Back to the grind...AHH!

School is starting, summer is over, and I start work tomorrow- OH MY!

It all came crashing to a screeching halt in the matter of about a day! I saw Dr. Cochran on Friday and reminded her my leave is only approved through 08/31 and she said, "OK, back to work Tuesday, then." Normally, 8 weeks off is standard for DIEP but I feel great, despite my infection and open wounds still. So, I essentially had the weekend to find clothes and bras that fit (which I failed to do), get Vaida's schedule for the first few weeks of e-learning situated (which also is not finished), and all my other errands and to-do's completed so I'm ready for work on Tuesday. Anxious, a bit, eh? YEA!

I need to give a shout out to my home health nurse, Jennifer! Before surgery, a colleague of mine recommended I reach out to get home health services established and I'm SO glad I did! I ended up with a wound immediately post-op from my second surgery and couldn't reach it to change my own dressing. Vaida tried, but is that something I should really rely upon her? Um, no. Jennifer was also able to identify several other minor complications before I could (I'm numb across my torso and can't see under my breasts) and handled everything so graciously with me! I appreciate her so much - SO, if you're reading this in preparation for your own procedures and have the opportunity to either set home health up for yourself or through your doctor's office, take advantage of it! If you're like me, you pay the cost of your left arm in insurance premiums - get the most out of meeting your deductible as you possibly can! 

One other thing I'd recommend to others preparing for surgery is to look into Physical Therapy options post-operatively (get it set up in advance though, if you can). I keep telling my surgeon, there's no playbook for this procedure and then she kind of makes me feel like a looney tune for asking questions about milestones, etc. For instance, when she told me I had the weekend to prepare to go back to work, I let her know I hadn't even worn a bra yet. I'm not even sure I can get a bra on! I know for sure I still require help getting shirts over my head at FIVE WEEKS OUT! I think this is normal but she didn't account for all that and how it affects me getting back to a regular routine. She snarkily said, "Well, do you want PT?" As if fitting PT into my schedule at this point is feasible (eye rolllll). 

To close, I wanted to share that yesterday was a beautiful day here in central, IL - 80 degrees, sunny, nice cool breeze. At 5.5 weeks post-op, I was able to take the kids and a few dogs (I didn't hold the leashes) to the trails and managed about 30 minutes of hiking! It felt great! 

If only I was good at sitting still....

 So, I'm almost a month post-op...

Besides not really having the whole sleep-thing down, I feel SO good! I'm not really having pain other than incisional pain and pain when I get up/sit down. No complaints, though.

I developed a wound that I'm doing wet to dry dressing changes on 2x a day. That's my set back. Then, I developed a yeast infection under that wound from the moisture of the dressing. My wound is slowly healing and the yeast infection is almost gone.

In order to promote good wound healing, I've been trying to get as close to 100g of protein a day as I can. This is tough! I made a list of all my favorite high-protein snacks and posted it here. I know most of us know the common ones, but there were a few that I got tired of and needed to replace. I also LOVED the Hulk - Coffee (30 g) from Smoothie King (small filled me up)! My advice is to have protein-rich snacks at home and ready for when you're recovering because even without a wound, this will promote tons of good tissue growth. Also, Juven!! Again, even if you don't have a wound, this stuff is SO great for a good, healthy recovery. My home health nurse and all my nurse friends helping me with my wound have been so impressed by my wound healing process.  Not to mention, my nails are long for the first time EVER!

Anyway, back to the whole sitting still thing... I'm just not good at it. My helpers do a great job of trying to keep up with the yard, the house, my plants, the pets, etc.... :) but there's so much that I wish I could just get up and do myself but I know I'm not supposed to and I'm reminded of that often. I have played on my phone and Facebook WAY too much, even though I downloaded tons of podcasts, made lists of shows to watch, and had plenty of resting to-do's. I just don't do well sitting still. I'm definitely trying to be good, though.

This morning, I got up and went for my first walk around the neighborhood. It felt SO good! I hope to do it again each day going forward. I miss walking.

I'm going to make a post called, "If I had to do it over again..." where I'll list out things that I wished I'd done differently. But I'd do this again in a heartbeat for anyone considering :) I'll add to this list ongoing. 

Hoping to return to work after August 31! This would be about 5-6 weeks post-op. I'll keep you posted. Much love <3