Hi y’all!
Just a quick post to let you know that I’m here, I’m alive, and I’m grumpy, cranky, and swollen. 2008 Robyn (who recovered from the lower body lift) might disagree, but I think the recovery from this surgery is harder than that one was. I’m having a hard time getting comfortable because so many body parts are involved this time around, and because I’m an absolute idiot, I thought it prudent to take myself off the narcotic painkillers earlier this week. By the time I realized that Tylenol and Advil weren’t doing the job, I had a hell of a time getting back in front of the pain with the narcotics, and then Tuesday night I developed lower back pain so severe that I actually woke Fred up and asked him to take me to the emergency room. He suggested I call and talk to the surgeon, and in the ten minutes the surgeon talked to me, the pain pretty much went away. It came back briefly a few times, but never as bad as it was, and as of Wednesday morning it’s been completely gone. I’m going to say that chances are good that it was caused by spending so much time in the recliner, which isn’t as comfortable as it oughta be. Putting a pillow behind my back helped some, but I spend a lot of time shifting because after an hour or so, my tail bone starts hurting.
Basically, my days look like this: snooze in the recliner in front of the TV for a while, get up and move around, take a pill every four hours, drink lots of water, settle back in the recliner, rinse and repeat.
Yesterday I showered and that was nice although it was so exhausting I required a nap afterward. I tried to sleep in my bed last night, but couldn’t get comfortable, so ended up back in the recliner. After a bad night, I tried the bed again after Fred went to work, and was able to doze for about 3 hours. That helped, but I am cranky and swollen and ready to feel better RIGHT NOW PLEASE.
I’m still not far enough out from surgery to know exactly how happy I’ll be with the results, but I suspect I’ll end up pretty happy. We took the dressing off from around my head Sunday (at the surgeon’s instructions) and I was able to see my neck. Despite the swelling, it looks good to me (ignore the Ed Grimley hair).
Higggggggggggggggggggh.
I saw the surgeon on Wednesday. He said everything looks good, and I had some stitches removed. I got me some fancy headgear that I need to wear for at least the next week so that my underchin area doesn’t swell up and stretch the skin. I’ve also got ace bandages around my upper arms. Nothing but dressing on my boobs, though, which surprised me. I had expected I’d be wearing a sports bra, but not yet (which had me a little relieved, actually, because I can’t stand the idea of pressure on them at this point.)
Speaking of my boobs, they are lower and further apart than I expected, but I believe my surgeon knows what he’s doing, so there you go. I haven’t taken a good look at everything, because due to the swelling and the stitches, nothing’s going to look like it will eventually, so why stress myself out?
This was me Wednesday. Aren’t I stylin’?
(That shirt is a men’s 5x, left over from Fred’s fat days. Thank god it’s so damn big, because I’ve got limited motion with my arms and I can’t fathom trying to put on a smaller shirt at the moment.)
The cats are being very sweet – I had to shake the can of compressed air at them a few times after I got home Saturday, but for the most part they’ve given me a wide berth. I think seeing me walking through the house with my arms held in front of me all zombie-like freaks ’em out a little. I did wake up to find Corbie nibbling gently on my finger tips the other morning.
Now if you’ll pardon me, I’m going to post this, take a pill, and get back into the recliner. I’ve got 20+ episodes of House on the DVR that are calling my name!
I don’t expect posting to resume anything soon – I’m spending very little time in front of the computer these days, though I check email and Twitter and Facebook every so often from my iPod – but that could change. Just wanted to let y’all know that things are fine (and I’m cranky and swollen and slightly miserable, but I know I’ll get through it okay.)
Elwood would like you to know that he’s the king of the trash can!
“I’m the KING! OF! THE TRASH CAN!”
“King! Of! The! Trash! ::slip:: ”
“I meant to do that.”
Previously
2010: Gone for a week and a day and THAT GODDAMN UTERUS is still makin’ my life difficult!
2009: I held up four fingers. “I. Have. A. TOTAL. Of. Four. Buckets. Of. Litter.” I said slowly.
2008: This is my “What the fuck am I supposed to do here with this board that isn’t as tall as the others?” face.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: Amazon is the Jonathan Baker of boyfriends.
2004: I could have crowned myself “The Queen of Fuck.”
2003: Because M&Ms rock, and so does my husband.
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry.
2000: Have I mentioned that three-day weekends rock? They surely do.