a week, after surgery. Guys will think this is easy because we go camping for weeks at a time without showering, but trust me this is completely different. Combat soldiers take wet wipes into the field for when they're stuck in a hole for weeks at a time. (By the way, they're also a really handy thing to bring on your bike rides--especially on tours where you need to use public restrooms and port-o-potties. Just bring a travel size pack and stick it in your jersey pocket or pack).
Get a haircut immediately before. Women I imagine need to add to this list of pre-surgical grooming. You'll be glad you did it.
Load up the fridge and pantry before surgery. Only my idiomatic experience, but I found that the medicine I was taking (Endocet which contains oxyconton of Rush Limbaugh fame, made from opium) after surgery made everything taste pretty dull, so I wanted strong tasting foods--extra strong coffee, spicy food, pickles, cheese. Make sure you have Tabasco and mustard. Next surgery, I'm getting Indian food for sure.
If you don't have a particular chair--like a sofa or recliner--which you can literally be on, with your leg raised, all day, every day, for a week or two, and you can afford it, then this is the time to buy it. Whenever you're not doing physical therapy, you're going to be in that seat, watching TV, drugged up, falling asleep, eating, et cetera. You might even sleep there as it may be more confortable than your bed, or you might not even be able to get to your bed in the beginning.
Bring something to entertain yourself while you wait for surgery, such as a book, an iPod with a movie download in it, or a laptop and a DVD. It could be several boring hours before you're actually heading into surgery. Don't count on having good wifi or cellular data service; try to have the media in hand.
Wear or bring a big pair of pants--such as sweatpants or warmup pants. Most likely the dressing and brace will be too big for you to get anything else on. Even if you brought shorts, you would have to get them on over the dressing and brace first. I had a dressing, a brace, and refrigerated thingamajigg that keeps my knee cold. My Carhartts wouldn't fit over it all, so I was glad I brought some semi-stretchy pajama pants as well because otherwise I would have been going home bottomless or in some kind of skirt.
Pig Out the day before: Let me clarify, as I did with a friend who is an anethesiologist: When they say you can't eat or drink anything after midnight the day before, they mean the night before. They do not mean you have to go an entire day without eating or drinking anything. So for most people this should be as easy as skipping breakfast. You will not piss and crap like a dead person on the operating table. I went to an all-you-can-eat Sunday brunch buffet the day before just after speaking to my doctor friend, and I think I redefined all-you-can-eat. I also ate normal meals the day before, and snacked on crackers and peanut butter just before midnight.
I was allowed to make phone calls on my cell phone, but out of respect to the other patients I would recommend you don't.
Don't worry about anything. Trust your surgeon and the nurses. They know what they're doing--and you don't. Relax. Whatever your problems in life are, there's nothing you can do about them right then. On the other hand, if whining about your problems gives you some kind of relief, go right ahead--just don't transfer your worries to the other patients.
Have someone pick you up afterwards. I actually think they wouldn't release me if I didn't have my brother come to take me home. But do your friends and family a favor by not having them come with you before the surgery and waiting for you the whole time. You're going to be unconscious pretty much the entire time, and when you're not they wont be allowed in the room with you anyway. Having them waiting is just some sentimental silliness. It's surgery, not your funeral.
After surgery, that same person who picked you up will need to go get your medicine from the drug store--which you're going to need desperately within the next few hours. In my case, it had to be a drug store which accepted No Fault insurance, and it was some distance away. You might want to have a nice thank you gift at the ready for this person. In my case, I gave my brother a bottle of Hitachino Nest White Ale, which is the best beer in the world in my opinion.
If you don't have someone who is going to be home with you 24/7 after the surgery, think about various services you might need--like having your laundry picked up washed and returned to you, having your groceries delivered, or ideally have all your meals prepared and delivered to you. Figure you're not going to be able to do anything yourself for at least the first week, and appreciate it when you can.
Overall, it's like preparing for a sporting event--like a bike tour. You prepare everything you're going to need ahead of time, on the morning of the big event you just arrive and relax until the start, and then you pace yourself through it. You don't head in unprepared, or psych yourself up for an hour before the event begins only to crash and burn later. Being a patient is an endurance event.
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