Be Gone Drains!

On Januray 20th  at my 3 weeks post surgery checkup Dr. Buchanan removed my last drain.  I felt sooo free!!!!  I started the day feeling pretty good. 

Without my drains I was unstoppable!!!  LOL

 Here are some close ups of the scars!

 

My belly button.  It seems weird shaped at this point....  And stillhas lots of healing to do.  And I have vertical crease up my abdomen, but I am guessing once I stop wearing the binder it will go away!

Best of all... Dr. Buchanan cleared me to drink alcohol (now that I am off all pain meds) and has also cleared me for sex and other moderate activities like walking.  I still can't get too crazy and run or jump on a trampoline... but that will come in time.  We also spent a good amount of time discussing my scars and how strong they actually are. (I had some irrational fears about my scar opening up) And also the stitches holding my abs together will dissolve slowly over the next 6 months.  We talked about keeping my scar moisturized and to massage it to help it lay down flat.  I have been putting coconut oil on it 2x per day ever since.  And I have to keep wearing the binder for another 3 weeks.

Close ups during 2-3 weeks out

 These pictures were taken after I got home from the Drs office and had taken a shower.  I used a washcloth on my belly button and got rid of all the scabs.  It was super gross and I was super happy that I have no feeling inside my belly button at this point! Because Iam sure it would have been painful!

 Here is the left side with the drain tube still inside.

Here is a close up of the right side.  It is healing nicely!

Here is the front view.  the skin looks gathered and puckered. I was scared that it would always look like this.... I am happy to say that at 7 weeks out (today) it looks so much better!  That red mark is the blood blister still healing from when Dr. B took the saran wrap off my belly button the first time.

Here is the left side with the drain.  this drain will start to leak this week.  It leaked around the skin.  It was pretty gross.  We figured it was from the pressure of  it being pushed against my skin.  It caused the surrounding tissue to gap open and stuff to leak out.  I freaked out BIG TIME.  But Dr. Buchanan assured me it was fine.  We changed the way we wrapped it.  We used gauze to support the tube so it didn't leak and minimized the discomfort!

A little (no ALOT) of help from my friends!

I figure I should tell you a little bit about myself and my family so that you understand the depth of my gratitude for the people that helped us survive my recovery.

I am a stay at home Mom of 4 kids. Kaleb is 12, Jasmyn is 10, Mason is 8 and Harlie is 5.  My husband works very long hours driving a tanker, delivering fuel to gas stations in our area. He more often than not works close to 60 hours a week.    Here is my beautiful family!

We also have my "sister" Roselyn and her 4 year old daughter, Nayla living with us for a while.  I use " " around the word sister because she is my sister by choice, not by blood!  

To say that our lives are busy and full would be an understatement!  And as most Moms in any family, I am the glue that sticks us together but also the engine that keeps us moving forward.  And when Mom is not performing at 100%... stuff gets complicated quick!  

Meals times, bath times, chore times, school times, Marimba times, and did I mention meal times....well all that sucks when I am doped up and recovering from major surgery!  

Thankfully with the help of Tim and Roselyn and my Amazing children the house did not turn into shambles.  Chores got done.  Laundry got washed and dishes got loaded and unloaded,  And I think that the kids even took a bath occasionally during these past 3 weeks!

My sweet friend and neighbor Amber took on the chore of getting my kids back and forth to school.  She dropped them off and picked them up everyday for at least 2 weeks!!  And she even would go pick up Jasmyn late on Tuesdays so she could go to Marimba rehearsal!  And when it rained or snowed would leave early to pick Kaleb up from his school so he didn't have to walk to the elementary school in crappy weather.  Amber also checked in on me every day through texts, calls and drop bys to make sure I was OK.  I love her so much and appreciate her loving support of our family while I was recovering!

The other way my friends and family have shown such deep love and support to our family during my recovery was providing meals!  For about 3 weeks straight I received hot delicious meals at my door by 6pm!  Kim Sonko organized the meals through a site called mealtrain.com and it was a life saver!  Shannon, Tamara, Barb, Amber, Ellen, Jen, Ashley, Daree, Kim, Stephanie, and Mirna all brought us meals.  Some of those awesome ladies even brought meals multiple times!

