Goodbye Barrel Stomach

The best thing that happened this week is that the awful indigestion/heartburn suddenly decreased by about 75%. I still get a little burpy and a little discomfort at night, but nowhere near the chest and sternum pain of weeks 3 and 4. I am still not in a compression garment which makes me nervous. He said he was still hesitant to put me in it because of the severity of my swelling to my lady parts. He mentioned he had never had anyone swell that much. Yay me.
I feel a lot more energy but have had bouts of anxiety because my left thigh is totally numb from mid front thigh to the outside of my thigh. He didn't seem concerned about it, but I hate the way it feels. It's as if I iced it for 20 min- it's actually worse than my stomach.

I'm still in the foam and binder and it's now even tighter and the velcro portion is at my back. I think I'm going to have my husband re-do it shortly because I feel like my right side is bulging a bit (like the love handle area). I'm already bigger on that side, but because of the way the binder wraps around now, this portion is only covered by one layer of binder instead of two, so I will need to swing it around some so two layers cover both of my sides.
I noticed my boobs look bigger now that I have a more defined waist. No small feat since they are B cups lol. I do feel the point down slightly, but that could be because I still feel tight and don't feel I'm 100 percent standing up straight out of the binder. I did notice during my last shower that I don't feel that completely fragile- hard-to-breathe feeling when I first take off my binder. I still feel fragile, but definitely more supported.
My last drain hole scab fell off the night prior to 5 weeks post, and since it had been 3 weeks since my last drain was removed, I have begun massaging the drain sites 5x a day.

I have had a significant improvement in my healing and energy over the last 4-5 days. I'm able to get in/out of the car with no help (I'm short and needed help getting into our vehicle which is normally up high for me, but even moreso right now). I'm able to squat down and pick things up occasionally from the floor and get out of a chair (and sit in a chair at the dinner table).

I'm still not in the compression garment until next week because of the lady parts swelling. I'm a little nervous about that because I don't want it to impede my recovery, but I know that my doctor knows best and I'm not a medical professional and need to trust the process. My upper abdomen was pretty swollem when I briefly removed binder so my husband could re-position and tighten it. I also seem to get really bad indigestion and heart burn after I eat, so I have been taking gas-x and eating Tums Smoothies when it gets awful.

Emotionally, I was really up and down the past week- even felt the "why did I do this to myself?" that I felt the day of surgery and the following day. I know this is normal, but it is still taxing. I think it's because I am tired of being so inactive, and my mind wants me to be fully healed now. I'm sure it will all be worth it in the end.

Although I got up every hour when I got home (and 3 times a night because I get so uncomfortable), I have been kind of scared of having a DVT (blood clot) in my leg because of weird Charlie horse like cramping in my right calf. I kept telling myself that I have been doing lots of moving and everything in supposed to, but that lingering doubt was enough for me to call my doc. He probably thinks "oh here we go" lol since I had swelling issues yesterday (not the norm). He thought I was probably OK, but did call one of his colleagues /friends to see me same day. I appreciated that because I really didn't want to sit in an ER lobby for hours having to sit upright.

I just got back and they scanned both legs and luckily no blood clots. The doctor did recommend prescription thigh compression stockings to wear for one month during the day. Apparently I have vericose veins in both legs and some swelling, so that's what I was feeling. They are not visible so he thinks I will be fine, but does recommend most people wear them if sitting or standing for several hours. He even showed me that he was wearing some (and he's fairly young). I liked this gentleman, Dr. Lam. I will rest easy tonight knowing no DVT, and will try to pick up those stockings soon.

Lady parts are still swollen, but at least I can put my feet together now and not walk with a waddle. I used the restroom at the doc office and they didn't have a safety bar like at the plastic surgeon. I learned I can get up and down from a regular toilet now, so my husband will be happy to know he can remove the toilet riser and start using our master bathroom again lol.