Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Post Op Day 7

It’s hard to believe it’s been a week since I had my surgery. Sometimes it feels like it was only yesterday, while other times it seems like it was so long ago. I had my first post-op appointment today with Dr. G and Catherine the NP. They assured me that everything looked great and was healing nicely. It was nice to have some re-assurance - I’ve been trying to follow the rules, but I sometimes get nervous that I’ve messed something up.

For the most part, my pain has been completely under control. Monday was the worst so far – in addition to the additional pain I was extremely tired and grouchy. Thankfully, I was able to sleep most of the day. Dr Goldstein was very encouraging, reminding me it would get better. I’ve still been taking 800mg ibuprofen every 8 hours and sometimes a Percocet at bedtime. I’ve been walking about every 90 minutes for 20minutes at a time; it feels so much better than sitting! When I’m not walking I rotate ice and heat which keeps most of the pain at bay. Sometimes I put ice on and decide it’s not working and switch to the heat pack. Today I took a Percocet before my appointment in preparation for the pain that was sure to come with the exam, but between the car ride and the Percocet I ended up nauseated and decided I’d prefer not to do that again.

While I was at the office I walked a few thank you cards over to the nurses at the hospital to show my appreciation for taking such good care of me. I typically work at well known teaching hospitals and was a bit nervous about going to a smaller hospital. They did an excellent job, and I just wanted them to know.

Since I haven’t been using the pain medication regularly, I didn’t need the miralax for help with bowel movements. I found that making fresh apple or grape juice works better anyway. I’m still trying to have fruit and Greek yogurt smoothies daily in addition to taking a fiber supplement twice a day. So far it seems to be working well.

The itching from my stitches has been getting worse. I don’t feel it as much with the heat or ice on. Dr Goldstein’s team gave me a prescription for Vistaril if I need it, but I am fairly sensitive to medication so I think I’ll try Benadryl first. The last time I took a single Benadryl I slept for 19 hours and woke up very groggy.

We will be in San Diego for almost another week before we go home for a month to our families. I really wanted to have a handle on my pain before staying with our parents because I don’t like to show pain or emotions to anyone other than my husband. I’m trying my best to enjoy my recovery per Dr. G’s guidelines, but sometimes it’s hard. I like to spend my time being active, but hiking, biking, running (when I can convince myself to do it) swimming and chilling in the hot tub are all off limits during recovery. I enjoy making cards, painting and scrapbooking, but can only sit comfortably for so long. I really can’t sit up right for more than 30 minutes without pain which makes things difficult. It’ll take some adjustment, but I’ll figure out exactly how to enjoy it. For now the things I look forward to are the quiet walks with my husband in the beautiful San Diego weather and watching movies each night together. Here’s to another week of progress and healing!

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