I thought the nurse, Patty, would be to my room around 9 or so, so I got up at about 8:15 and was going to try to be showered already when she got here. I don't get dizzy in the shower or anything like a lot of others do, I just get exhausted after! I figure this way I could lay on the bed with the compression garments off and just air out a while. Having these things on 24-7 is getting a bit tiring, but it needs to be done...I was just looking for a few minutes of air! Ha ha! Anyway, I was in the bathroom, shower was on and I was trying to remove all the bandages before I got in the shower instead of letting them fall to the drain..
--We interrupt this rambling for this commentary: Ok, taking bandages off of areas that are still numb is the most odd feeling in the world! Most all my stitch areas are still numb because of the removal of skin and that means nerve reassignment or repair has to happen or whatever it is called. So I was going slow because it was freaky and so glad she arrived. Now, back to the regularly scheduled ramblings.--
So, that is when Patty arrived, and I was glad to have her help removing the bandages. I got in the shower and it felt so good. At the clinic they didn't even have washcloths so I had a real washcloth and I could really just feel better washing most of what I could. I can almost bend and touch my toes now, but it's still very slow doing so and sore. Anyway, showering always makes me feel better. :)
Out of the shower Patty dried off what I couldn't, and I was getting tired already. Once I was dried off I asked her if I could sit down. She told me to lay on the bed and she could do what she did while I was laying down. What she did was put antibiotic ointment on all of my stitches and new gauze taping it on. I did roll from side to side (slowly) so she could do the stitches around the sides and back, but she let me lay down the whole time. She also put on my compression garments while I was laying down! She got them all the way up the arms and thighs and I was amazed. Apparently nurses here don't get paid too much so she leaves the clinic at 8 am and then visits all Dr. S's patients in the hotel and then goes back to work that night for another 12 hour shift. I don't know if she works at the clinic 7 days a week but she sure does work at the hotel 7 days a week. I don't think I haven't seen some overlap of patients from the Obesity Help boards since I joined in November. I did see that there is a gap late in February...so not sure how that effects her. All the patients I know have left her a tip of at least $50, but I think I may do more since she stays an hour a day with me. Dr. S pretty much said she lives off of the tips she makes here. Anyway, she is great.
--Another interruption while I go empty my drains....yes drains. I will have to tell you about these!--
Ok, so for the rest of the day after Patty left, I ate breakfast (mom had gone down and gotten it from the free breakfast for me while Patty was here because I would of missed it), hung out with Mary, the three of us went to Applebee's for lunch, then napped, then hung out with Mary more, and then met Lisa at about 10:15pm who is a new arrival. She is getting marked up this morning and then straight to surgery. She's alone so Mary and I met her in the lobby and welcomed her and chatted with her, etc. :) She's very nice and just a little nervous, so we hoped we were helping her be calmer, which probably doesn't work. So that was the day...pain? Yes, still in the but/lower back area and abs of course...the rest is still just soreness. I didn't notice much of the swelling going down during the day, but day by day it has to get better, right? Oh, I told Dr. Sauceda last night (when he brought Lisa) that I wanted to count the stitches as we remove them, and he said please don't! Ha ha. He guestimated that I have about 1000 stitches! Yikes!
Ok...now, drains! Dun dun dun! If you're squeamish then maybe you shouldn't read this part, it is kinda gross. So, I have these tubes coming out of my skin in different areas, and they are just held at that point by stitch material wrapped around the tube, and then in my skin and the tube apparently goes way into the body. For example, on my lower arm at the elbow area I have one coming out, and inside it goes up through the arm to where all the stitches are, which is up to my arm pit. So I have one of these drains on both arms, both thighs and three coming out of the mons (yes, the upper girlie part). Those three are for the lower body lift, one goes around left, one goes around right, and one goes up through the middle. So, they are clear tubes that go down to these bulb type things on the end. You squeeze the bulbs and then put the top on it so it provides suction to the tube that goes inside...getting out all the blood at first and then it turns clear and it's removing more water from the swelling. Sometimes there's pieces of something floating in there, maybe tissue, maybe fat, I don't know. It's kind of gross but I have gotten used to it. If you take out your drains too soon you could get a seroma, which is a buildup of fluid under the skin which may be absorbed back into the body eventually, or you may have to go get them aspirated, which I think means they stick a needle in you and suck out the fluid. Either way, I want them kept in as long as they need to be. Some people have to go home with them. I measure them as I empty them and I have one that is measuring at 30cc's in 24 hours and one that is over 200. It seems my left side of my body is draining more. He said I may be able to get one or two out within the next two days. They are odd to have to carry around and hide from people, but if it helps me heal, then so be it.
--Another side note...when we were in Applebee's and we were getting up leaving, it's quite funny because Mary and I take so long to get up, and then walk like we have a load in our diaper (according to mom). So there were these two younger women sitting at a booth across from us and I saw one say something and then point her head towards us, and they both stopped talking and looked at us. I told Mary they were talking about us...not like I care, probably will never see them again...but then I realized one of my drains was hanging out of my jacket. Gross, huh? Have a nice lunch! Ha ha!--
--Another another side note...so, since I have been on the sleeping pills, when I don't take them I dream a lot, which I never used to do, even while napping. When I was napping yesterday, or trying to, I had the weirdest dream. I was in something that looked like a Mexican town and this meteor hit the ground right in front of me, but instead of making a dent in the ground it kind of broke up. Then when I stood there looking at it, I realized it wasn't a meteor, it was a group of killer bee's! So people around me didn't make a big deal of it, like, they come to get one person and that person is already picked and so they felt safe. So, the bee's flew off in a big swarm and it was like a cartoon, they covered someone and swiped them off to never never land. But then they came back, this is when some people got concerned. So I ran into one building which was like a restaurant just to try to be inside away from them. They were seating people in this restaurant like there was nothing going on, so I yelled at them that there were bees, and then looked around and realized it was open windows so I wasn't safe. So I was running down the street and ran into this old shack looking building that had a hole in it and there were a bunch of people trying to close the whole with a board and I just busted through that thing! So I got in this dark, cramped, crowded place trying to get away from the bees. I remember in my dream someone vomiting. I then was sitting on this taller chair, like a director's chair, and there were these two goats trying to jump on me! One was pink and one was black. I had one foot on each goat's head trying to keep them down! I then ran away from the goats because they wouldn't leave me alone. By this point the bee's had passed us, and we heading up this huge cliff to this amusement park. The bees enveloped someone in line at the roller coaster and then I woke up. So...moral of the story....we were talking about baby goat yesterday because that is some kind of delicacy here....I think the moral is don't eat goat!--
--Just one more funny story...after I woke up from the goat dream, mom was still sleeping, or resting or something (no deep breathing so not sure) and I was trying to get up from the bed alone. I have just the garments on and I start to try to roll to the side, laying on my right elbow and trying to get my feet on the ground. Well, I was too far back on the bed and I couldn't get my feet to the ground, but since my legs were hanging off and I have the garments on, I started to slip! I thought I was going to fall off the bed! Finally I said "mom I need you're help I am falling off the bed!" Now, that story isn't funny, but when I told Corrie last night she was in hysterics. She said she was having this own little comedy movie in her head and was laughing so hard she was crying. She did say though that if that happened on her watch she would of sacrificed herself and let me land on her, ha ha! I would of broken her I think, but it gave me a good laugh last night which of course made my abs hurt!--
I am going to try to post some pictures here...if I can figure out how to again. :)
Ok, that's enough for today, will post more soon! :) Thanks to everyone who's been keeping up with the blog and sending me such wonderful emails! I love you guys!
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