Two weeks post-op and so sick :(

Well, technically yesterday was two weeks post-op but I wasn't exactly feeling like blogging the past few days.  I'm pretty sure I mentioned a few days ago that I had a little tickle in my throat and had coughed a few times.  Monday my cough got worse, not too bad but coughing 2-3 times an hour is a lot when it feels like your abs are on fire every time!  Tuesday morning I woke up and I was freezing... So it took my temperature and it was 103!!  My cough was much worse and I had no appetite and generally felt quite crappy.  After double checking my incisions for redness and heat indicating infection I called my surgeon and let him know what was happening.  He sent a prescription to the pharmacy right away for an antibiotic and cough syrup.  I was taking 1000mg of Tylenol and my fever never dropped below 102.  Finally at 4pm I ended up calling my surgeon again because my fever had spiked up to 104!!  The doctor had me come in immediately and checked my incisions and checked for seroma (pocket of fluid in the abdomen), at this point I was feeling faint if I stood up for more than a minute.  He decided that the fever was at least not related to my surgery and was some kind of chest infection, and I was reacting worse than normal because I was still healing from the surgery.  He told me to continue the antibiotics and asked me to start taking ibuprofen for the fever.  Normally I wouldn't be allowed ibuprofen for a few more weeks after surgery because of bleeding risks, but at this point reducing my fever was more important than the slight bleeding risk.  Even with the ibuprofen it took my temperature a few hours to drop below 104.  During the night I kept waking up coughing and choking on phlegm.  By Wednesday morning my temperature was a nice cool 101, and as the day went on it returned to normal.  I did have issue all morning of feeling dizzy and nauseated, and at one point the nausea and coughing collided and caused vomiting... Sooo NOT FUN.  At least by the evening I felt better other than the occasional random cough.  

Other than being sick my recovery has been going well, I haven't really needed meds for pain anymore and I'm almost standing straight.  I'm still a little hunched, but only someone who looked closely would notice.  This morning I actually felt well enough to start following my doctors suggestion (from before I got sick) to start slowly taking walks.  I only walked around the block and it felt good to be out, I probably could have gone further but especially after the past few days I didn't want to overdo it and honestly it was HOT, almost 90 degrees at 8am.  That's Arizona for you!

Here are a few progress pictures for comparison-

Before-

4 days-

Day 7-

Day 14-

First post-op appointment (12dpo)

I had my first appointment since my surgery today.  The doctor took out my drain, yay!  So glad it's gone!  That was definitely a strange feeling, it didn't hurt much.  Mostly it was a strange "squirmy" feeling under the skin of my abdomen just the exit hole hurt a bit but only for a few seconds.  

On the horrible side I seem to have caught the nasty cough my 9 year old has... No other symptoms, just phlegm and coughing.  NOT the best feeling, coughing after abdominal surgery... It.  Frickin'. HURTS!  Every time I cough.  I really hoped the doctor would give me a cough suppressant but he said that he wants me to cough and that it won't "hurt" me (in other words damage his work), but I can take mucinex (expectorant) to help loosen the phlegm so I don't cough too much.

I have been told he no longer wants me to actively try to keep myself bent, I now have to try to stand as straight as possible.  At the appointment he actually pushed my shoulders back to help me straighten and I that wasn't the most pleasant feeling.  Imagine falling into the splits just a tad too hard... Not enough to pull a muscle, but enough that it burns and hurts.  He also provided me with a binder.  Many doctors provide a binder or compression garment from the day of surgery, but my doctor feels that nothing is needed for the first week or two to allow better healing of the lymphatic system on the abdomen.  So now I get to wear the binder to help keep down swelling, but I don't have to wear it all the time, maybe 12 hours a day or so.  

Look at me all semi-upright! Lol

Sorry for the weird angle and light.

I also get to stop putting bandages on my incisions, instead I get to use silicone scar sheets.  I haven't put them on yet but they sound pretty cool, they're self adhesive and stay on for up to a week at a time!

I've also been told to start walking as much as is comfortable, which honestly won't be much until I'm more upright.  I am to slowly walk more and more, and ease back into normal activities.  No lifting, no hard exercise and of course take it slow and easy...

All About the Poop! (May be a little TMI)

This is probably a bit TMI, but for anyone out there getting this surgery...

With all of the pain meds and inability to really use your ab muscles for a while you WILL get constipated!  Start stool softeners a few days before surgery 1-2 times a day, after surgery 3 times a day.  Take a probiotic, the antibiotics you will be given mess with your system and a good probiotic helps with that, plus it generally helps with the health of your gut.  This is what I take, and I highly recommend this brand.  I've found it at Whole Foods and Walgreens so far-

Also, for a few days after surgery until things get going again I highly recommend a mild laxative like Mira-Lax once a day to help get things moving, once you start going you can probably stop taking it... Last thing you need is diarrhea!  

