Post-Op Day 2

On day two of recuperation...well this was the news this morning, I had an entire abdominal wall rupture. My upper stomach muscles were spread by 4 inches, he said he really had to do some work to suture them back together, my lower abdominal wall was worse at around 6 inches, but all muscles are sutured and secured back to the Siamese twins they should be. He estimates 7-8 pounds of tissue were removed...WOW...He doesn't want me up walking around and wants me in a recliner...I have no recliner at home so we will make due the bed pillows...I think my daughter is going to get me a arm rest pillow she can later use for her dorm...I'm not allowed to stand up straight or lay flat and I am handling that fairly well. I'm just such a stomach sleeper but I'm getting over that....:)


This morning, I went from the pain pump pushing Dilautid every 5 minutes to Percocet every 3 hours. He also ordered Fiorcet for the headache, and IV Phenergan for the nausea. I have not needed the Phenergan but twice. After two rounds of Fiorcet my migrain headache is gone. I'm eating a soft food diet which really is regular food...Man after one day that is pretty remarkable...The abdominal binders, and I have two that cover my entire abdomen, really provide some stabilization comfort, the drains take out some of the fluid so the swelling decreases. I still have an IV going, I guess it will be stopped tomorrow. I had some pretty significant nausea and so we did not want to push fluids...smart choice on his part. I feel very well taken care of by my doctors and the nurses. It is also great to have family around...I have learned two things, one, this doctor is very well respected by the nurses on the floor. He makes sure his patients get the best care...I can't tell you how many times I have heard "This is Dr. Noels patient, so we HAVE to do so and so" The other thing is it's great having family around. Just getting up and going to the restroom, having your hair combed, getting things arranged in close proximity to your bedside all help when you don't want to wait on an aide or you feel like your being too demanding on them. Family can also go out and ask for pain meds if it has been a little bit longer than you anticipated, get you fresh ice water, drinks, snacks, and reading material (but if you know me you know I brought my portable library).I've opted for pain meds in the shorter time frame and a double dose, to stay out of pain is a huge key in recovery, the facts are you WILL get up and walk and move and breath deeply and cough. All those help in circulation, pneumonia prevention, and generalized healing, My pain at this point is about 6 over 10 and I'm due pain meds in 15 minutes. I don't think our pain scores should ever get to be 8 because by the time you get pain meds on board it is excruciating and then your in a downward spiral...I've been able to stay on top of the pain and this is how you do it for all those out there wanting to know how this process can be as pain free as possible. I will say the physician disagrees with me a bit, to have too much pain coverage encourages us to maybe over do it. Success depends on none of these stitches bursting....so less pain meds and less action is what he wants, so we all live and learn.


These binders help more than I can tell you they are thick and tight. I believe it helps to relieve the pain, by just external support they also keep the swelling down and both those help you to cough. BUT since they were rubbing some of the skin off of my hips he stopped the wearing of those....Oh well, it is all progress!