Recuperation in Action

All That Jazz (one of my absolute favorite movies!), Twizzlers, butt wipes (hilarious but oh so practical for my situation! lol), and a candle (also ohhhh so practical lol) magazines, word games, chocolate, Hair, Dream Girls, soup! What can I say!? No it is not some weird free association game! What fun! Thanks Maureen! And flowers from Sue (from the hospital yet, and they still look great, though Midge has been molesting them!)! Thanks girls. You are cool.

I can't believe two weeks has passed already! Wow.

I got a date with Bob Fosse. I gotta light the candle and pop the Twizzlers and the candy bar. Later folks! I'm sure my singing All That Jazz and doing that weird hip flick thing ala Gwen Verdon move that I always do after I watch All That Jazz will be very therapeutic!

Thanks girls!


Kay

Just had my first shower with NO bag, staples or drain. Ahhhh. Felt great. I was in there a loooong time. LOL you can shower with your bag on (or off) of course, but I admit, I didn't like messing with a wet bag. The literature says you can dry it with your hair dryer. Hell I don't even own one. One look at my hair and I bet anybody can guess that, so I had devised a covering with Glad Press & Seal Wrap and duct tape, so showering was a bit of a production. Just hopping in (in a weird sort of old lady post surgical sort of hopping way lol) today was so lovely!  LOL Once my middle isn't sore it will be perfect. And when I don't have to put any dressings to put back on, that will be good too.

Had my first solo outing to Wal-mart this a.m. too. I gotta go on my outings in the mornings, when I'm fresh. LOL  I did OK, but I admit I was glad to get home. Mind you I have plenty of people offering to wait on me, but sometimes a girl just needs to do her own shopping.

Enjoy your Sunday folks. Thanks for the good wishes. Recuperation continues, I think it is going well.

Kay :)

I am unencumbered! No more drain, no staples. Just a couple of dressings for some drainage, but big whoop! Like I said before, I thought this one would be easier. I was not expecting the same huge incision again. Just a smidge at top and bottom that wasn't reopened. And then more staples across the stoma area. Surprise! LOL

I am supposed to encumber myself with my binder though. I guess my core muscles have been through a lot lately. I'll put the binder back on  . . . later. I'm going to enjoy this unencumbered feeling for a while now.

I think the timing on this cold is pretty good really. I certainly do not feel like overdoing anything right now! I'm just going to take it easy, get caught up on my sleep (I did not sleep particularly well during the time of the bag), nourish my body well, take some walks in good time, get over this cold. Just going to heal and be.

Life is good.

Kay :)

I'm a little sore, tired, whiny and ornery today. So just getting back to normal! I was content just to lay around like a slug today, hugging my pillow (and occasionally cursing) each time I sneezed.

My potassium was OK. I'm looking forward to getting this drain out. Except for the actual act of having it removed . . . If he takes the staples out too, I'll give Dr. Wu a big woo hooo. Oh that was sad.

And things are progressing in other areas as well. Whew! LOL

Kay :)

 

Monday Monday

Gosh, I think it would have been easier to stay in the hospital another night, rather than have to get up this a.m. and go to out-patient for blood work! Wait! I change my mind on that, I forgot coming home saved me some heparin shots in my lower belly. That was something new this time, something I definitely could have done without! And I could take a break from my abdominal binder. It is this hellish girdle-like thing. It's actually been on break since I got home. Mums the word on that one. I was not moving too quickly this a.m. My potassium was a wee bit low (from all the hurling) when I was discharged yesterday, so they wanted it checked out this a.m. Haven't heard anything yet, but I suspect I will, what with the cramping I'm feeling in my legs. I'm sure they'll call later.You know, probably when I finally fall asleep. :)

And I also think it was kind of mean of them to send me home with a surgical drain to empty! I told the nurse I thought I'd be leaving the hospital unencumbered! LOL  Certainly better than the shock of that colostomy bag last time. WARNING: Graphic (sort of gross) medical stuff to follow . . . I have to drain this thing in my abdomen, and measure it. First time I drained it last night, I was so tired, I couldn't see the markings on the side of the little cup thing. I ask my Mom if she can see the numbers, and she is holding it up to the light in the kitchen, this reddish pink fluid with little bits of me floating around in there, then she asks me "How much of this stuff do you have to drink?"  Oh lordy, it was funny.

I'm temporarily energized by macaroni and cheese and a slice of buttered toast and (tsk tsk) a diet pepsi, so I'm going to take advantage of this energy and grab a shower. My dietary choices have been interesting. My first solid I was able to keep down in the hospital was chocolate pudding, washed down by a root beer. I mean what the heck? The food there is so good and I did not get to enjoy any of it! Grrrrrr. I knew yesterday morning, when I got brave enough to try and look at the pictures of food on the hospital menu and didn't get sick, that things were looking up. It was pretty bad for a couple of days, couldn't even keep liquids down.

More later. For now I'll just say it is so nice NOT to be nauseous, that just kicked my ass. In fact this whole thing has. I thought it would be easier than the other one. Quite the shocker. Glad it is over.

The hospital is going to call today to see how I'm doing. It's going to be short and sweet . . . "I drank, I ate, I pooped. I did not hurl." The sweet nurses and aides felt so bad for me. Plus, you know, who wouldn't want to get rid of this dry heaving puker? LOL Just kidding. They were the best.

Thanks for the good wishes folks. Doing better now.

Kay :)

Home!

Glad to be home. And that's all for now! More when I feel better.

Bed feels sooo good! And so does being bagless! LOL

Kay