Post-Op

Well....yesterday went well.   Surgery went a little longer than expected because I had a lot of scar tissue that he decided to remove.  He said that the scar tissue could have been what was causing my sharp pains in my chest.  When I got home yesterday I was basically a zombie.  I could hardly stay awake let alone type.  Any messages I did try to type took me forever and had lots of misspellings.  This morning though I am doing much better in regard to my alertness and although I am not taking any pain meds the pain is pretty tolerable.
The only thing that concerns me right now are how my breasts are looking.  I know that I only just had surgery yesterday, but when I saw them today I seriously almost freaked out and held back the tears.  They just look awful.  If I could post a pic I would.  James took a look however when he got home and said he feels like the things I am concerned about are all swelling related and will improve as the days and weeks go by.  I also sent my surgeon a text asking about it and he called me and wanted me to take pics to send him, which I did.  He also said that my concerns are all due to swelling and not to worry.  Just massage the areas and swelling will go down and I will see improvement.  I guess I just had this unrealistic expectation that I would see them and they would look perfect...I guess I shouldn't expect that after just getting sliced open and having tons of swelling.

I can not drive for 2 weeks....so that stinks.  I have to rely on everyone else to get me things and take me places which of course is frustrating but I have to follow directions.  My parents and James have been a great help.   The kids too.   James is cooking dinner right now as I type, and Isaiah has helped with laundry too.  Gonna be a very long year though of me not lifting anything.  ugh...

During my naps today I kept having dreams that I was at Kroger and even though I wasn't working there I kept feeling like I had to help them stock bags and stuff.  So I was lifting all this heavy stuff knowing I shouldn't and then feeling bad about risking ruining this surgery too....then in my dream I was worried James would find out and get mad at me.  Obviously I am secretly worried about my ability to stick to not lifting heavy things.  Being a Mom I just automatically want to do everything....it will be hard to not.  Anyway...so that is the latest update for now.  I will write another update in a week or so.

Tomorrow!!

Today I get to eat breakfast and lunch...and that's it.  After 11:30am it is only clear liquids...blah!   Gotta be at the hospital tomorrow morning at 6am which is way earlier than I would like but at least I will be coming home earlier too....thinking positive right?  lol

James will be working from home tomorrow to take care of me...Friday though he is back to work.  At least the kids have an early release day from school so they can help out once they get home.  I think I will be fine though....it will hurt...but it's nothing I am not used to.   I feel like I am a pro at having surgical procedures down now...lol....this is the 5th one in 2 1/2 years!!   YIKES!  

Hanging out at Frog Island

Counting Down

Only 22 more days until surgery.  I feel like at this point I am just trying to get as much done around the house as I can before I am unable to do anything for a very long time.  I plan on painting Evelyn’s dresser, a couple rooms, and then doing lots of touch up painting around the house as well.  With all the up and down movement my arm will be doing with a roller I know that is something that needs to be accomplished now instead of later.  This whole situation makes me wish I had a laundry shoot.  How nice would it be if I could just throw things down and have them land in a basket right in the laundry room?  That would be amazing.  They should really build those into more homes again.  

I have been experiencing pain still in my breasts but it all depends on what I did that day and how heavy of an item I lifted.  I notice it mostly when I work at the library after I lift heavier boxes of books and stuff.  I am so thankful that my Mom and James will be helping me out when it comes to volunteering at the library until I am back to normal.  I know most people would just say to stop doing the library all together for awhile but really I don’t want to lose the position I have there.  If I stop, someone else has to take over, and I don’t want that to happen.

I am doing really great still in regards to eating right and maintaining my weight.  I have been using the My Fitness Pal app to keep me where I need to be (no more than 45 grams of fat per day) and I am back to exercising again too.  Of course that will be short lived when I have surgery...it will just be walking for awhile after that…..or maybe bike riding.  I am having more smoothies and trying to actually cook more items instead of eating things that are easily microwaved.  James has been really helpful about helping to monitor me when he is home.  If he sees me going to grab a snack he will question if I should really be having it or not.  It keeps me in check which is SO helpful.  Everyone needs someone to hold them accountable.  

I think the hardest thing for me to deal with will be NOT doing all the regular everyday chores that I am used to.  Vacuuming, laundry, grocery shopping….even scrubbing hard to clean dishes.  All of these things require using some chest muscles and I won’t be allowed to do that.  Hopefully I won’t be restricted from driving for too long!  That would be really bad.  lol