First Outing

Since the screen house is attached to the house, it really doesn't count as my first time outside the house. So yesterday's drive to Wyoming for allergy shots was my first outing since the surgery.

There was a lot of prep involved, starting with a much-needed and long-delayed shower. I'd had one after getting home, but since the dressing I was told to leave on for ten-twelve days stayed wet for hours afterward, despite following directions to towel-wick it dry, I decided I could live without showering until it was ready to be removed. No sense courting infection. But first, remove the dressing.

It seemed like it was ready. Some of the lower edges were curling up and away from the skin, likely from being in more sweaty areas. I started there, slowly peeling off tape, until the whole gauze pad - nasty! - was removed. I found out three things: the tape removed some skin, it was the medical adhesive I'm allergic to, and there was a solid wall of overlapping tape strips over the actual incision yet to remove. The hospital had sent me home with three packets of wipes to remove the adhesive, so woefully inadequate that when Jessica offered to head to the local pharmacy and buy a box of them, I gratefully agreed. I think I ultimately used about a third of the box. I'm still reacting to having the stuff on my skin for that long, but that's just one of a myriad of itches I can't do anything about right now. Hardly noticeable in the bigger scheme of things - until I try to go to sleep at night, when each one magnifies without the distractions of the day to gigantic proportions to plague me.

Once everything was off, I discovered something else. I'd thought they sliced me open from pubic bone to navel. Nope. Didn't stop at the navel. Just went alongside and kept going. And apparently one of the stitches at the navel hadn't held. There was a gap, straight on one side, curved on the other, nearly an inch long, not healed over and oozing. Nasty!

Time to call for basic how-do-I-treat-this? information. My own doctor's office wouldn't even address the issue. Talk to the surgeon. So I did, and got the questions to assess the opening over the phone. Obviously too late to re-stitch. The ultimate was if it isn't oozing, leave it open to the air to finish healing. If it is, put a plain dressing over it to keep stuff out until it stops, then leave it open. And yes, showering is still OK.

Good! We had large dressings, with adhesive I was not allergic to, and I could buy more after the allergy shots. There was a whole list of errands.

I woke to the alarm for the first time in nearly two weeks, took care of the dogs, got Daddy up, and grabbed my shower. I was already exhausted. After a small break, I collected what I needed, got Paul up to fix Daddy breakfast, and got in the car. Whew! A comfy seat! There just isn't one in the house that doesn't get me saddle-sore and squirming after all this much time sitting. The car is much better, but still not perfect, and after this much time out of it, was causing problems by the time I got home again. I felt just fine driving, although generally weak. Hit the drive through for a breakfast sandwich - been so long I forgot to have them not add cheese (blech!) - and ate on the way to the hospital where the allergy clinic is.

While it took actual effort on my part to walk all the way in, even stopping at the bathroom, I had no problems. Walking out was another matter. I had to stop and rest partway through the lobby, rest again once in the car. I did take one small detour - two feet, actually - on the way in to stop at their scale. It's official: I'm down a full 35 pounds now since April!!!! I'm not sure it shows: the belly feels as bloaty-big as it did before surgery. It's just not solid anymore.

Was I going to actually be able to go back to work on Monday?

Next stop was the pharmacy, so I asked the pharmacist what she'd recommend I do besides taking iron pills to speed my recovery after so much blood loss. I'm pinking up again, but still feeling weak. She recommended Gatorade. Really! Maybe I was also needing to replace electrolites, since I hadn't been eating or drinking much. So I added that to the cart, after spending over twenty minutes reading labels. Once back in the car, I downed a small bottle, and started perking up again. More errands to run, none of which required actually leaving the car, and I arrived home still feeling fairly perky. Of course, with my 10-lb. weight restrictions, I let Paul bring in the bags from the car. Perky though I was, I went in my room and took a nap.

Had another bottle in the afternoon, maintained my feeling of increased well-being, finished the book I was on and started the next on in the series, and still took an afternoon nap.

Am I really going to be able to go back to work Monday?

Saturday will be a real test. It's auction day, over in Anoka at their fairgrounds. Doug has promised me a platform to sit on, rather than rolling around the room with the merchandise, and a computer (vs. paper) auction. I'm sincerely hoping to give him a good performance through the whole thing. I figure get there early enough to grab a morning nap in the car, get help hauling my chair and scooter out and setting them up, take more Gatorade, and maybe nap again before driving home.

Now to figure out what food to take, and when to eat it. The blood sugar levels have been kind of wild since the surgery, partly from no eating and no exercise. This is a month I have to keep track religiously, with an appointment at the end of it to monitor how I've been doing. It'll be interesting.

But seriously: will I really be able to go back to work on Monday?