In honor of the first day of feeling pretty good (not yet 100%) I'm going to write a post to tell you how difficult the past 11 days have been. Yay! I've waited until now to write this so it would NOT be a Debbie Downer post. Since I'm feeling better I can now post something with the touch of humor you have come to expect. You are welcome!
Lessons:
Lessons:
- I'm still amazed that you can have areas of your body that are completely numb (like you can stick a needle in them numb)...but they itch...buuuut they're numb so you can't feel it when you scratch. Can some of my medical friends please explain this to me? I can't seem to wrap my mind around it.
- Since this surgery was lucky #13, I should have remembered that there is always a day, one usually very soon after surgery, when you think you feel good. And you act, for that one day, like all is as it should be, and then you get whacked in the head by reality.
- Reconstruction sounds like it might be easy. NOPE. This isn't even the "big" surgery and it is SOOOO not a joke. I would argue that this recovery alone has been more physcially challenging than the mastectomy. Not by leaps and bounds but still...
By the time I get to the implant surgery, it's going to seem like getting a haircut! - Since this surgery isn't a "life or death" thing, you feel guilty if you come close to complaining. Yes, I'm blessed to be here and to be able to suffer through this but it doesn't make the tough days any easier. Yes I could have opted not to do it but here I am. I'm outside of the complaining window (except for the drain, I'll continue to complain about that and won't think a thing about it) but I will share my experience because I think it's important to provide the really real truth. I'll make it funny (somehow) but I will share.
- It's difficult to explain the drain setup to small children. For the first few days, Mattie was convinced I was slowly bleeding to death. I tried to explain to her that the blood that was coming was "extra" blood, that I didn't need it. Somehow her little mind thought that the blood was fake. Gabriel is fascinated by the engineering involved. He is trying to figure out how it all works. Mattie is grossed out but he keeps asking to check the bulb. I probably would have been the same way when I was his age.
- And finally for tonight, I need to rest when my body tells me to. And guess what...it's screaming at me right now.
I'll be back tomorrow. I can't drive, I can't play in the snow, and I can't shovel or throw a snowball. So with a foot of snow outside, I'll have to come up with something to write.
Love to all,
Andee