I cannot even express in words how amazing it is to not have to worry about whats for dinner when you don't have the ability to stand up straight or stay awake long enough to cook!  The first weeks of my recovery where painful and exhausting and very much drug enhanced!  These awesome friends of mine saved my day.... repeatedly.  I felt such love and support from all of them!

Thank you ladies!  Thank you for fully understanding what it is like to be a Mom in recovery.  Thank you for loving me and not judging me!  Thank you for waiting until you were outside my door before you burst out laughing at how inappropriate I can be when on drugs (and sometimes sober).  And I would like to deeply apologize to Tamara and her poor daughter Emily whom I probably scarred for life by showing her my "blood grenades"! :)  

From the very bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!!!

2 week check up

I went to Spokane Plastic Surgeons to see Dr. Buchanan for my 2 week check up. frown emoticon He would not remove the drain because my output it still too high. The reason my output is to high is because I am doing to much activity. Bending reaching walking cleaning cooking, etc. The drain has to come out next week no matter what because of possible complications with infections etc. But if I don't slow down the drain still has to come out and then any fluid buildup would have to be removed by a big ass needle.  I guess I need to rest. And rest some more.

Here is the train wreck on my left hip! That drain should not be collecting so much blood.  

Here is am sitting waiting for Dr. Buchanan to take off the tape and gauze.  I want to see my new belly button.... or do I?

He starts by removing all the saran wrap from  my drain and then removes the steri strips on my incision.  This is the first time I am getting a good look at my incision.  I look a little bit like Frankenstein in some areas!  

The red open sore areas on my incision are were the scabs came loose when he pulled the steri-strip off.

In this picture you can see the stitches that are sticking out of my skin above my finger in the bottom left corner of picture.

Close up of the drain tube going into my skin.

 Then Dr. Buchanan took the gauze and saran wrap off my belly button and removed the gauze that was stuffed inside of it.  Yuck!

My New (but still disgusting) Belly Button

 My skin does not like adhesives.  Do you see the red box around my belly button?  And the red blotch is from the blood blister from last week when he pulled off the adhesives.  I'm a train wreck!

Dr. Buchanan told me that my belly button insides would "slough off" over the next few days.  he told me to wash it with soap and water and make sure it stays dry.  I am also supposed to put Polysporin ointment inside it and cover with a bandaid.  I can also use the polysproin ointment  on the scabbed over areas of my incision.

Then I got a big lecture from the nurses and Dr. Buchanan about resting.  They told me horror stories about having to drain fluid off patients bellies with big needles.  Dr. B is taking the drain out next week, no matter what because of increased risk of infection if he leaves it in.  He also wants me to slowly wean myself off percocet and muscle relaxers so that I can more clearly listen to my body and not overdo.   I can still take them to sleep, but not during the day.    We made a new appointment for the following week and I went home..... to rest.  And rest some more..... and ten some more....  This is the most difficult part of my recovery..... Doing nothing. Sigh

Overdoing it!

I am an idiot!  I had some flawed thinking that if I was on Percocet and Muscle relaxers that I was also somehow invincible!   Over the past few days I have been a dumb dumb girl!    I ran an errand, walked about Walmart for an hour and attended a 2 hour PTA budget meeting on one day.  The next day I threw a birthday party for a friend... at my house!  The next day I watched the Seahawks beat the Packers in the playoff game.  Which involved lots of flawing of my arms, jumping up and down and screaming!    I bruised my finger from clapping so hard.  I was a hot mess.

And I paid for it.  Dearly.  I was so sore.  My body bloated up again with extra fluid.  My output in my drain was crazy high.  I was really not doing well.  Here are some bloated pictures of me on January 12th almost 2 weeks post surgery.

Front view.  My legs are sooo swollen!

Right side.   

 Left side.  Still have my drain.  Red blood in the drain at this point is not great!   It means I have been doing too much.

 That mark below the guaze is a blood blister that I got when Dr. Buchanan removed the saran wrap when he checked my belly button last week.  

I have to go to the Dr. again tomorrow to see if he will take out the last drain tube.  I should have rested more.....