Having never had an operation before I've had absolutely no clue all week if I was progressing in the right way or not. As I mentioned last week, striking the right balance with pushing myself has proved to be particularly tricky and as such more often than not I've tried to err on the side of caution in an effort to avoid any set backs. Towards the end of last week I ventured out of the house a few of times and while it was only for a couple of hours the change of scenery and fresh air were a welcome relief: to be honest I'm going a little stir crazy at home!
My head seems to have completely cleared now and I feel like myself again - it's only my body letting me down now as I tire ridiculously quickly and I still can't recognise my torso. My abs don't hurt half as much as they did last week; I can straighten my back up pretty quickly when I walk; and I'm starting to be less dependent on my parents for the tiniest of things. However, this is a little dangerous as I keep forgetting my limitations as I'm feeling so much better, and with the paracetamol dulling any pain it's hard to recognise when I should stop or dial it back. The trips out were a lot of fun but I think I overdid it slightly as I managed to spring a leak in my incision over the weekend. It really wasn't anything to worry about but I - obviously - assumed I was dying and about to burst open like John Hurt in Alien. It took constant exasperated reassurance from my parents all weekend that it was actually okay...
(GIF SOURCED FROM www.buzzfeed.com)
In a rather lovely turn of events, my surgeon randomly rang me at 8.30pm on Friday to check how I was getting on. He caught me off guard slightly (who expects a phone call from a surgeon on a Friday evening?!) but he put my bizarre worries to rest by saying that literally everything that was concerning me was completely normal. I won't be seeing him in person till February so it's nice to know that he still seems happy with my progress thus far.
(IMAGE SOURCED FROM www.instagram.com/hannahrosefit)
I was back at the hospital today to have my dressings checked. It's more than obvious that my cripplingly self-conscious streak has gone on holiday as I had no issues stripping off in front of two nurses for them to check everything over. I thought I'd be embarrassed now I'm no longer high on morphine but clearly not! Any stress or worry I had for the last week completely left the building as apparently my incision has healed much better than they expected. One of the nurses was a trainee, and the nurse she was shadowing kept telling her not to pay much attention to my wounds as they aren't normal for a fortnight post-op! I've been convinced that I'm the most disgusting human being alive and that my belly button and the section with the leak in particular were going to be absolute disasters when the nurses looked at them, but they're the total opposite. Apparently I should have had bleeding and leaks left, right and centre under the dressings, and instead I had one tiny leak that should clear up in the next few days. What a relief!
To make matters even better, they couldn't stop complimenting my surgeon, calling him a "magician" and saying that it's incredible to watch him work in theatre. There's always an assumption that I researched him thoroughly and asked for him specifically as he's so good, but unfortunately I did no such thing and merely took the advice of the woman on the phone during my initial call for an appointment. She didn't hesitate to recommend Mr Iqbal and I couldn't be more pleased that I listened to her! I only had a chance to have a proper look at my incision when I got home, and it's amazing: it's so neat, already pretty much healed and nothing like I expected. I'm also missing 3 large incisions that I was told I'd have: it looks like my surgeon has managed to achieve the shape he said he would, but with significantly less external cuts than I was told to anticipate. I've followed (stalked) so many blogs and instagrams of people who have had the same operation I've had and I've not seen anything like this. I don't understand how it's medically possible at all, but I'm not complaining! Just when I thought I couldn't love Mr Iqbal any more he goes and exceeds all expectations!
(GIF SOURCED FROM www.buzzfeed.com)
As a result, I've been on a bit of a high since I got home from the hospital this morning, mainly because I'm so relieved! I'm still really swollen (which my compression corset will combat), but I'm now free from dressings and feeling much more confident about my recovery (even though I don't understand the mechanics of the human body and still think I could rip open if I move in slightly the wrong way...). The aim is now to take it easy and not push too much for fear of causing any damage in this immediate post-dressings era. Oh, and I've been cleared to have a shower - it feels way overdue and I am way too excited at this prospect!
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