Okay, 2nd night’s “sleep” was WAY better than the first, though not great. I got in a solid four hours, but then I kept getting out of bed every two hours to walk around and try to get my GI tract moving. Having no catheter or IV was very freeing and even though I was still very uncomfortable, it was okay. I haven’t taken a narcotic pain killer since last night around 9pm. F yeah.
I’ve still had some off-and-on extreme “period cramps” type of pain all day, but it’s definitely manageable and comes and goes, it’s not always terrible. My husband had to go pick something up from Home Depot before we left Prince George, so while he stepped out I went for a walk and managed 2km in half an hour! I wasn’t trying to push it or anything, I just wanted to try moving for 30 minutes and it felt great, and the kilometres took me about 15 minutes today instead of 16-17 minutes yesterday.
At the hotel breakfast I had some Shreddies and a mandarin orange, and then I started having some good burps so I ate two more oranges and it felt good to put down some food and to expel some air. Coffee was good too. No BM today, but since I haven’t eaten much at all since Monday I am feeling okay. The gas bubbles that are trapped in what feels to be the areas both above and below my diaphragm are still there and I can hear them (and so can my husband) when I’m deep breathing. There is no pain from this but it’s not comfortable.
We decided to really, REALLY take our time getting home (it’s an 8 hour drive) and to stop for the night if needed, wherever that may be. But, we stopped for real about every hour, and I fell asleep three or four times quite deeply, and it went by pretty fast and I didn’t have any problem with coming all the way home. Most of the stops I walked around for at least five minutes. The pillow from Lisa is so amazing and I felt relatively comfortable in the truck with it cushioning my abdomen. The few bumps in the road had me bracing myself, but I didn’t have pain, it was more guarding just in case.
Once we got home, I had a shower! I mainly let the water hit my back only, and stuck my face in the water to wash, but it was nice to have a rinse. I took off the dressings to have a look at the tape bandaids, which I have been told need to stay on for one week. This is how it looks – I am in disbelief that this is the extent of the carnage on the outside LOL.
Still pretty bloated and my low back and hips are so achey, but I feel so lucky that I can walk and get dressed, etc. Also, still rocking paper manties. I think I have 2 pairs left haha.
My surgeon wants me to come back to Prince George for a follow-up appointment in early September, and in the meantime, any concerns I have will be directed to my GP. I can’t remember if I mentioned it yesterday, but no driving for two weeks, simply due to having major surgery, but she did okay me to go on a plane…so I am looking at flights to go visit my sister who recently moved to Mexico. What a good place to go walking.
Crossing fingers for 4+ hours of uninterrupted sleep tonight and for more gas bubbles to leave my body in any way possible as time goes on. Tomorrow I want to try two walks, some calf raises and some time spent standing on one leg at a time for hip strength. I’ll try some gentle stretching, too, as long as it feels safe, but if not will abort mission.
JK
JammieKomadina 