20 Year Journey, A LOT of Big Steps, One Last Leap (Fingers Crossed) - Raleigh, NC

Ok, today is day 17, Wed the 26th. PO day 12, last Friday my last drain was removed and they put foam in to help prevent build-up of fluid; by Sunday I had a waterbed tummy, ie: push on one side and I had waves of fluid all the way to the other side and back and it was hurting/burning. Monday morning Called the Dr. and he told me to come in. He pulled the fluid off and doubled the foam. I sprang a leak on the way home, soaked through both layers of foam and the dressings they applied, ick! I went back today, no fluid, foam is gone, and I can start taping!

Po day 10, First shower today! Felt great, but I was exhausted when we were finished. A clean body and fresh hair resulted in a solid three and a half hour nap. The “last drain standing” still had about 60 ml this morning and looks like about 30ml right now, so I’m not sure what I’ll be told in the morning… I also switched to spanks today and while they are waaaaaayyyyyyy more comfy, I am washing the original garment to put back on. It just feels way better on the tummy. (My legs might not forgive me though) Not sure what else to say tonight, except it hurts like Hades to sneeze, I’ve done it twice today; ick! Happy healing ya’ll!

Whoop-Whoop! PO day 9, Hello! I called in my drain totals this morning and Dr. Carlino had me to come in. We took three of the four drains out and they are thinking Thursday the last one will come out too! He said I could take a shower tomorrow with the last one in; that is awesome! I’m going to try our stairs here in a little while; we don’t have a shower downstairs so I’ll have to go up them soon. He also said I could change over to Spanxs and he took the foam out of the “chin strap” (I can take that off to for showers and such). I’m also down from 191lbs the day after surgery to 180lbs; the day before surgery I was either 184 or 186(can’t remember and am not getting up to look : ) ) He took 8lbs of skin so I should be in the 170’s after all the swelling is down. He said this was a really great, flat result for the anchor TT and I’m super excited. It looks great! He also said it wouldn’t be curved when the swelling went down and the final result will be about 30% smaller! I was also instructed to try to stand up as straight as possible, which I’ve been doing but will push it a bit more now that I have the “OK.” I am tickled pink!