My final recommendation is to get yourself some flushable wet wipes.  Yeah, I know most people only use these on small children.  But, they are a big help!  You won't be able to twist your torso which means wiping your own ass will be difficult!!  Make it easier on yourself, because when you do start to go it will (hopefully) be very soft which means you're more likely to need a little extra help wiping.  Please use something flushable though, you don't need to clog your pipes!  I really recommend these-

They're found in the toddler or diaper section of the grocery store.  I really prefer these to the "adult" version found in the toilet paper section for a few reasons... First, they're cheaper!  Also, they aren't so perfum-y, and they are a little thicker so they won't fall apart on you easily.

Ok... I think I've given my allotted TMI advice for the day! ;)

One week post op, pictures, bandages

Well, I've made it one week, woo-hoo!  I cannot wit until I can stand up straight, and by them I'm sure I will not be able to wait until the swelling goes away... I want to see my tummy completely flat, fight now it still rounds out above the incision some, it's swelling of course, but still...

I'm no longer taking the Percocet, as of day 5 I have been taking Tylenol instead.  I still take the arnica Montana for swelling and bruising, I honestly wonder if its working.  I have no way of noting if my bruising or swelling is less because of the arnica, I don't have a previous surgery experience to compare this to.  So I guess I'll keep taking it, and hope its helping.

I thought I'd show a little about my bandages.  I am so proud of myself!  I managed to shower, wash my hair, even shave my legs (very awkwardly and not very well), and do my own bandages today without any help!!  Yay me!  Step one towards independence!  Now I just need to be able to stand up, bend over, reach above my head, lift things more than a few pounds, and sleep in my own bed...then maybe I'll feel somewhat like a real person again. So back to the bandages.  My doctor has me starting on day 2, shower and change my bandages every day... It sounds great but manis it tiring!  I bought all non-stick gauze and I'm glad I did, no nasty stuck bandages to deal with, they really are non-stick!  So I use three 3x8 bandages to cover my abdominal incision, one 2x3 bandage on my belly button, one 3x4 bandage on each breast, and one regular gauze square under my drain tube to catch leaks, and paper tape to stick it all to me.  I also have extra gauze squares, I use one with antibacterial soap in the shower to wash my incisions and the other after showering to pat the incision sites dry.  I keep a chair set up with a towel over it set up next to the bathroom counter so that I can sit while I put on some of the gauze and while I set myself up, etc. the towel is great after the shower to dry my butt, lol because that is still hard for me to reach.  This is my some of my setup

I put the gauze pads out with their first strip of tape on them and add the line of bacitracin that the dr says to put on my incision.  That way when I get out of the shower everything goes on quickly, so I'm less exhausted when I'm done.  I also made a little place to hang my drain

 It's a moisturizer in a drawer, the bottle is taller than the drawer so it can't close and it's at just the right hight that I can stand or sit right there without having to deal with moving around the drain or worrying about dropping it (oh, holy ouch!!).  And here's the end product!

And just for comparison sake day 2 vs day 7

Side view day 2 vs day 7

It's a bit harder to take my own picture...so I had to cover some things, lol. Sorry about the lighting differences... No I have not been out tanning!

4 days post-op

So far so good.  I'm really trying hard not to push myself and listening to my body.  I can't stand or walk for more than a few minutes before I start feeling tired and my back starts to really ache.  I know the backache is the big thing I will have to deal with until I can stand up more straight.  I am able to stand up straighter than yesterday, but I'm still very hunched over.  

Yesterday's and today's showers have both gone much better than my first shower on Friday.  I have been able to take my bandages off myself because they aren't stuck to the incisions and today I washed most of my body myself.  I have to say that scrubbing down with soap and warm water feels sooo good.  It really helps when I'm stuck in a chair and funky loose pajamas all day long to actually shower every day.  The showers are still taking a long time, between taking off bandages, washing, and then re-applying bandages today's shower took about 45 minutes... So after 2 hours Friday its getting better...but I have yet to wash my hair.  I am so glad I had it blown out straight before surgery so that I can just brush it every day instead of it turning into a giant rats nest.  Yes, I really do want to wash it, it feels gross, BUT I still can't get my hands up quite enough to wash it myself and my showers are long enough enough as it is... I will wash it soon though!

My stomach still looks great.  A little more swollen and a little bruised now, and these will get worse before they get better but that's to be expected.  I'm really happy with my chest.  I was so worried that I would come out and they would be too big or look wrong, but they don't.  I know they are still high and hard and they will fall a bit and soften in place, but they look good!  They are sore too, at first it was like when i was breastfeeding, the first night the baby sleeps through the night and I  woke  up with painful rocks for boobs.  Now they're just sore like I did 100 too many push-ups, lol. I'm just happy that  I still look like me, just better!  Here's today's tummy-

As you can see the incision looks a bit bumpy but that has more to do with the swelling than everything.  And I also still have some stretch marks.  Because my stretch marks before came all the way up to my ribs the doctor couldn't get rid of all of them, but hose fly that doesn't matter to me, I don't mind the stretch marks they show that I'm a mommy :). I just didn't need the extra skin!

