Time flies when you're feeling good :-)

 Heyyy, there! It's been since the end of last month since I provided an update. That's good news! I feel really great. I'm back to work, Vaida is back in [virtual] school, and things seem to be moving in the right direction. I've started cleaning and cooking and doing many things that I really, honestly missed doing (being dependent upon others to keep my home and routines up to my liking was really the hardest part of all of this for me). Still no mowing, real yard work (I have SO many perennials that need split, but...), lifting or moving, or anything strenuous but it does feel good to start getting back to normal. I exercise every day (elliptical and a walk) which is good for all things. 

My wounds are still healing  but they are healing... so that's good. I just need to be patient and keep up with my daily cocktail - 100g protein, zinc, vitamin C, tons of water, elderberry jam in honey tea, 2 packets of juven. I do recommend this cocktail. I've made great progress with healing.

Dr. Cochran is pleased with my progress and we're still hopeful I can have my last 2 surgeries this calendar year. Please cross your fingers for me!

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

The things that don't come in the manual....

I keep reminding myself that I knew this surgery would be life-changing. What I didn't think about ahead of time was (I may add to this list ongoing)...

- Forget cuddling. For a long time..
- Forget good sleep... Everything is uncomfortable
- BYE carbs, carbonation. Swelly belly essentially happens when you eat too much, eat carbs, or anything else that is on the "no-no" list that I haven't pinpointed yet and means your belly swells, gets extremely tight around the incisions and is very uncomfortable
- hair loss :( My hair is FALLING out. Obviously, if I hadn't done this prophylactically I would expect hair loss from chemo or whatever, but I never expected to lose my hair from surgery.
- I haven't tried it yet but apparently maxi pads work better than gauze for the oozing.
- Hang onto all those old cami's - I've ruined several already by oozing through them.

- Stock up on Zinc, Vitamin C, Juven drink mix, and tons of protein snacks. I didn't get this info from my clinical team at all - this info all came from various sources on my own terms when trying to get my wounds to heal. 

- The weeds and other such things that are "extra" tasks in life - let them go out the window :( I've stressed over not getting EVERYTHING done like I would normally have things done and the stress just isn't worth it. Depending on others for everything is exhausting and there's absolutely no way to keep everything running normal. Let it go... 

- At five months post-DIEP, I'm not 100% but I'm 75%. Mostly tightness/soreness in my belly. 

- The emotional component of this journey is just as exhausting (if not more) as the physical component of this journey.

- Having strong legs and a strong back ahead of DIEP will REALLY help!

- The anticipation of BMX and DIEP was much worse than the surgery itself <3

Made it to the DIEP side :)

I can now say it, too :) I made it to the DIEP side.

Doing ok... It's been a pretty rough road. My surgery was 17 hours on July 21. I woke up in PACU around 1am and remember hearing the conversations among the team about getting me out of PACU to ICU as soon as possible (probably because they were tired!). My doctor is so awesome that she contracted with a device to monitor my flaps ongoing. She could monitor my flaps from her phone with this device. The only problem is, my flaps are small (because she did a great job) so the machine couldn't get a good reading. So it alarmed ALL NIGHT LONG for three nights.

My care team in ICU was amazing. I was treated like a queen. And Dr. Cochran rounded, came to see me every day at least once. She's a perfectionist, which I SO appreciate! I was discharged Sunday, on Post-op day 5. Since being home (today is Thursday), I've had THE best nurse, Vaida :) She really hasn't left my side, waits on me hand and foot, and genuinely cares about my healing SO much. I'd be lost without her and I get teary just thinking about it. So enough of all that..

Did I mention this is a life-changing surgery? I sleep reclined and will probably for the next several months. Once I don't have to be reclined anymore, I have to sleep on my back for a bit longer yet. I will also do away with carbs and anything with carbonation and move to a plant-based diet. AH!

Otherwise, I'm doing ok. Each day gets a little bit better. I thought I'd try and get off my pain meds so I tried that yesterday and regretted it by bedtime. I'm just not ready yet. In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out how to nap during the day, stay asleep at night, and somehow get up without my belly and chest screaming at me :) As long as I'm sitting down (besides the sore butt - I didn't get that memo previously), I feel OK. I've definitely learned what it means to "netflix n chill" LOL.

Ready, Set, DIEP!

HOLY smokes! My big day is so soon. I got my COVID test today and of course I'm crossing my fingers it's negative. I feel like I've just been coasting the last 2.5 weeks and I haven't done the nesting, the list-making, etc. that I did prior to my first surgery. Probably good because there's not much I can do, anyway. Good thing I'm a planner :) I guess most things are still taking care of themselves.

I met a new friend who is also going to the DIEP side on Tuesday with me. Her name is Tracey. It's nice to have someone who I'll be able to connect with and share stories.

I cooked for the first time tonight since surgery. Maybe I shouldn't have, but damn did it feel good! Vaida and I just don't have quite the same...cooking interests :) I LOVE cooking! I went out to the garden, picked a few eggplant, and whipped up some deliciousness - eggplant, red onion, fresh herbs, quinoa, marinara OHH LA LA (see my pic for more fun!).

I'm doing OK, just getting nervous. I'm SO ready to be on the other side. Several folks have actually said the PMX was worse in terms of home recovery than DIEP. We'll see. 

My tiny support circle has been nothing short of amazing and I'm SO grateful <3

First one down, how many to go?

I'm Post-Op Day (POD 2). I wish I could tell you that I feel great! I'm pretty uncomfortable. Starting back with Wednesday, though, because I intended to write the day before and the day after.

Wednesday, the day prior to surgery, was spent last-minute doing everything- nesting. Went to bed feeling great around 11 that night. Woke up Thursday around 5 am, again feeling great!

My surgical team was phenomenal! My surgeons are Dr. Tam Mai, General Surgeon, and Dr. Abigail Cochran, Plastic Surgeon. Dr. Andy Kim was my anesthesiologist and did a phenomenal job. I think I look pretty good, so far. My worry is being numb, will I know if I'm starting to have a complication? My incisions are underneath, which is great, but I can't see them. Hoping for the best.

Vaida has been the absolute BEST nurse a mom could have. I really don't know what I'd do without her.

Yesterday, POD1, was rough! Super rough. I had a really, really hard time sleeping Thursday night, Friday daytime, and finally got some sleep last night. I haven't slept much today and fireworks will probably pop through the night but I feel best when I'm sleeping.

I can already tell, it's going to require diligent effort to keep my glass half full these next few months. <3