I'm officically post-op

Well, the 1st was my surgery... I feel as though I've been hit by a truck!

I was at Northside until yesterday morning, and it was impossible to rest there! Between constant nurse/tech visits and the overall noise level of the place, I hardly slept at all. I had thought I would sleep more at home.... wrong! My eight month old son has made sure I stay on my toes.

I'm finding head hunger to be a mild issue, and feel a lot of **discomfort** but very little real pain. Although, I did a lap around my neighborhood last night, and afterward I thought I was going to die :)

Anyhoo... I hope all of you other recent operatees are doing well also ;)

Congrats & Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Congrats.  Just take it slow and steady and don't push yourself to much.

Congratulations and welcome to the loser's bench.  Please take care of yourself and get some rest.  I'm with Paul on this one----take it easy and don't push too much right now.  After all, you have just had major surgery.

It's going to take a few minutes but I hope you will feel a little better each day. 

It's been really hard for me to take it easy... I have an infant who crawls and loves to destroy, and while my mom is by my side, she isn't as keen on stopping the destruction as am I....

So I've been picking him up way too often, and when she has trouble feeding him I've been doing it. And I haven't been able to nap since I got home from the hospital because no one else knows how to quiet him... and I'm exhausted. I'm in a ton of pain, and weak and run down, and hoping this gets better so I can live my life :(

In the hopsital I was full of energy and walking constantly, and I felt little pain, and I felt as though I was invincible... and now? I feel weak as a kitten and depressed at how much it hurts just to hold my son!

Sorry to compain- my family doesn't really get it, so I have no outlet for whining here......

I felt better in the hospital than when I got home too. I can't imagine trying to take care of a baby while recovering. It's great that you have your Mom to help, but it sounds like you still are not getting the much need rest that you have got to have to heal. My first three days home I slept and napped off and on and got up and walked around to keep the circulation going. It wasn't until maybe day 5 or 6 that I was staying up more and getting back into the swing of things. Please be careful and don't overdo. This could greatly slow your recovery time. Wishing you the best in your recovery and I hope that things get better for you.

We have the same surgeon and are only 2 weeks apart! Hopefully, you don't mind if I ask you a couple things. Did you go home with a drain? When is your first follow-up? How long did you stay at Northside? Did anyone stay with you and if so, was there anywhere for them to sleep? Anything you can share with me about what to expect?

No problem- I'd be happy to answer your questions :)

I did not go home with a drain, nor did I have one in the hospital. My first in-person follow-up isn't for another 2 weeks, though we had a phone follow-up after one week. I was only at Northside from Wednesday morning until Friday morning.

During my stay I had my cousin with me 24 hours a day; they would not allow my son to stay, so my mother brought him to see me each day. There was a terrible fold out chair for my cousin- tell whoever might stay with you to bring a twin blow-up mattress to make it a little better.

I woke up in recovery and sat up couldn't sleep for the noise and bustle; and then once I was in a room there were hourly vital checks, as well as visits from nurses and respiratory and techs.... I didn't sleep more than 3-4 hours at a time the whole time i was there.

I was up and walking within an hour of being in my room; and walked as much as possible, mostly due to the boredom!!! There was free wi-fi there, but little else to do. I found myself cleaning my room a few times a day, as it was so small and easily cluttered.

I asked for ice chips the moment I woke after surgery- I found myself so dehydrated. and I sipped water a full day before I was really supposed to... Dr. C was really kind to me, and pretty much encouraged me to do whatever I wanted as long as it didn't hurt!

Anything else you want to know? :)

Thank you so much Valarie! Congratulations on your surgery and the incredible progress you've made.. I truly hope my recovery is as unremarkable as yours. You made incredible strides so quickly and I only hope that I can follow in your footsteps. Thanks for everything again...