Recovery Phase 1
So I wake up and it's now around 5 in the afternoon. I'd been on the operating table for 7 hours. 7 hours! There is this nurse hovering over me asking me about pain. First my throat is killing me because of the breathing tube they use during surgery and I feel like my entire body is throbbing. She keeps trying to talk to me and I know what I want to say but I keep babbling. What the hell? They keep showing me pictures to help me describe the pain and it's really not describeable. I feel slightly surreal and am trying really hard to get acclimated to being out of anesthesia.
Finally, I feel more normal and get wheeled back to my room and my Mom and hubby are waiting for me. That's when I realize that both my hands are swollen beyond belief. This was my reaction to the anesthesia. Later it would be compounded by the fact that my IV was not going into my vein but instead under my skin which is truly a pain that I don't wish on anybody. Morphine directly under your skin instead of into your vein is not fun.
By 8 the night, I was out of bed and walking. It was not easy because my entire upper body was bandaged and I couldn't use my hands for leverage which later led to my nearly peeing myself in bed because I'd been calling for a nurse for an hour to help me out of bed and no-one came. Fortunately, I was able to get someone to take out my IV which allowed me to get out of bed and hobble over to the commode so that I could pee throughout the night. By morning, my nurse returned and put an IV in the crook of my left arm because that was the only place she could find a vein because I was so swollen. Then my new nurse came who told me to do a lot of deep breathing so that I could clear the anesthesia out my lungs. I kept doing this and my hands slowly began to look a little better. But I could barely feed myself that Thursday. By dinner time I had some use of my hands and within a week all the swelling had gone away. Now I just have the residual tingling and nerve irritation. Hopefully that will go away.
My surgeons' nurse comes and she takes off all the bandages and I get to see myself. Where did my boobs go? The shelf is all gone...instead I seem to have these bee stings....these aren't a D...they look more like a B to me...Lord, he made me too small....I'm used to having twins...this is not good. Okay, Sue, calm down...he's a renowed surgeon....everything will be fine. The skin is extremely tight and swollen but she swears that everything is wonderful. I'll reserve my comments till later. But she puts on new dressings, wraps me back up and my discharge papers arrive. Yipee!
Thursday afternoon, I was thrilled to be out of the hospital and I got in the car and merrily went home. We pick up my Meds which is most important. Percocet heaven, here I come. My Mom came over and gave me a bath as best as she could since i could wet my bandages. It was quite a chore moving around and getting in and out of bed. This went on for a few days and I couldn't believe that I could be in so much pain and agony.
Now it was not the breast reduction that was causing me the pain...instead it was the areas where he'd performed liposuction especially underneath the breast area and close to my ribs....I just felt like I'd been hit by a mac truck. I figured as the days went by I'd feel better and better. It took me almost 2 1/2 weeks before I began to feel remotely close to anything close to my former self. This was after I'd had to be drained of fluid (i'll spare you all the details of this lovely experience) and engaged in lymphatic drainage massage (which sounds hokey but really does work). Sometimes after surgery lymphatic fluid builds up an doesn’t drain itself quickly enough….what happens is the areas where the fluid collects hardens and this is not fun…so they stretch the skin very gently – it feels like you are being gently rubbed and then the fluid begins to release and you pee it all out. If I hadn’t experienced it for myself, I’d have sworn somebody was trying to sell me some swampland.
So I’m back at work and very tired today because I made the mistake of taking Excedrin last night which has caffeine so I was totally wired and so did not sleep well and so by the time it was time for me to get up, I was ready for a nap. Hopefully, I can keep the faith until I leave work tonight.
I'll probably make another entry in a few weeks when I have new insights into this whole thing.
Finally, I feel more normal and get wheeled back to my room and my Mom and hubby are waiting for me. That's when I realize that both my hands are swollen beyond belief. This was my reaction to the anesthesia. Later it would be compounded by the fact that my IV was not going into my vein but instead under my skin which is truly a pain that I don't wish on anybody. Morphine directly under your skin instead of into your vein is not fun.
By 8 the night, I was out of bed and walking. It was not easy because my entire upper body was bandaged and I couldn't use my hands for leverage which later led to my nearly peeing myself in bed because I'd been calling for a nurse for an hour to help me out of bed and no-one came. Fortunately, I was able to get someone to take out my IV which allowed me to get out of bed and hobble over to the commode so that I could pee throughout the night. By morning, my nurse returned and put an IV in the crook of my left arm because that was the only place she could find a vein because I was so swollen. Then my new nurse came who told me to do a lot of deep breathing so that I could clear the anesthesia out my lungs. I kept doing this and my hands slowly began to look a little better. But I could barely feed myself that Thursday. By dinner time I had some use of my hands and within a week all the swelling had gone away. Now I just have the residual tingling and nerve irritation. Hopefully that will go away.
My surgeons' nurse comes and she takes off all the bandages and I get to see myself. Where did my boobs go? The shelf is all gone...instead I seem to have these bee stings....these aren't a D...they look more like a B to me...Lord, he made me too small....I'm used to having twins...this is not good. Okay, Sue, calm down...he's a renowed surgeon....everything will be fine. The skin is extremely tight and swollen but she swears that everything is wonderful. I'll reserve my comments till later. But she puts on new dressings, wraps me back up and my discharge papers arrive. Yipee!
Thursday afternoon, I was thrilled to be out of the hospital and I got in the car and merrily went home. We pick up my Meds which is most important. Percocet heaven, here I come. My Mom came over and gave me a bath as best as she could since i could wet my bandages. It was quite a chore moving around and getting in and out of bed. This went on for a few days and I couldn't believe that I could be in so much pain and agony.
Now it was not the breast reduction that was causing me the pain...instead it was the areas where he'd performed liposuction especially underneath the breast area and close to my ribs....I just felt like I'd been hit by a mac truck. I figured as the days went by I'd feel better and better. It took me almost 2 1/2 weeks before I began to feel remotely close to anything close to my former self. This was after I'd had to be drained of fluid (i'll spare you all the details of this lovely experience) and engaged in lymphatic drainage massage (which sounds hokey but really does work). Sometimes after surgery lymphatic fluid builds up an doesn’t drain itself quickly enough….what happens is the areas where the fluid collects hardens and this is not fun…so they stretch the skin very gently – it feels like you are being gently rubbed and then the fluid begins to release and you pee it all out. If I hadn’t experienced it for myself, I’d have sworn somebody was trying to sell me some swampland.
So I’m back at work and very tired today because I made the mistake of taking Excedrin last night which has caffeine so I was totally wired and so did not sleep well and so by the time it was time for me to get up, I was ready for a nap. Hopefully, I can keep the faith until I leave work tonight.
I'll probably make another entry in a few weeks when I have new insights into this whole thing.
posted by SueMorrWill at 10:04 AM
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