Recovery (Part Three)

When we arrived at the house getting up the stairs to the bedroom was beyond uncomfortable. I had to take one step at a time and pause in between each one. The pain was unbearable and hubby still needed to go drop off the prescription for the pain meds. He assisted me into bed and I think I must have instantly passed out. But it wasn’t for long because I woke up 2 hours later with a horrendous need to urinate. This was the first struggle of post surgery and it continued the remainder of the night. My bladder was sore and bruised from the catheter and I swear it refused to work. I sat in the bathroom for 20 minutes unable to relieve myself. I tried everything from rocking side to side to sticking my hand under the faucet; anything to try to trigger my bladder to release something until I managed to squeeze a few drops. This pattern of sleeping and attempting to pee continued on a 2 hour rotation for the entire rest of the day/evening.

Hubby picked up my medication and fixed me a warm bowl of mashed potatoes. He was even sweet enough to get me some chocolate pudding and helped me swallow my meds. He took such good care of me and was working so hard to clean up the house before his mom and sister arrived the next day. I had my cell phone next to me and called him every moment I needed his assistance. This ranged from; needing him to move my pillow, adjusting my legs, refilling my drink, helping me to the bathroom. He was/is amazing; I seriously don’t know what I’d do without him!

The next morning my body was stiff and sore. I had slept in only one position all night…….on my back. Hubby had to lift me out of bed and assist me to the commode. I sat there for almost 30 minutes struggling to fight through the pain. I can only describe it has a vicious mind game……your brain gets a signal of pain and decides to shut down your bladder and I try to do everything I can think of to get it going again. This back and forth sensation of pain and desire for relief goes back and forth until something finally gives.

Next it was time to shower…….I was still covered in that orange body paint they cover your surgical area with. I was told not to use soap and only allowed to rinse with water. Hubby gently sprayed me down and tried to rinse away all the orange stuff that had me looking like an Oompa Loompa. He washed my hair and then lifted me out of the shower. I was basically unable to do anything that involved my abdominal muscles which I now realize is EVERYTHING! From lifting your legs, bending, walking, sitting up, standing up, lying down, and everything else in between.

So let me tell you about my surgical wounds and if you could see my tummy what you’d find; there is a small incision in the lower part of my belly button. This is where they inserted a tube that they used to fill up my stomach with air like a balloon. This helps them see all around and gain easier access to my insides. Around my belly button stretched 4 inches apart are these 4 small punctures that look like I had been pricked with a fish hook and I assume that’s because I was. I think they have to support your tummy while it’s blown up and they used hooks to hold everything in place. In my bikini area there is a small incision that they used to insert a camera to help them see where they would insert tools and such. And then the last incision is on my right side, it’s still small but the largest one of the all. The pregnancy was located in my left tube so why the heck did they slice me open from the right? Well after inserting the camera into the bikini incision they were able to see the best angle of approach to retrieve the baby and they determined the best approach was from the right side.

I did not want to be a downer and I know that I had a free pass to be one, but hubby’s family had planned this trip several months back and I didn’t want their entire visit to be focused on taking care of me. I agreed to go to the zoo……hubby and I had never been, but only under the condition that I be pushed around in a wheel chair. Walking was still impossible and I could only slowly waddle. We spent 2-3 hours at the zoo and the wheelchair is not all it’s cracked up to be. I must inform you that sitting in that chair was painful……each bump in the sidewalk sent a bursting pain into my abdomen. You couldn’t see over people standing around you so the zoo had nothing to really entertain me with, and many of the exhibits were not handicap accessible. On top of all that my bladder was killing me and the pain killers were making me drowsy. It was a relief to be back home later that day. My bladder finally had a break-through and while still being extremely painful to go I was now able to get a full stream….sorry TMI.

The TMI continues……..

The days passed by and though I was still sore I could tell I was healing. I should mention that when I left the hospital there was some bright red spotting which of course was to be expected. They warned me to only worry if the bleeding became heavy to the extreme……….this is not something I questioned until Monday. That morning I woke up and after another painful trip to the bathroom it was clear that bleeding had picked up and was certainly heavy…..but what does it mean to be extremely heavy? Everything about my body is strange to me, it’s all unpredictable! That morning I also passed a big clot of gray tissue matter. Creepy? Oh YES extremely!

So I called the doctor and was informed that this was all normal. It was simply my body shedding the remains of the pregnancy and I could expect to pass several gray tissue matter pieces and once all was flushed the bleeding would subside. They were right that day I continued to have a heavy flow and passed 2 more clots then almost immediately after the bleeding slowed down.

I had some light spotting over the next few days but I’m so happy to say that yesterday it came to an end and there’s been no sign of it since, so now there’s at least one thing to celebrate now……..hooray. Now I patiently wait for these incisions to heal and more importantly STOP ITCHING!!

If you’ve stuck around to read my sob story……..well thank you! Thank you for your care and support and the many ((HUGS)) they truly mean so much to me. I can’t say the mood will be any brighter here anytime soon, but I hope my sorrows don’t chase you away.