So Far So Good I Think:) - New Haven, CT

It just keeps getting better and better...easier and easier! It has been two weeks since my last confession...I mean "review"! A lot happening in that time. A little over a week ago my right drain site opened up and puss was coming out....wonderful. I just put gauze with Neosporin on it for several days and it stopped and now it is looking a lot better. Did it just need a little purge to start healing properly?? Who knows?! I still have a couple of rough spots near the pubic line, but those also seem to be improving. I have started using Kelo-Cote in the last two weeks as Maderma was making me itch like crazy. The Kelo-Cote works much better for me and I really like the consistency better as well...the Maderma was more liquefied, not as gel like as the Kelo-Cote. I saw my PS last week and he said that I seem to have very sensitive skin....ya think? Anyway...on the mend! And the swelling has improved some as well...still more noticeable later in the day. I have my second business travel day early next week...hoping it goes a little better than the last one! I also got a new binder from my PS last week. Even though I only wear it when doing physical stuff (cleaning, yard work, etc.), my old one was shot and this one is wonderful for when I still need it. Thinking I should wear it when I travel next week...just to have that little extra support. Also thinking I will start exercising this week as the hips are REALLY starting to bother me. I know they will be better after the swelling goes down and the exercise goes up! SO glad I did this!

So I was thinking I would just skip the update this week...but then I figured it is just as important to update on a bad week as it is on a good week. It is only fair to give a full view of the recovery process, lest we mislead those poor women thinking they will be fully healed by 6 or 7 weeks!
So I started this week by going on a mini business trip and that seems to have brought on the swelling full force. I feel and look about 5 months pregnant. Pants of any kind are driving me crazy...except for my jammy bottoms, which are getting lots of use! I called my PS office this morning and spoke with my favorite nurse, "Nurse Jackie", and she assured me that this is totally normal. We start feeling better, we start doing more, and our bodies rebel a little by blowing up like balloons. Another reason for the intense swelling is the fact that I have pretty much ditched the binder, except for when I am vacuuming, cleaning out the garage or raking leaves (gee, think I'm over doing it??). So I have resigned myself to spending the weekend relaxing and taking it easy....a pretty rough thing to look forward to:) And forge ahead to week 8!

Six weeks and one day PO...what a roller coaster of a week! Last week I took the tegaderm off because it was starting to "yellow" and come off on it's own anyway. Not a pretty site under that plastic wrap! My scar was covered in pus and yellow and stunk to high heaven! I washed, cleaned, sterilized, etc. until it was at least smelling good and covered it back up with a fresh coat of tegaderm. Two days later, same yellow mess under the plastic and now really starting to hurt. Called my PS and was told to take it off and leave it off. That was Tuesday. Since then my scar has gone through total metamorphosis! The scar itself was not infected, it was just the area around it that was so irritated from the tegaderm, it had gotten gross and needed to breathe. (My PS said making it almost 6 weeks with tegaderm was good enough and if my body was going to reject it then it was time to take it off.) So, the whole area lost a layer or two of skin in the last few days, stopped emitting pus, and sort of returned to normal....and it feels SO much better! I also stopped wearing my binder. It was really just adding to the irritation, so I tried going without it and I have to say it feels pretty good to be free of it! I still feel swollen...or flabby from lack of exercise...not sure which is more prevalent. But I really don't feel like I could make it through any type of real workout yet. I feel like walking around Costco and lifting the big containers of food are enough of a workout at this point. Onto week 7!!