Six weeks finally!

Yay I've finally hit the six week mark!  That means that I have gotten past the main phase of healing, the rest of the healing is the slow part, it can take 6m to a year after surgery to stop swelling and see the final result.  

After a few days of not wearing my scar strips the hypersensitivity is gone.  I am only wearing the strips at night now and I haven't had any issues, which is great because I don't know what I would have done if the hypersensitivity had continued.

I had an appointment with my surgeon the end of last week (just after 5 weeks post-op) which went really well.  He said everything looked good and was healing well.  He took some more pictures and said he would take more at my 6m appointment and that by then the swelling above my scar should be gone and my tummy would be completely flat. Woo-hoo!  He also told me I don't need my binder unless I want it anymore...thank goodness because it was driving me nuts!  And I'm allowed to start exercising.  He said I can do whatever I want but to start out slow and listen to my body.

So, Friday I went jogging.  It felt so good to get out and move!  The jog went well, we went a total of about 2miles and I jogged maybe a total of one, trying not to push myself too hard.  Since the jog went so well, Saturday I decided to try one of my easiest videos, and do the "modified" version, so no impact.  Although the video itself went well I could tell by the end of the day that I'd done too much, I swelled so much it actually hurt!  After having Sunday off I went jogging again Monday and again it went really well and I felt fine, so Tuesday I tried a different easy video without impact.  On Tuesday again I swelled big time... Ouch.  So today I decided to see if it was the videos making me swell or doing exercise two days in a row... So I went jogging this morning.  Guess what?  I am so swollen right now. Owwwwwww....  I guess this means that at least temporarily I will jog every-other day and that's it until my body gets used to it again and I can do more.  

Other than the swelling I feel great, hungry, but great.  I am having such a hard time with food.  I don't want to be one of those people who gets a tummy tuck then gains 15lb!!  So far I've been lucky and I only weigh 2lb more than I did the day of surgery, and I'm not sure how much of that is swelling.  But I really need to stop eating so much, I'm constantly starving and I'm craving sugar and caffeine... I think my issue may be that I'm running tired.  With three young kids I'm not exactly getting tons of rest during the day, naps and such.  Maybe sleeping more will help me eat less. I've started each day with the plan to eat healthy and count my calories, and I'm not even talking counting low calories!  I've given myself 200 extra calories above what I normally eat and I just can't stick to it... I think most days I'm eating upwards of 3000 calories!!!  Eep!!  I will, I MUST take control!  I will not gain weight!!

So on to picture updates!  This is from this morning, six weeks-

Sorry they're awkward, I had to do my own photos since my husband had to be at work early.

For comparison this is four weeks post-op vs today-

Wanna see what I mean by swelling??  This is last night vs this morning, HUGE difference!

Four weeks and hypersensitivity.

The past weeks has gone really well.  I've been feeling good and have been able to be more active.  I've cleaned the house and made dinner myself and have even done some exercising.  

Now, the exercising is still really light but I feel better doing it.  I've been trying to "walk" 30 minutes a day on my elliptical, plus I've been using my 5lb weight to do a few moves for my shoulders, biceps and triceps, and doing squats and lunges.  I definitely feel a bit more flabby not being able to do my usual workout but this is a step in the right direction.

I've realized I'm still moving more slowly than I'm used to and get tired much faster.  Before surgery my morning would be get kids dressed and fed, pick up the kitchen, do my daily housecleaning, workout (45min-1hour), and shower... Usually I'd be done with all of this around 10 or 11.  With my new slowness I have a hard time finishing all of this by 12 and half the time I don't get the walk in until the afternoon (if at all)!  At least I'm trying and moving!  I feel pretty good to be doing things for myself.

Sleeping has been getting better, I really enjoy sleeping in my own bed.  Especially with the binder on I've found that moving in my sleep can be difficult, I wake up just to roll to my side and adjust.  That, and getting out of bed reminds me of when I was really big and pregnant because of how I move, lol.  

So last night since I was four weeks post-op I decided to sleep without the binder on.  At first it felt strange and even cold, but after I relaxed a bit I was much more comfortable than I have been.  I am looking forward to wearing my binder less as time goes on, except for one thing, SWELLING.  I have been taking the binder off for 2-3 hours in the evenings after the kids are in bed and I'm mostly sitting reading or watching tv and my waist will gain 1-2 inches in that time! I definitely feel that my swelling is less than it was.  Before this week I bulged out a bit above my scar and even in the mornings my waist was about 31inches (before surgery it was 29) and would grow as the day went on even with the help of the binder so by the end of the day I could be up to 35 inches in the waist!! But the past few days I've been at 29-30 inches in the morning and no more than 32 in the evenings... So definite improvement!

