One week post-LBL

My musings at one-week post-op:

1.  Less than 20ml drainage from each of the 6 drains - hoping this means most or all get pulled on Friday at my first post-op visit.  My first post-op was delayed a bit as we live 3 hours away from my doctor. 

2.  Got a sinus thing going on with post-nasal drip that causes unexpected coughing.  The first time it happened I thought I was being murdered!  Certain the neighbors did too.  I have a very high pain threshold and know how to brace post-op for coughing, but it's tough when you're sewed tight as a drum with a binder on.  I was certain I'd popped all my stitches and was going to bleed out.  I may have undone some of the muscle repair but there's nothing to be done for that :-(  Taking Sudafed, doing sinus rinses and have cough drops handy until this thing passes.  

3.  Guess what? I'm allergic to ******g codeine! Who the hell knew?  I kicked all the pain meds to the curb at 2 days post-op and have only used Tylenol sparingly since then.

4.   Finally got approval to sleep on my side last night.  The first OK sleep since surgery.  Still waiting for my first "good" night of sleep.  

5.  Have had a BM every day since surgery.  Thank goodness I didn't have to deal with THAT problem. 

6.  I couldn't help myself - I got on the scale.  At one week post-op I'm down 9 lbs.  I find that to be amazing, frankly.  Even with the 7 lbs. of skin/fat removal I expected my weight to be the same or higher due to inflammation/swelling.  

7.  Eating healthy is so much easier when there's no "bad" foods in your house...and you can't drive 

Way to go, Happy to hear you're mending well.

I, too, ended up with a bit of a cold after surgery and the coughing and sneezing were brutal. If you can gargle warm sal****er, it will help your throat. I used Buckley's lozenges and found them to be the best.  I plugged my nose if I felt a sneeze coming and it helped sometimes.

Side sleeping rocks!!! Also, although the drains can be a nuisance they help reduce swelling so don't be upset if you have to keep one or two.  Annoying with the binder, true, but also helpful. That said, your comfort will increase x1000 once they're gone.

Keep up the excellent recovery! 

Thanks for the gargling suggestion and your words of encouragement! 

Glad you are recovering well Tracy!  Nice to be on the other side eh?

Thank you for the update! It really helps those of us who have not experienced a LBL. I hope things improve quickly for you. Feel better and keep us updated.

So happy to hear from you Tracy!!! Glad you are recovering well...can't wait to see some photos!

Take care, my friend!