Heather Anne
Well-known member
I meant to post this yesterday, when it actually was one week post-surgery, but I'm going to post it anyway, and we shall all pretend that one week equals eight days:
So, I got home on Sunday, which was fantastic. Lots of flowers, cards, and my 14-year-old son asking me constantly if I wanted my water glass refilled (I wasn't entirely sure if he'd been switched out for some other child, but decided not to ask). I would say that my two biggest issues this week have been:
(1) gastric reflux. I know, gross. But I had horrible heartburn from it that made it extremely painful to swallow solid food. Two days of Prilosec later and it's at least manageable, so thank God for Prilosec.
(2) annoying late-night coughing attacks. I'd be fine all day long, but the minute I lay down to sleep, I'd get these hacking fits that just about killed me. My 15-year old daughter, who couldn't be bothered to refill my water glass even once during the day, actually came running downstairs at 2 AM because she thought I was dying. I started doing my spirometer exercises more fervently (I had kind of blown them off once they let me out of the hospital), and last night slept six straight cough-free hours. So, kids, the moral of the story is: do your spirometer exercises!!!
I'm also taking three outside walks per day, which each consist of a 1/3 mile walk to the neighborhood library and back. This took me 18 minutes the first time I did it!!! One of my good friends rode by on his bike during that little adventure, and said "Wow, you're practicing walking!" Which made me laugh, because I did look exactly like a person who was learning to walk all over again. I've now cut that time to 14 minutes, but I'm giving myself the day off today because I felt like I overdid it a bit yesterday and had some PVC's and loud heart beats as a result.
The highlight of my week, for sure, was the in-home massage my husband arranged for my first full day home. Oh, my God, it was delicious! Even though I couldn't lay on my stomach, she was able to reach underneath me to get at those aching back muscles. It was so great that I'm having another one this weekend. If you can find a way to make this happen for you, I can't recommend it highly enough.
Otherwise, I'm puttering around the house, beginning to entertain a visitor or two, and feeling like the recovery process, though slow, is proceeding on schedule.
So, I got home on Sunday, which was fantastic. Lots of flowers, cards, and my 14-year-old son asking me constantly if I wanted my water glass refilled (I wasn't entirely sure if he'd been switched out for some other child, but decided not to ask). I would say that my two biggest issues this week have been:
(1) gastric reflux. I know, gross. But I had horrible heartburn from it that made it extremely painful to swallow solid food. Two days of Prilosec later and it's at least manageable, so thank God for Prilosec.
(2) annoying late-night coughing attacks. I'd be fine all day long, but the minute I lay down to sleep, I'd get these hacking fits that just about killed me. My 15-year old daughter, who couldn't be bothered to refill my water glass even once during the day, actually came running downstairs at 2 AM because she thought I was dying. I started doing my spirometer exercises more fervently (I had kind of blown them off once they let me out of the hospital), and last night slept six straight cough-free hours. So, kids, the moral of the story is: do your spirometer exercises!!!
I'm also taking three outside walks per day, which each consist of a 1/3 mile walk to the neighborhood library and back. This took me 18 minutes the first time I did it!!! One of my good friends rode by on his bike during that little adventure, and said "Wow, you're practicing walking!" Which made me laugh, because I did look exactly like a person who was learning to walk all over again. I've now cut that time to 14 minutes, but I'm giving myself the day off today because I felt like I overdid it a bit yesterday and had some PVC's and loud heart beats as a result.
The highlight of my week, for sure, was the in-home massage my husband arranged for my first full day home. Oh, my God, it was delicious! Even though I couldn't lay on my stomach, she was able to reach underneath me to get at those aching back muscles. It was so great that I'm having another one this weekend. If you can find a way to make this happen for you, I can't recommend it highly enough.
Otherwise, I'm puttering around the house, beginning to entertain a visitor or two, and feeling like the recovery process, though slow, is proceeding on schedule.
