One Month Post-Op Update

 

Sorry to go radio silent after I was officially on medical leave. What a whirlwind adventure this surgery turned out to be! So, I figured it was about time I post about my surgery and the early days.

Pre-op

We knew the morning of my surgery was going to be crazy and that it was. My hubby got me checked in to pre-op just in time to turn right around and head back home to get our oldest to school. Then he had a morning appointment, got our youngest daughter to a lab appointment (she’d had her infusion two days prior), and then picked up the oldest kiddo before heading back up to the hospital to see me.

They got me all set to go, brought me back to the holding room while they finished cleaning the surgery room I was going to go into. I answered 101 questions, took some meds, and got to go for a chilly ride down the hallway to a wonderful nap that awaited me at the end!

Before I knew it, it was lights out for this mama!

Post-op

I survived! Nah, I wasn’t worried at all. I guess I had a little troubles regulating my breathing while asleep as I was coming out of anesthetic. Ooops! Nothing a little bit of time on the c-pap machine couldn’t cure. But once I was fully awake, I was doing really well.

I had to wait for the anesthetic to fully wear off, then I was off to the races – walking back and forth to the bathroom, up and down the hallway. Yeah, I was not fast, but I was moving and that’s all that mattered. I also go to order some dinner – sugar free jello and chicken broth! It actually went down well and since my pain was pretty well controlled I’d say my time in-patient went pretty smoothly.

Back Home

I got released the morning after surgery and was so ready to be home! I had a roommate in my hospital room for the first time ever – which is saying something since I’ve had at least six surgeries! Let’s just say that quiet was not the name of the game in my hospital room the one night I had to stay.

Once I got home I got to see the full extent of my incisions…

Can I just say that the one on my right, the indented one, hurt like a bitch?!? It is actually still the only incision that gives me any trouble still one month later. But we’ll get to that.

They sealed my incisions with durabond surgical glue. Well, much like when I had my hysterectomy, I ended up having an allergic reaction to the stupid glue. I was MISERABLE for about a solid week because I itched so badly, but also had to try not to actually scratch my incisions (easier said than done when you’re drugged up enough to sleep at night).

You can see how much the welts grew as time passed. It was far less than fun, and I was already on all of the antihistamines that I could take, and was trying anti-itch lotion, to no avail. It was my chiropractor who told me to try witch hazel to soothe the incisions and then add hydrocortisone cream on top. Thank God it actually worked!!!!

By my 2-week post-op appointment I was starting to get a handle on the itching, but I was still hurting a lot because all of the scratching just spread my bruising more. I was a hot mess! So, I was granted another week and a half of healing time before having to return to work.

It wasn’t until I was around 3 weeks post-op that I actually started to feel more human. I also made a cross-country trip to Kentucky with my oldest for her national archery tournament. Instead of making the trip down and back in 4.5 days, I had to stretch our voyage out to 6 days to give us more time to get out and stretch, and also more sleep time because I still exhausted easily!

We even got to see a lantern event at the Louisville Zoo! On the way home, as promised, we stopped in Chicago to get a pic with The Bean. She shot great in the tournament and I was really impressed with how my body kept up with all of the extra movement.

One Month Post-op

And here I am… one month post-op, down 22+ pounds and 19 total inches across my body (chest, ribs, waist, belly, hips, thigh, arm, calf). I’ve gone from bustin’ out of a size 20 (the largest size I’ve ever worn) to being able to button my size 14 jeans (but my tummy is still too tender to actually wear them).

I had a nice surprise in the dressing room last week where I tried on the size I thought would fit and they were far too big. YAY Of course, then they didn’t have the next size down for me to try so I left emptyhanded. Oh well.

I’ve hit bit of a stall for the past week and a half, and have only lost 2.6 pounds since the first of May, but since I’m still healing I’m not overly surprised. I’ll keep doing what I need to be doing and focus on how clothes fit and how I feel until that darn scale starts going downhill again.

On to month two!!