Day5-Day 4 continued

I've been sleeping at the drop of a hat lately! I finally moved back to the bed for sleeping, rather than the couch, and I'm finding myself extra, extra comfortable. So, the doctors appointment yesterday was a small success. He did say there was a possibility that I would have the minor surgery to drain out some trapped blood in my stomach and that there was also a chance that everything would be fine. In the end, it ended up being a very short appointment & he said he was very impressed with how I was getting around & how I could get myself up and down from the table & lay up and down as well. He thinks that i'm healing great. I had asked how long he thought it would be before my belly button would become more visible & even with the rest of the stomach, he thought within in the next week. So, in the end he only gave me another prescription of antibiotics to keep taking since I need my drains in longer & that was that! He said that I do have more swelling than the normal post-op tummy tuck person, but that I also had more skin taken off. I can't remember if I had mentioned that I had 3lbs taken off before or not...but I did. I thought it was going to be at least 10, but he said the skin weighs a lot less than you think & that he removed a massive amount.

So I spent most of yesterday sleeping & watching Top Chef in bed. My appetite is so weak, but I'm trying to force myself to eat when I'm not sleeping. I've been eating lots of fibre bars because the pain medication causes bad constipation, pure apple juice, gatorade, yogurt, string cheese, some fruit, rice cakes. pomegranate sorbet for when I need something sweet, and yesterday I tried a low sodium instant dinner. I only got through about two bites of the dinner, so I'll try and finish the rest today. Everything just feels tight inside me, my bladder, my stomach, everything so I feel so full fast. My boyfriend made me a big pitcher of water yesterday with a fresh lemon squeezed inside because I've read it's suppose to help with swelling, so we're trying out that experiment.

I'm starting to feel pain a bit more in the past couple days. My back & neck are very sore from being hunched over, my incision is starting to heal & become very sore, and the sight where my drains come out is starting to bother me a lot as well. It's not unbearable pain, so I'm trying to just stick with 3-4 painkillers a day & a couple tylenol when I need it.

Showering is a great experience. I was always afraid that it was going to be incredibly painful & super exhausting. I had my first shower Sunday night & it felt fantastic!! My boyfriend helped me through most of it, leaving me feeling a bit like Shamu or some other Sear World creature. I think I managed pretty well when it came to washing my hair & my incisions on my own. I had a shoelace hanging from my neck where I pinned my drains to....worked very well!! I'm going to attempt the shower again today on my own. Yesterday the exhaustion was just too much for me to bathe....gross.

Well...today is my first day alone since my boyfriend is at work. He'll stop by to check up on me during the lunch hour & then I'll have him back for tonight. I'll be contemplating what to document next for tonight's photos....i'm thinking it might be the drain tubes! They're gross, but I think it would be interesting for some!!

-K