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24 Days Post op
Just wanted to offer another bit of advice, based on what I'm observing in myself right now. Basically, I wake up feeling good--not too much aching or pain after the initial getting up (which does hurt because usually I've become a bit stiff overnight). I feel good for most of the day, and for the past several days, I've acted like I'm back to normal for most of the day. But today I got honest with myself and realized that I am NOT normal yet. Every afternoon, I crash, to some degree or another. Sometimes I just start to ache in my upper abdomen, and I'm not sure if it's swelling happening (if it is, it's not very visible) or just tiredness or what. Sometimes, I feel like the areas where I had lipo--or perhaps it's incision-related, because the incision and lipo are pretty much in the same place--feels stiffer, achy, and slightly burning. This seems to be happening for various reasons: mostly, I think, it's because I've been on my feet a long time, but I think it could also be related to not getting enough sleep, not drinking enough water, being out in the Houston heat too long, etc.
So I had a talk with myself and decided to be more serious about recovery. I'm 3.5 weeks out, but I'm not totally well yet, and it will behoove me to be active with my rest and recovery now so that I can be completely on my feet sooner. It feels counter-intuitive, especially since I've been back on my own with my four little ones (ages 1-8) for a week now, and the reality is that mothering them is a demanding job, and it's not easy to rest and recover as actively as would probably be good for me. I can do better than I have been, though. So that's the goal this week.
So I had a talk with myself and decided to be more serious about recovery. I'm 3.5 weeks out, but I'm not totally well yet, and it will behoove me to be active with my rest and recovery now so that I can be completely on my feet sooner. It feels counter-intuitive, especially since I've been back on my own with my four little ones (ages 1-8) for a week now, and the reality is that mothering them is a demanding job, and it's not easy to rest and recover as actively as would probably be good for me. I can do better than I have been, though. So that's the goal this week.
Day 17 post op
These pics are SO DIFFERENT from the ones in that first post, and I still have swelling that needs to go down. Just wanted to share a happy moment. ;)
Day 12 post op--Colorful day yesterday!
So my belly still looks awesome! I have a bit of a sway back, which means that even when I weighed 120 lbs. in college, I still had a little belly. Well, not anymore. Even with the swelling, I'm flatter than ever before.
I did have something bad happen yesterday. The night before, I felt a little twinge in my chest when I went to sleep, but I didn't think much of it. My toddler woke up at 1:45am, and I realized when I awoke that it was hurting me a good bit. It worried me enough for me to get online and Google "upper right chest pain," and none of the results seemed to fit except a pulmonary embolism, which of course worried me immediately. After about 4, I was able to relax enough to sleep until 6, but when it was worse when I woke up, I asked my husband to drive me to the ER.
They did an EKG to check my heart and a CT scan to check for clots at the ER, and both came back fine, but because I have a not-very-great family history in terms of cardiac disease, they sent me on to the hospital to the chest pain observation floor, where I stayed until this morning. They had ruled out a pulmonary embolism with the CT scan, but apparently if you have a family history like mine and say "chest pain," you get the works. They proceeded to do a stress test (which was CRAZY) and an echocardiogram. Everything came back perfectly clear, which meant there was nothing life-threatening happening, so they sent me home.
I do still have the same pain, but it has diminished. Basically, when I take a deep breath, I get a sharp pain under my ribs in the upper right quadrant, kind of just under my breasts. Today at my follow up appointment with my surgeon, he suggested it might be referred pain, since they did so much work in my abdomen. But my nurse friend made a suggestion that he also affirmed as a possibility, which is that perhaps I have some bruised ribs from how tight my girdle is. That makes sense, because although it is very snug around everything, it is really too tight around the top band, which lies just over the area that hurts. Also, the sleeved vest compression garment that I'm wearing for my arm lipo has a bottom band that lies right on top of that other tight band, so I've been getting double duty along that whole area. If I got all those tests because my compression garment was too tight, that would be the dumbest thing ever.
BUT, please hear me that I would definitely do it again. Chest pain is not something to mess around with, especially after surgery, which increases your risk factors. So if you have chest pain, get it seen about, even if you suspect it is perhaps just your CG!
And the other lesson to learn from me here is to use your common sense about your garment. If you think it's really too tight, perhaps it is! Although I will say that it does help keep the swelling down. I didn't wear it at the hospital for close to 24 hours, and I did swell up a bit. So I am wearing it, but I'm keeping the top part, closest to the band, undone.
Alright y'all, didn't want to scare anyone, but I thought there were a couple useful lessons in my experience yesterday that I wanted to pass along.
I did have something bad happen yesterday. The night before, I felt a little twinge in my chest when I went to sleep, but I didn't think much of it. My toddler woke up at 1:45am, and I realized when I awoke that it was hurting me a good bit. It worried me enough for me to get online and Google "upper right chest pain," and none of the results seemed to fit except a pulmonary embolism, which of course worried me immediately. After about 4, I was able to relax enough to sleep until 6, but when it was worse when I woke up, I asked my husband to drive me to the ER.
They did an EKG to check my heart and a CT scan to check for clots at the ER, and both came back fine, but because I have a not-very-great family history in terms of cardiac disease, they sent me on to the hospital to the chest pain observation floor, where I stayed until this morning. They had ruled out a pulmonary embolism with the CT scan, but apparently if you have a family history like mine and say "chest pain," you get the works. They proceeded to do a stress test (which was CRAZY) and an echocardiogram. Everything came back perfectly clear, which meant there was nothing life-threatening happening, so they sent me home.
I do still have the same pain, but it has diminished. Basically, when I take a deep breath, I get a sharp pain under my ribs in the upper right quadrant, kind of just under my breasts. Today at my follow up appointment with my surgeon, he suggested it might be referred pain, since they did so much work in my abdomen. But my nurse friend made a suggestion that he also affirmed as a possibility, which is that perhaps I have some bruised ribs from how tight my girdle is. That makes sense, because although it is very snug around everything, it is really too tight around the top band, which lies just over the area that hurts. Also, the sleeved vest compression garment that I'm wearing for my arm lipo has a bottom band that lies right on top of that other tight band, so I've been getting double duty along that whole area. If I got all those tests because my compression garment was too tight, that would be the dumbest thing ever.
BUT, please hear me that I would definitely do it again. Chest pain is not something to mess around with, especially after surgery, which increases your risk factors. So if you have chest pain, get it seen about, even if you suspect it is perhaps just your CG!
And the other lesson to learn from me here is to use your common sense about your garment. If you think it's really too tight, perhaps it is! Although I will say that it does help keep the swelling down. I didn't wear it at the hospital for close to 24 hours, and I did swell up a bit. So I am wearing it, but I'm keeping the top part, closest to the band, undone.
Alright y'all, didn't want to scare anyone, but I thought there were a couple useful lessons in my experience yesterday that I wanted to pass along.