As far as medication goes I have one day of antibiotics left, I am now down to one Percocet every four hours instead of two, taking my probiotics twice a day, stool softeners three times a day, and arnica Montana three times a day.  The arnica is a homeopathic remedy that helps with swelling, bruising and muscles soreness... And based off what I've read and seen of other people's experiences to this point I've either been very lucky or the arnica is really helping!  I've also resorted to taking miralax the past two days because yes,I'm constipated.  Yuck!  So far I'm not uncomfortable, which is great, but I haven't gone in 4 days and I'm getting a bit worried that its really going to hurt when I do!!

2days post op, shower and tummy pics!

So today is two days post-op... In some ways I'm feeling better, I've been able to walk around a lot more and being a little more active feels good!  I must say my butt is getting sore from sitting in my recliner all the time, I can't wait until I can get myself in and out of bed so I can sleep on my side.  The soreness in my chest is a bit better but my tummy definitely hurts more.  I tried to cut back on my pain meds early this morning and that did NOT work, I was in a lot of pain.  Of course because I'm being more active my drain is getting more fluid, but I'm okay with that, I don't want to take it out too soon I'm already swollen and taking the drain out would make it worse.  

So the shower... Next time I will do it in the morning when I'm less swollen and I feel better!  Today I waited until the afternoon because I wanted my husband to help me, I'm glad I did but I was also feeling rather icky and nauseated by the time we started taking off the bandages.  I guess I'm a wimp, just sitting Ina chair in the bathroom with my husband removing bandages was too much for me, I was worried I would pass out (although it did not hurt AT ALL).  So we ended up gently laying me on my side on the bed with the fan on high to cool me off and get me air.  It actually felt a lot better when the bandages were off and taking the ace bandage off of my chest felt wonderful, I actually sighed out loud in relief!  

My shower was pretty much me sitting in my shower while dh gently sprayed my incisions with water to get off the gauze that was stuck.  Basically I was really cold because I was all wet but the warm water was only touching one small area at a time. Then I got out and dh gently patted me dry with a towel, took a few pictures and then recovered my incisions with bacitracin and gauze.  I will not post pics of my new boobies, sorry, but they look great!  They're still swollen and hard but that will get better over the next few weeks!  My stomach also looks amazing to me, yes it is swollen and of course I'm hunched over quite a bit, but you can see from the picture where things are headed and I'm soooo happy!!

The whole "shower" experience was exhausting, and it took about an hour and a half.  But I figure since we have to do this every day from now on we'll get better at it and I might actually was with soap and even shave soon!  At the very least it'll get faster!

Although I'm not enjoying the pain and I can't wait until I can be active again I am really looking forward to the future and my results!

1st day post-op!

My mommy makeover so far has been a success.  Yesterday my mom brought me to the office at 8am, we went over paperwork with the nurse, got drawled on by my PS and discussed medications with the anesthesiologist.

After everything was ready I was brought into the OR to lay on the table where the dr started my IV.  I was really happy as I drifted off, the anesthesiologist placed an oxygen mask on my face and told me that I was practically family because the nurses daughter has the same first name as me and that meant they would do an extra good job.  The thing that left the biggest impression on me though was as I drifted off the PS held my hand tightly against his chest the whole time, it was very reassuring. 

Next thing I remember I was waking up in recovery and the doctor was there telling me that everything had gone really well.

I was pretty groggy as they wheeled me out to my husbands car and I went home.  At home I was made as comfortable as possible in the recliner with pillows and blankets.  Every time I had to get up to pee though I required the help of both my mom and husband, and by the time I would make it the 15 feet to the bathroom I was sweaty, my ears ringing heavily and I was having difficulty breathing. At least I never actually passed out, my husband would put me in a folding chair and drag it back across the room and help me into the recliner. I was also having a hard time staying awake and paying attention to anything.

At about 2 am I woke up and realized I could finally take deep breaths, my chest was very sore but manageable.  It was a great feeling, so I laid in my recliner taking deep breaths for another hour until I fell back to sleep.

In the morning I found it much easier to get out of the chair and I was able to walk to the bathroom without help and even pull my own pants down/up!  As the day has progressed I have tried to walk more and keep my muscles moving.  I'm really happy to be sore but feeling good, although I pretty much constantly feel like I'm over full and not digesting any food.  I'm really hoping the combination of fiber foods and stool softeners will prevent constipation.  I also have a drain...

Yesterday we drained 50mls and today only 25 so that's an improvement too.  I'm still very tired and having a hard time focusing...writing this has taken far longer than necessary.  Tomorrow I get to take my dressings off and shower! Yay!  I'm very interested to so what I look like without all of the bandages!