Ready... Set....- Austin, TX

I went on Monday and had my first drain removed. Today went back and had the second drain removed and the stitches from my belly button removed. Saw Dr. Kerr for the first time since the surgery and he was very happy with my progress. I'll update again with pictures soon.

The last couple days I haven't even updated since I haven't actually done ANYTHING. I literally laid in bed almost all day yesterday. Key word being bed! woohoo, I transitioned from the recliner to the bed! Problem was I didn't do a good job of transitioning all my stuff from the recliner, and got a bit off on my meds. I went 6 1/2 hours between pain meds, where I had been going only up to maybe 4. I was fine until about 6 hours when I started to hurt, and it quickly went downhill from there. I took the meds about 1/2 hour later, but it took a couple hours to get back to being okay and I was still pretty shaky for the rest of the day. Part of it was me wanting to see how long I can go without the meds, since I don't like being on them. When I tried earlier in the week, I only made it about 4 maybe 4 1/2 hours. So this was an improvement. I just wish there was an easier way to judge what I'm ready for...

Today I rode down to Round Rock to see my newest little nephew born earlier this week. It's amazing how hard just riding in the car is for me. Sitting in the car is fine, but I took pain meds about 30 minutes before getting in for the ride down, and it was still taxing on my body. I feel like I have to brace for every bump and jerk, which makes me tense the whole trip. I stayed for a couple hours at my sister-in-laws and even got to hold the baby (he's under the weight limit, just barely!!). On the way back, we stopped at the outlets so my mother-in-law could do a little shopping. and I do mean LITTLE. After one store, where I had to sit down for most of the time, I was pretty shaky. We made it to one other one, and I was getting shaky and sweaty and we called it quits. She stopped at a couple stores once we got back to Waco, but I stayed in the car, which was surprisingly comfortable when it wasn't moving.

I had been hoping while I was in Round Rock to get one of my drains out, but I called ahead and they said no one who was able to would be in the office today, so I will be keeping both drains until at least Monday. It's probably good since I had more drainage today than I've had the last couple days, probably because I was so much more active today. I'm wondering if having the drains in has lessened the swelling I've been expecting. Or maybe it's the binder, or the combination.... I'm not sure. I know I'm a bit bigger at the end of the day, but not significantly. Maybe I just haven't hit "swell-hell" yet. We'll see...

As far as results, I'm pretty happy, though I'm a little concerned I'm not symmetrical. I feel like the skin under my new belly button is sewn kinda crooked and I don't think my sides are even. I'm not sure if that is just a different amount of swelling on each side because the binder presses differently on each side or if it will permanently be uneven. Can you see it or am I just being overly-critical? These were taken at the end of my very long day.

Today I was just plain bored. My GMIL made me breakfast (bless her!) and stayed while I took another shower. Thank goodness for the shower chair again. It was much better this time, but still a bit of a struggle. She helped me get my binder back on again. And the rest of the day I spent pretty much alone surfing the internet and watching TV. Getting up pretty regularly to wander around the house. Walking is getting much easier, though I'm not standing completely straight still. I kept the binder pretty tight today which felt good until the end of the day. I loosened it but then my stomach felt really tight and it was harder to walk again. Maybe a bit of swelling?