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A little more than one week post-op update:
Pain - My incision pain decreased enough for me to feel comfortable most of the day on Tuesday, Day 6. As of today, Friday, Day 9, I can get in and out of chairs without feeling my incision pulling and needing to put pressure on it. I was able to drive my teen to work in the next town, with the support of a seatbelt pillow. I stopped by the local rail trail and had a short walk in the greenery yesterday. I'm planning to up my walking now that I don't have so much pain, but I want to take it slow so I don't overexert myself. My legs are starting to cramp from inactivity.
I've been building up to my hydration and protein goals daily, and worked up to 4 oz of liquid intake every 30 minutes. I didn't really have a schedule until I woke up on Wednesday, Day 7, feeling absolutely ravenous. The day before I had concentrated on hydration and come up a little shorter on my protein goals. So I made a spreadsheet, to plan out my protein and hydration intake according to what my stomach was capable of now, and discovered I could get a bit more in if I paid more attention to things. Yesterday, I made 72 g protein and 64 oz hydration/36 of which was clear liquids.
I have medications/vitamins to take 4 times a day, and I had been following the 30 min before/after for them, just in case, because I wanted to make sure they were absorbed. However, my dietician told me this morning that I didn't need to do that. So that clears up significantly more time for clear liquid hydration!
I weighed myself yesterday, and discovered that in the first week since surgery, I've lost 23 lbs. Part of me thinks that is a worryingly large number, but also probably a great deal of it is water weight. I did some measurements, and it appears that most of the weight has come from my arms and bust (of course). My clothes don't appear to fit differently yet, but I haven't worn most of them yet. I did notice while putting my face serums and creams on that my cheekbones and jawline seem more prominent.
One of my first NSVs is that my left ankle used to swell after sitting all day. Recently, despite sitting most of the day during recovery, my ankles have matched in size and slenderness. It's very exciting!
The best news of all is that I met with my dietician this morning and been cleared for advancing to more foods. Our program has weeks 1-3 set aside for full liquid diet, so that is what I was prepared for. My dietician said that starting today, I can start making protein shakes with fruit, and I can also have fully blended soups of any type. So that expands my diet significantly! Also, I am permitted to move to stage 3, purees, next wednesday.
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I cried today, and had regrets about getting the surgery.
I went for a short outdoor walk after the sun went down this evening. The blaring heat was giving my neighborhood a break, so I thought, why not?
I walked one direction for a quarter of a mile, and then turned around to come home. There was a slight downward slope at the beginning of the walk, which meant that there was a slight upward slope back. Well, I started sweating before I knew it. Not a whole lot, but enough to have some beads roll south. At that moment, all ll I could think about was all of those precious fluids that I have worked so hard to consume today were going right out of me! I thought, how in the hell am I going to be able to replace all of those before I go to bed tonight?? I was sweating, thirsty, and still had a bit of a stroll ahead of me. I had not thought to bring water with me on such a short walk.
Get home, sip, sob for a bit, sip, shower, sip. Then I remember that I had premixed a protein-enhanced electrolyte drink earlier in the day, and it was sitting cold in the refrigerator. That seemed to take care of me, along with sipping some more water. I had to stay up late to get it down, but I did it, and was able to come back to a better emotional baseline.
I'm only one week out, still fresh and healing, so I'm definitely giving myself some grace tonight.