It hasn’t been easy to be able to sit down and write a new blog post because I’d taken a slight turn for the worst. However, I’m happy to report that things are much better today.
My first post-op appointment went okay. I mean, it was interesting in that I was very happy with how things looked, but I was starting to feel a bit more pain than I had in the first few days after surgery, which I found to be odd, as did the medical staff. They did seem to note that everyone is different, and I realized this more so afterward that I am much older than their typical clientele, plus, I do have an autoimmune disorder. I also have a higher tolerance to pain medication.
What really sucked was, unfortunately, my pain got even worse after that appointment. It was the next day that we drove back home from San Francisco–an eight-hour drive. I can’t tell you how uncomfortable that was. By the time I went to bed that night, I broke down crying. The pain was awful, and the following two days were just as bad.
Today is day eleven. I am finally feeling better. I was even able to take a real shower this morning and clean up my scar a bit. It’s one scar, by the way, not two. It goes all the way across my chest, passing through behind both armpits. It’s a long fucking scar. I have to sleep on my back for a month, so the fact that the incision stops at those spots on my back, it’s been hurting to lay on them. Not to gross people out, but I had drain leads coming out of those spots for the first six days. Once they were removed, those were open wounds. Those areas are still very sensitive.
Most people feel better after those drains come out. Typically, pain happens in the first few days after surgery and then people go off their pain medication, then they feel free and glorious when the drains come out. This has not been the case with me. Maybe it was because of that drive. I don’t know, but I got worse before I started to get better. Today is the first day I have only taken one pain pill. I am switching to Ibprophen today. My mood is also a little better today. The pain had been putting me in one hell of a shitty-ass mood.
My next post-op appointment is virtual, and it’s on the 6th. The surgeon will evaluate my new photographs and let me know if things look okay. Right now there are only a couple of places where things feel extra painful. I’m hoping it will go away in the next couple of days.
So that is my check-in for today. Hope everyone is having a good Easter bunny day.
