The good, the bad and the ugly
A good amount of information to share after today's appointment, so let's just jump right in.
The big news is that the drain and 60 stitches are OUT. YAY!!! (The Good)
First, the drain. It was still producing a good amount but, at this point, we want to minimize the risk of infection so it had to come out. That means that I will likely have a build up of fluid on my back between now and surgery. That's called a seroma. (The Bad)They suck. I still think it's better than the drain but it's not fun. In an effort help minimize the swelling/fluid build up, I'm currently wrapped snuggly in a compression bandage. It's not so bad. Quite comforting actually - now I know why babies like to be swaddled so much.
I guess we should talk about the actual drain removal. It's a little hard to explain. I would say that it is more uncomfortable than painful but there is a little pain. There is some soreness after the removal, for sure. I went "commando" today - no pain medication of any kind. The nurse cut the stitch (part of which was "healed over"). Then came the fun part. She told me to take a deep breath and she pulled. I'm not trying to gross you out but if I'm sharing, I have to share it all. As you might imagine, there has been 2 weeks of healing since the drain went in. That means that thing gets settled in its place. That means when she pulls it out, it doesn't just slip right out. There is some effort involved to get it pulled loose from its tethers. So there's a tug, a pop and then a feeling that, I would guess, is not dramatically different from pulling the shaft of an arrow out of your torso. Of course, mine didn't have a arrowhead on the end but there's a good amount of tube that has to make its way out. I made it through without any problem (other than the brief pain/discomfort).
Next came the stitches. Now, I'm a pretty quick healer. That's a good thing but that also means that my skin was already at the point where it was trying to heal over the stitches. Yes, I can't just be easy. It's not my nature. The good news here is that the incision area is basically numb except for a few spots. Even in those spots, the feeling is minimal. So when the nurse started removing the stitches, she told me to let her know if she was hurting me because some of those stitches were in there pretty good. I didn't have any issues. I could feel her tugging and I could tell what she was doing but there wasn't any pain. Strangely, when she got to, approximately, stitch number 56, I broke out in a sweat and feared that I was going to faint. I told her she wasn't hurting me but I wasn't feeling right. (The Ugly)She said she was glad I told her and she let me lay back and relax for a few minutes until the wave of weird passed. I told her how strange I thought that was since she wasn't hurting me and it really wasn't bothering me. She said it was my body's response to us messing around with the surgical area. So strange. But, YAY ME, I didn't hit the floor.
After all of my extras were removed (did I mention YAY?!?), we chatted about prep for the next surgery. I've been feeling a bit of a cold coming on and I let her know. She said a common cold isn't a deal breaker but if I even have an hint that I've ventured into some sort of infection (ear, sinus, UTI) I need to act immediately. Any infection can be a deal breaker. The variable here and the area of concern is the fact that I'm having foreign bodies implanted. You don't want any infection making its way into/onto those things. So, at her suggestion, after my visit I drove directly to RiteAid and picked up some Zicam and Emergen-C. I'm going to fight this cold as best I can. I need to knock that sucker out and do my best to keep it from turning into anything else. I do NOT want to delay this process. After I picked up my items, I headed back to my parent's house. We had another snow day today so they watched the kiddos while I went on my Magical Medical Tour. Since I had some assistance with childcare (bless my parents!) I was able to get some rest. I went down for a nap at a about 12:30, with the intention of sleeping a couple of hours. I woke up at 4:45 PM. Your body knows when you need rest. Wow!
So, tomorrow I visit with my oncologist. I haven't seen him in a few months so we'll get to spend some time catching up. After that, I'll continue my planning and prep for surgery number 2. It's so hard to believe that it's less than a week away now. I shall be strong and roll on!
I'll catch up with you tomorrow.
Love to all!
Andee
First, the drain. It was still producing a good amount but, at this point, we want to minimize the risk of infection so it had to come out. That means that I will likely have a build up of fluid on my back between now and surgery. That's called a seroma. (The Bad)They suck. I still think it's better than the drain but it's not fun. In an effort help minimize the swelling/fluid build up, I'm currently wrapped snuggly in a compression bandage. It's not so bad. Quite comforting actually - now I know why babies like to be swaddled so much.
I guess we should talk about the actual drain removal. It's a little hard to explain. I would say that it is more uncomfortable than painful but there is a little pain. There is some soreness after the removal, for sure. I went "commando" today - no pain medication of any kind. The nurse cut the stitch (part of which was "healed over"). Then came the fun part. She told me to take a deep breath and she pulled. I'm not trying to gross you out but if I'm sharing, I have to share it all. As you might imagine, there has been 2 weeks of healing since the drain went in. That means that thing gets settled in its place. That means when she pulls it out, it doesn't just slip right out. There is some effort involved to get it pulled loose from its tethers. So there's a tug, a pop and then a feeling that, I would guess, is not dramatically different from pulling the shaft of an arrow out of your torso. Of course, mine didn't have a arrowhead on the end but there's a good amount of tube that has to make its way out. I made it through without any problem (other than the brief pain/discomfort).
Next came the stitches. Now, I'm a pretty quick healer. That's a good thing but that also means that my skin was already at the point where it was trying to heal over the stitches. Yes, I can't just be easy. It's not my nature. The good news here is that the incision area is basically numb except for a few spots. Even in those spots, the feeling is minimal. So when the nurse started removing the stitches, she told me to let her know if she was hurting me because some of those stitches were in there pretty good. I didn't have any issues. I could feel her tugging and I could tell what she was doing but there wasn't any pain. Strangely, when she got to, approximately, stitch number 56, I broke out in a sweat and feared that I was going to faint. I told her she wasn't hurting me but I wasn't feeling right. (The Ugly)She said she was glad I told her and she let me lay back and relax for a few minutes until the wave of weird passed. I told her how strange I thought that was since she wasn't hurting me and it really wasn't bothering me. She said it was my body's response to us messing around with the surgical area. So strange. But, YAY ME, I didn't hit the floor.
After all of my extras were removed (did I mention YAY?!?), we chatted about prep for the next surgery. I've been feeling a bit of a cold coming on and I let her know. She said a common cold isn't a deal breaker but if I even have an hint that I've ventured into some sort of infection (ear, sinus, UTI) I need to act immediately. Any infection can be a deal breaker. The variable here and the area of concern is the fact that I'm having foreign bodies implanted. You don't want any infection making its way into/onto those things. So, at her suggestion, after my visit I drove directly to RiteAid and picked up some Zicam and Emergen-C. I'm going to fight this cold as best I can. I need to knock that sucker out and do my best to keep it from turning into anything else. I do NOT want to delay this process. After I picked up my items, I headed back to my parent's house. We had another snow day today so they watched the kiddos while I went on my Magical Medical Tour. Since I had some assistance with childcare (bless my parents!) I was able to get some rest. I went down for a nap at a about 12:30, with the intention of sleeping a couple of hours. I woke up at 4:45 PM. Your body knows when you need rest. Wow!
So, tomorrow I visit with my oncologist. I haven't seen him in a few months so we'll get to spend some time catching up. After that, I'll continue my planning and prep for surgery number 2. It's so hard to believe that it's less than a week away now. I shall be strong and roll on!
I'll catch up with you tomorrow.
Love to all!
Andee