Tuesday, February 23, 2010

details, details, details

BEWARE THIS POST WILL HAVE GOREY DETAILS AND PHOTOS - NOT FOR THE WEAK STOMACH! 

so it has been 6 days since the creation of the new bod and i must say it has been a lot more pleasant than i anticipated.  for the first few days home, i was definitely moving around too much.  you see, the pain meds give me energy instead of making me calm and sleepy.  so i don't just want to lay around. on the advice of a nurse friend, i have made a much bigger effort to lounge around over the last two days so i hope to get a good report at the dr. visit tomorrow afternoon.

the most unpleasant thing has been my four new attachments - the drains or jp drains as they are called. in a very innocent way, the nurse mentioned that i would have four drains after the surgery for around a week.  well, having never had such, i was unprepared for the drains, their looks, the contents, and the whole idea.  however, i was probably not nearly as shocked or confused by them as my three little ones or several of my visitors.

  









on the above right is my right hip (looking down at it) and the bandaged and taped tubes - two of them - that via suction drain fluids to the bulbs in the above left photo.  i have walked around with these hanging from my sides or safety pinned to my shirt for almost a week now. not a good fashion statement.

because i was not really prepared for the drains and what that meant, i was unable to order the drain pouch that i have since found online (a fanny pack made specifically to carry the drains.)  i would strongly suggest purchasing the pouch for anyone who will be joined by these lovely pieces of plastic ...  perhaps that is the "plastic" in plastic surgery....  please note:  this is the only circumstance under which i would suggest any type of fanny pack. 

honey has been a wonderful nurse and has very diligently milked my drains, dumped, measured, and recorded the details on my drain chart.  i am sure this will create a really big payback....  an i owe you.... yikes!  apparently men are vastly motivated by the new girls.

perhaps dr. e will see fit to remove three of them tomorrow...  cross your fingers.

the only other thing that has bothered me is the new bellybutton.  not sure how i thought that the skin was going to be removed without creating a new one, but it was a surprise.  i certainly had no affinity for the old belly button and am really glad to see it go but i am a little apprehensive about the final appearance of the new one.  it is really just a new external belly button, cut in the skin that probably used to be above the bellybutton and sewn to the inner belly button that is in the same place it always has been.  (i took a photo but it even grossed me out so i decided to leave it to the imagination.) 

all other incisions are fine and the girls are perky and doing fine - no pain from them at all.  i mean really not at all.

until today pretty much all skin from the girls to the mid thighs has been numb - like your cheeks feel after being numbed for a little dental work - that is what my stomach, butt, and thighs feel like.  this i have found to be a benefit - especially when removing the tape from the drain entry points.  however, just like a newborn "wakes up" after about two weeks and figures out he aint going back to the warm nest of the womb and that is when you figure out that newborns aren't perfect.... my skin and insides seem to be slowly waking up and realizing that things have changed - and so far it seems they are not too pleased....  serious burning - of course, if the muscles were used to any kind of exercise, then this burn might be a familiar feeling.  but they are not so the movement and sewing that they have endured is quite a new experience.  and it burns, not really hurts, just burns.  alot.

well, off to continued internet research regarding the contents of the drains. 

heres to reducing the number of new friends for my body from 6 (4 drains and 2 girls) to 3 tomorrow...

cheers - triple p

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