I was feeling better last night and moving around some. I was able to get more fluids down and it was a generally good day. Then, I started feeling a stitch on my left side, around the rib cage. I tried to walk it out, but the pain was too much and I needed to sit down. Then it seemed the sitting was making it worse, so I went to go lay down. By then, I thought my side was going to burst and I was crying, which didn’t help because now breathing even hurt.
My husband was shocked by the quick turn around from good to "holy cow I'm dying!" and called the clinic. They told him this is normal that it’s the gas moving up and out my body and as much as it hurts, I need to walk it out. NORMAL?! I feel a little alien is going to burst out and dance around. It’s surprising how much gas can hurt. My husband said it sounded like I was going into labor.
Today, I got dressed for the first time. I was afraid to put on a bra because I didn't want the bra to touch the incisions. Since all my bras have underwire, I was really concerned. I ended up getting a tank top and putting the bra over the tank top. It's stilly, I know...but I feel better knowing I have support between the incision and the underwire.
I still felt the stitch on my side and decided this gas needs to go. I'm tired of it. My husband and dog walked beside me and we walked for about 30 minutes. There were times were I felt like I needed to turn around, but I want to beat this and get things to were they need to be. I thought I was doing enough moving around, but now I know I need to put more into this. Knowing that my side isn’t going to burst open and I can do something about it helps.
I was banded on 1/23/09 and I read about the recovery time being 3 to 4 days, so I expected to be back at work Tuesday. How naïve I was. Ha!
I woke up in recovery feeling I had been stabbed 5 times and then suckered punched. I had a flitting thought of "Oh God, I change my mind!" I woke up at 5:30 p.m., but didn't get home until 9:30 p.m. The issue was I was very nauseous and couldn’t muster the energy to walk over to the next room to get my x-ray. I finally just sucked it up and did it. I just wanted to curl up and go to sleep, but they wanted me to drink water. I managed to get some down and told the nurse I cannot do anymore. Right on queue, I jumped up and started dry heaving and instead of vomiting I expelled 2 large burps. Painful!!
I didn’t know how I was going to make it home, but I concentrated on bed. I need to get to my bed. My husband ran to the pharmacy and filled my prescription and gave me some. He’s so great. That night would have been okay because I would have just lulled myself to sleep on pain killers, but they had given me 4 bags of liquids and I had to run to the bathroom once or twice an hour. Each time, my husband had to wake up and help me out. The next day I realized I wasn’t putting too much pressure on my bladder and once I did they trips decreased.
I thought I was going to be back to work on Tuesday, but Sunday I called my manager and told her I underestimated things and might need more time. She understood. I then called a co-worker to make sure my open items would be covered. At the end of the conversation, she says…did you think you would be superwomen afterwards. I was like…well, yes. Ha! Now that keeps echoing in my mind. I’m not quite superwoman and it’s okay to take some time to recover. The world understands.
This is day 3 after surgery and I’m starting to walk around more, but not quite ready to clean or go for a walk outside like I hear others are doing. But everyone is different. I don’t have to be superwoman, just me.