Friday morning I woke up to my newest set of nurses. They were amazing and were insistent on finding a solution. I asked them if I could try a stomach binder, something I had read about online. It’s basically a huge tight ace bandage that Velcro’s around your stomach, so that it offers a lot of support to your stomach muscles. They said they’d talk to my surgeon about it and let me know.
The surgeon A-OK’d the stomach binder, and even asked me what made me think to ask for it. My response “google” he laughed and said it was a great idea. It’s something they usually use for patients that have open procedures, but it made since with the muscle tear to use it in my case. The binder doesn’t get rid of the pain, but it does do wonders for helping to support my stomach.
As the day progressed, I was able to get in more and more of the broth and protein jello. The surgeons PA put me on limited movement; I wasn’t even allowed to walk out of my room. I was also given a different narcotic pain med which we can crush and put into yogurt or pudding.
I was released on Friday afternoon, and while my pain isn’t gone, we are working on ways to manage it. I can honestly say that if I hadn’t torn this muscle, I’d feel about 80% of my normal self. I have absolutely no pain or discomfort anywhere except where the torn muscle is.
Friday evening I thought I would wind up sleeping downstairs, since I am not supposed to go up and down stairs, but I did go super slow up the stairs to get into bed.
It’s Saturday now and the new pain meds are doing wonders. I am basically on bed rest, but can walk for a minute or two upstairs and then to and from the bathroom. I’m hoping in the next day or two I will see down stairs again. Papa Scale is here taking care of me since Mama Scale had to head home and the Hubs had to go down to visit with his kids. I’m catching up on blogs and getting my posts up.
I am able to get my 2 protein shakes in a day now, take my chewable vitamins, and I am working on my water. My goal is to get to 64oz a day of liquids. Slow but steady will win the race!
Tomorrows post…all about the TMI, the things you DON’T want to read about if you have a sensitive stomach. Some of them are things I wish I would have known more about pre-op.
I’m annoyed with myself that I forgot to check in with your blog to see how your surgery went! Well, I’m checking in now, and I’m glad that everything’s gone well, except for the torn muscle! That sounds REALLY painful!
But what a weight loss week one! I bet you’re really thrilled.
Hopefully the stomach thing will heal quickly and you’ll get back to feeling like your old self, and then your weight loss and your health will pick up, and it’ll be smooth sailing from here-on down.
(I’m also adding your blog to my blogroll – not sure why it wasn’t on there! I thought it was. XD Oh well.)
Thanks for checking in Tracy! I’m going to add you to my reader right now!
I’m really happy that things are getting close to normal.
It’s so nice that things are getting closer to normal. I still have some soreness, sometimes more than others, but way better than it was last week, that is for sure!