I mentioned hypersensitivity in my blog title here, and it was awful!!  As I've mentioned before I've been having some pretty bad itching along my scar (specifically along the front right side), but Tuesday morning about 30 minutes or so after I put on my new set of silicone scar strips that area started BURNING like I was being attacked by fire ants!!  Any time I moved or something touched that area it brought tears to my eyes, it hurt that bad.  Tylenol did absolutely nothing for it and by the time the kids were in bed I broke down and took a Percocet, which only helped in the sense that I was too loopy and nauseated to care that I hurt, it didn't get rid of the pain.  When it wasn't gone Wednesday morning I called my doctor.  His response... Take off the silicone scar strips!  I had no signs of infection or anything else other than pain, so he feels that I need to wear the strips less.  I have been wearing them nearly 24/7 because the box says to wear them at least 12 hours a day, so more must be better, right?  Apparently WRONG!  He said some people can be a bit sensitive to the scar strips and wearing them for too long causes itching, irritation, and hypersensitivity.  So he has me going two days without any scar strips on and then I can only wear them at night.  Although I feel a bit disappointed because I can see how much the strips have helped my scar already and I want that to continue, but the strips have been off 24 hours s far and already the pain is almost completely gone, my scar is just a little irritated.  

Wanna see some pictures??  I feel so much more confident in my body, I can't wait for clothes shopping!!

This is a close up of my scar, the lower red spot is where my drain came out-

The bumpiness along the top is really just the texture differences with my stretch marks.  There was no way the doctor could completely remove all of my stretch marks, they were all the way up to my ribs... Now they're just above my belly button!  And I honestly don't care about getting rid of my stretch marks, they're reminders of my pregnancies and deliveries.

And here's my four week tummy shot!

Sooo much better!

Wow, three weeks post-op!!

It's hard to believe its been three weeks already...although I do have moments when I could swear its been at least four weeks!  

A lot has changed in the past week.  First, I honestly think all of the coughing I did last week helped with my soreness in my abdominal muscles.  After a while the coughs didn't hurt so much and now even though I'm only coughing occasionally my tummy is only a little sore, mostly right in the middle just below my ribs.  As I have been working on my posture I can definitely feel that the doctor repaired my diastasis recti (split in my abdominal muscles) because I have a hard ridge going straight down the middle of my stomach I did not have before!  That's another thing... I'm finally standing completely upright! Woot-woot!!  And without tons of effort too.  I do find that as the day goes on I tend to slouch a bit, but that's me getting tired and lazy, as long as I focus on my posture I'm straight as can be.  With this lovely posture comes another great thing... My tummy actually is starting to look small!  I'm starting to really see where my end point is going to be and I'm absolutely floored by how amazing it is.  My waist feels tiny to me, which is funny because of swelling my "natural waist" measurement is still bigger than before surgery (although around the belly button even with swelling I'm smaller), I can't wait for that "final" look!

I've been having strange skin sensitivity this past week.  It's never really in the same place for long which makes me think that it's at least in part nerve re-growth.  I had about three days where every movement I made irritated my right areola incredibly...that was horrible!  Otherwise the irritation has moved to different areas around my tummy incision.

I'm also really loving the silicone scar strips.  It says right on the box that results will be seen "as soon as four weeks".... Well it's only been a week and I'm seeing some awesome results!  Before my scar was pretty bumpy and now it's almost completely smooth.  It's also starting to fade from a deep red to a lighter red.  Sorry, I don't have any up close pictures... I'll try to take some soon.  I've also completely stopped all medication other than my arnica Montana (for swelling).  I've never likes taking medicine anyway.

Most days I seem to have a lot of energy in the morning and as the day goes on I start to get really tired much quicker.  But my doctor said to walk and also to start working back into my old routine.  So, this week I've been doing my regular daily housecleaning... Nothing heavy, but Friday is my usual vacuuming day, I'm not completely sure I'll be able to do that!  It has felt nice to be up more and getting the house back to the way I like it.  I also had my husband unfold my elliptical machine.  I haven't used the machine in almost two years, the electricity on it only sporadically works so I can't usually change the resistance.  But I currently don't want the resistance I just want to go for a walk without going outside (seriously at 6am it's over 90 degrees out, I'm not going out there!!), so no extra resistance is fine.  So I went for a nice leisurely thirty minute walk yesterday, it felt really good to move. Now today on the other hand I have been exhausted, I suppose the energy and push I've had the past few days has caught up with me, I can barely keep my eyes open today, I didn't go for a walk, I pretty much sat on my butt all day.

Finally some updated pictures!!  Here I am-

So much better, right?  And just for comparison here is a side by side of am vs pm (sorry I took the pm myself so it's a bit closer) so you can see the swelling.

I'm looking forward to the rest of my recovery, I really can't wait until I'm able to start going back to a more intense exercise routine!

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!