istytehcrawk

My surgery lasted six hours because I developed a leak before they closed me up. Surgery was on a Thursday (Feb. 15, 2018) and I went home on that Saturday (Feb. 17). I had five incisions, plus a JP drain, which I went home with. I also had some sort of allergic reaction to the hospital's no-slip socks, which apparently runs in the family. 

Notable: So far, I have not had any nausea/vomiting. Sometimes I get air bubbles in my chest after taking a drink, no matter how small; usually they just feel weird, but sometimes can be painful. Attempted to drink from a water fountain three weeks post-op; that was a BAD idea because even with a tiny sip I took in way too much air, and it gave me a very painful air bubble, though it went away within a couple minutes.

Some post-surgery highlights:

• Feb. 18: bought a new mattress because my old one was so worn out it was too hard for me to get out of without help
• Feb. 22: post-op appointment; down 9.6 pounds (all weights per home scale for consistency); got drain out; started puree diet
• Feb. 23: switched from Norco to Tylenol, which helped more with the pain
• Feb. 24: slept on side for the first time
• Feb. 25: discontinued Tylenol; down 18.2 pounds
• Feb. 27: attempted to chew gum (OK per surgeon), but it gave me LOTS of air bubbles
• March 1: down 25.4 pounds; drove for first time since surgery
• March 4: was able to bend enough to get tennis shoes and socks on
• March 5: slept on stomach for the first time; scabs started to fall off incisions
• March 6: down 30 pounds; had hiccups for extended periods three times over the day
• March 8: started soft foods; tested (steep) steps up to my office at work (success); down 31.4 pounds