It’s Friday after my TT on Tuesday. Drain update: I believe I mentioned that both drains would need to be putting out <40ml/24 hours for them to be ready to remove. . The right drain (which is collecting fluid from the horizontal incision) seems to be done, with less than 1ml of output in 24 hours. The left drain (which goes all the way up the vertical incision) is still going strong but I’m hopeful it will be done in time to get them out by Monday. I mean, they’re better than NOT having them, experiencing massive fluid buildup, and getting an infection. Or having to have a loosely stapled incision that allows for seeping drainage wherever it wants to go. Been there, done that with a GI resection. No thank you.
When I’m not measuring drain output, I’m continuing to ice 15 on/ 15 off, and making sure to ambulate on the off minutes. Plus, I’m having to work on eating enough to support healing. Everything is just so tight that I get full very quickly. All of this keeps me quite busy. When I do sit down to chill (and ice), I’m still working through my binge of Nine Perfect Strangers.
Why am I switching my tense from past to present in this post? I don’t know. Go with it.
My Norco intake has dropped to over 12 hours between doses (remember, I started with it at every 6 hours). The last one I took was at 11pm, and as of this recollection, it’s 11am and I don’t think I’ll even need one until bedtime.
Before I embarked on this journey, I spoke with a few friends who have had abdominoplasty. They all had horror stories about the pain, inability to straighten up for months, needing lots of pain meds. Maybe it’s because of my overall fitness and strength from CrossFit (though the friends I spoke to about this are also CrossFitters). Maybe my previous, much more involved abdominal (GI) surgeries informed my expectations. But this surgery recovery is really not horrible. I’m sure the Exparel (the long-acting local anesthetic) has also made a difference.
That afternoon (I seem to have returned to past tense now), I had my first post-op sneeze. Really, it was two and a half sneezes. Ow ow ow. I definitely iced after that.
Friday night was not great. I sweated through my clothes and binder, and had major chills. Like violent chills. My first thought was, “Uh oh. Fever” But no. I just got sweaty, and then cold from being damp. Aside from that waking me up, I slept for about 11 hours. Maybe I overdid it the day before.
Along the way, I think I snagged my left drain tube on a cabinet handle or something. It started to bleed/drain from the insertion point more than the little bits of ooze I’d been seeing. Enough that it soaked the gauze and my underwear (on the side). It wasn’t panic-scary, but it was definitely enough to lead me to call the doc and leave a message with the answering service. He called back immediately. I described what was going on my and my guess that perhaps it was bleeding more because of the irritation plus the blood thinner injections. He tentatively agreed with my assessment, but asked me to text him a photo. Once I did, he replied, “Not shocking,” and told me I could stop the injections. Yay!
I sneezed again and this time it burned like hell. I do believe the Exparel had worn off at that point.
Having finished Nine Perfect Strangers, I moved on to Girls5Eva (on Netflix). I’m so glad I waited a few days before watching, or I might have literally busted my gut open from laughing.
Aaaaannnnd….. the itching started. It got itichier and itchier as time went on. Healing is weird.