I Can't Believe I'm Finally Doing This! - Bethesda, MD

Finally got one drain out yesterday. Boy did that feel weird!!! Didn't hurt at all just a very weird feeling. Feels so good to not have to carry around that thing at least one side. Now if I can get the 2nd one out before Thankgiving, I will be so happy and grateful! We'll see how much I keep outputting these next two days. PS was nice and said he'd even meet me on Thanksgiving morning to take it out! I'm still dealing with the swelling, OK trying to accept that it's just part of the healing process and get over that. I keep looking at my before picture to remind myself what I looked like before. A swollen round tummy still looks better than two belly rolls. Oh, I got a CG from the PS office yesterday but I'm not to happy about having to unsnap the crotch every time I have to use the bathroom, so will investigate and see what other options are out there. Hope everyone is healing well!!

It's been exactly 1 week post op. I feel pretty good overall. The only thing is that I still have both drains. I'm outputting about 15 cc when I check 3 times a day. It's really dark color and PS says its old blood. Today I noticed I'm starting to bruise on one side of stomach but PS says stomach is soft so that's a good sign. The thing that is bothering me the most is how swelled I am. Like I'm 3 months pregnant :(. When I look at others pics I feel like no one else is as swollen :(

BlessednGrateful 3 seconds ago
I don't think I have slept this much since I was a baby, lol! My hubby and family have been amazing helping be with everything. I got the pain pump removed yesterday. Now I have the two drains left on each hip. I got a peek yesterday at the doctor's and at first was surprised to see a little pouch but the PS and nurse assured me that it's normal swelling and it will go down. I'm staying on top of the pain so that has been tolerable. I've been living in the zero gravity recliner chair and highly recommend it. Happy healing to all!