12 Days Post-Op

Well, here I am, 12 days out from surgery. I am doing well and I thought I would share with you things of note thus far:

Last night I slept all the way through the night without waking up from pain/soreness/having to use pottychair/etc. It felt goooooood.

I am starting to (slowly) use my crutches. I hope to be off of the walker and fully on to the crutches in 2 weeks.

It took me 6 days after surgery, but yes, I was able to, eh...how shall I say this with dignity..."make a stinky?". I am pleased to report that it wasn't agony. It didn't hurt. It only took me about 15 minutes. So, take your stool softeners and eat a HEALTHY, HIGH FIBER DIET and you should be right as rain. OK, no more about that again, ever. yuck.

As I mentioned before, I am completely off of the Oxycodon. I do still take the Oxycontin but hope to be taken off of them on Friday at my 2 week follow up appointment. As a matter of fact, I hope to be taken off of the vast majority of pills I am on now, including my twice daily shot of blood thinner.

My incision is healing nicely and laughing doesn't really hurt anymore (but coughing still does, just not as badly).

Yesterday, I was even able to sit at my desk and work for about 15-20 minutes. It was tiring, but I did get to pay a bill or two so I felt productive.

Also, while my operated side was almost entirely numb, feeling is slowly starting to come back. I just started feeling the tingling of nerve regeneration on my numbest patches, so that is an excellent sign!

Next, I hope to tackle cooking. Obviously, I won't be able to really cook, but I'd like to get set up at the kitchen table and help make my mom's b-day cake! I can stir and measure and pour, provided all of the ingredients and tools are brought to me.

Using the walker is pretty easy now, but I do get tired quickly. I am getting a lot stronger on my operated side. I CAN NOT STRESS STRONGLY ENOUGH, DO YOUR PT!!!!!! The PT exercises are great. DO them as often as you can. They not only really, really help you gain mobility, they also are a great motivator, showing you how far you've come in such a short time.

That's it for now. E-mail me with any questions or comments. I'll tell you all I know!

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