(post surgery photos in today's journal!)
Aaahhh... Home sweet home.
I am back home after four days in the hospital. Five, actually, if you count the evening I arrived.
It really wasn't TOO bad, the staff was super nice, everyone was helpful, and I am SO happy with the surgery. The results are amazing, and they're not even recovered.
I still have a LOT of post surgery fluid retention in my body. The ”Deep Purple” issue (read yesterday's journal) is still present, but not as bad as it was, but more water is retaining in my legs. They're all wobbly and gooey - kind of like jello, just like when I weighed about 50 kgs more. How depressing! Actually, not really depressing, as I know what the reason is. It's simply my body reacting to the surgery – it's perfectly normal and something that most likely will disappear by itself. If it doesn't, they're able to drain it.
I wonder if I can do anything to help it disappear? If it's simply liquid, would I be able to flush it out the same way as when sodium retains water? Would I be able to flush it simply by drinking water? I haven't had too much water the last week, being in the hospital, having the catheter and all really didn't promote drinking gallons of water daily. I will start on that again today though.
Not much sleep for me last night. I went to bed around 9 PM, woke up at midnight. I'm not comfortable in my bed, even if we have a nice big wedge I can have under my upper body, and pillows under my knees. Not comfortable at all. I had a hard time with this in the hospital too.
It's now 2 AM and I still haven't slept more. I will try again after I am done writing my journal. It's a good thing I'm not going to work.
I have a good reclining chair, I will see if I can get comfortable in it. The only really bad thing about that is that I want my feet elevated, and the chair - though it does a good job at this - is not lifting my feet quite high enough, I think. We'll have to see what happens, I guess.
In one week I will have stitches removed. I am excited to get to that point as my next goal.
Until then, I basically have to take it easy and take it slow, and just focus on recovery. No sudden (or dumb) moves, plenty of relaxation, take some iron tablets along with an occasional laxative if my body doesn't ”respond right”, and a little bit of pain killers if I need them.
I forgot to take them last night. I guess I didn't need them, huh? :) That's a great sign.
So, how does it all look?
Well, I took pictures before I left for the surgery, to have some very recent ”before”-photos, and I took pictures just last night, when I took a shower. I think the result is VERY obvious and looks awesome, and you still have to factor in that my belly is super swollen and bloated, and that I am weirdly shaped from wearing a supporting belt around my entire stomach for days.
I have to wear the belt for quite a while, by the way, probably several months. I hope it won't be too much of a hot summer in Denmark.
Anyways, here are the photos. I think you can clearly see what is before and what is after, but I'll make it clear anyways.
Before:
After (well, duh):
So, what do you guys think? I am still baffled how good it looks. Sure, it's no Brad Pitt, but it's a whole lot better than what I had.
I have still not felt ANY real pain from the actual surgery. I feel some pains from the bloating, but that is really all, and I feel pain from my back being a little strained from the belt. But the actual cut is pain free. I know, it's because they cut the nerves, but it's such a weird feeling to NOT feel anything. It's good though, to not feel pain. I had expected this to be a much rougher ride than it turned out to be.
So, today is Friday. Nothing at all to do. I am of course not at work today, I will simply stay home and heal. I'm glad wife is out of work early, so she can entertain me. I gotta find out what I can do to entertain myself. I know we need to do a little bit of shopping, and since the stores are only ten minutes walk from here, I might ask Wife if I can join her, just to get out.
I can't play the bass, which is what I really want to. I feel too tired (from the blood loss) to really watch movies for a longer period of time, and surfing online gets old kinda fast. I'll probably spend a little extra time here on FatSecret. I'll probably check back for comments a little more often, and probably read some extra journals, get some inspiration and see if I can help anywhere.
Today I am thankful for:
- sleeping in my own bed, at least a few hours. Sometimes we forget the little things. :)
- spending the evening yesterday in my normal surroundings, with Wife and Kitty.
- Morning with Wife coming up soon. I think this is what I have missed the most. We'll change a few things around do accommodate me, but overall it will be the same old thing, just like I like it.
- The look of my new stomach. I love it already. I have never – NEVER – looked like this. BIG smile!
Happy Friday! Life is good! Heck yeah!
