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Friday, May 20, 2016

So this is 50 post surgery week 1

Sleep like you have never slept before.... 


So for the last few years I have been a bit of an insomniac averaging about 4 hours of sleep a night. I was a bit amazed that I slept the first few days away (approximately a 3- 4 hours afternoon nap and 6-8 hours at night, this was with use of minimal pain meds). 

I took one of the prescription pain meds wednesday night but after that switched to motrin. I made sure I did the breathing exercise and took a walk everyday (Thursday it was walking around the Sam's Club and Kroger, Friday I did around a mile in my neighborhood, Saturday was yard sales and errands with the hubby and Sunday (Mother's day) my daughter and I went for mani pedi's and strolled around the West Cobb Avenues). I will admit that not being able to do anything around the house makes me a bit bored. I have slept, played various computer games, and read Proust.

Imagine my surprise at seeing the Wienermobile at my local grocery store.  Gosh what happens when I am working during the day.



Almost a year after the garbage truck ran into the house down the street from us it was bulldozed in the middle of the night. We thought it was going to sit empty forever, now we get to wait and see how long till they clean up the debris.

A few pointers:
  • When you have surgery they pump you full of air that needs to then be released from your body. Wednesday evening was a bit painful - between air release and the meds to prevent constipation I spent most of the evening after my nap in the bathroom and my abdomen was still very tender.
  • There is a post surgical rash aka contact allergic dermatitis (CAD) to adhesive glue. This rash can last for a few weeks even after a single episode of contact with the allergen and can spread to areas which had no contact with the glue. This is known as Disseminated CAD. (I have had minimal itching however the rash is spread all over the front side of my body from chest to thighs.)
  • I have four surgical sites in my abdomen with the one over my belly button showing signs of the most trauma aka bruising.
  • I did not see the caution reports about weighing yourself after surgery until after I had done so, and I was a bit shocked to see how much my weight was affected by the IV fluids I was given.  However, the fluids were quickly released and I was back to pre-surgery weight in a few days.
  • I am not allowed to exercise, lift anything over 20 lbs or in anyway strain the core however, based on my reading and understanding of the future physical effects of a complete hysterectomy indicate that exercise is extremely important and especially building the core muscles. I do think the US could take some pointers from other countries that provide physical therapy after childbirth and hysterectomies.  I will be looking into exercises I can do while recovering.
  • My hubby took the week off and even spent the night in the hospital with me. I have not had much hospital experience and while the hospital staff was super, it was really nice having him there during the night. He made sure that I followed the doctor's orders and made sure I did not over exert myself. I am the type who is more likely to hurt myself by over doing after surgery thinking I am fine and that I can do anything. I can not tell you how many times I have been told not to vacuum for at least 6 weeks possibly longer.



     

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