Recovery will be a lot longer than I thought.......

Hello All,
I thought I would do an update on how I am recovering.
Well, Monday morning last week I woke up groaning in pain! It was SO bad. I wanted to cry and I feared that I had come home to early. I wanted one of those injections so badly. At that point I realised that recovery was gonna take a lot longer than I thought it would.

I felt like I had a tennis ball or more between my legs! Haha.....trying to be discreet and all. We ended up contacting the surgeon because the pain was bad and the swelling quite bad too. She was concerned that I might have a haematoma so she asked me to come in during the next couple of days.

I went in to see her and she checked it all out and agreed that I was more swollen than they would have expected but didn't have any reason for it except that bodies are individual and can respond differently to surgical procedures as we all know too well. I started taking more pain relief for the pain which caused me to forget things during the week but at least I was able to get the pain under control without needing to go back to the hospital. Dr Grant said that there was no haematoma and she was very relieved. I have had some stuff coming out of the wound which is a reddish colour.....as well as other colours and I was concerned about bleeding and my monthly time was winding up and I knew this was coming from the incision which is heaps bigger than the other one. Because my marrow was suppressed from being unwell weeks ago I was concerned that the platelets had dropped again but the surgeon put my mind at ease and said that this "bleeding" was not platelet bleeding but stuff that comes normally when a wound is healing and that people with high platelets have this as well. It is the healing process. So I have not felt as concerned as I was. My nursing mind and experience acknowledges this as well but when it is yourself you feel more concerned.

So I have been doing ice packs, pain relief and I have now started salt baths to help the healing, clean the area, decrease pain and swelling. The swelling gas come down half way but is still quite swollen. It is annoying and I can't wait to be normal. The incisions are stinging and when the pain relief wears off I feel like knives are cutting into me. It is horrible. That is what the C-section felt like when pain relief wore off. I haven't been able to walk around...I have waddled VERY slowly when walking. I seem to be able to speed up a little now but not for long. I have been either lying in bed on my back or sides with a pillow between my legs. I sit on the recliner chair with my egg shells (foam) that my sister has lent me from when she had her babies. It takes me forever to get in the shower in the mornings. For example, it is 12 midday now and I still need to shower. The effort is just so much and it hurts to get ready....but the feeling of being clean is nice. My doctor said that it will be "time" that heals....as we know. She cannot say how long it will be. Just time. So I won't be rushing back to work any time soon. 6 weeks is an average time for big surgical procedures. So that's that.

Other news. I have terrible ulcers in my mouth, by the front, down the bottom, on the left. Terrible!! That started with the stress of the operation. I went to the ENT yesterday for my usual check. He looked and said it was bad. He wants to give it 4 weeks to heal and then see him again. If it is still there, we will biopsy to check......*sigh*.......I hope they heal. We will also do the 6 monthly scope then. I have been reading the new FA handbook with all the details about head and neck cancer and gynae stuff and I am so totally overwhelmed. The ENT felt so bad for me. I know that my doctors are getting a jolt from the last 2 diagnosis......the head cancer last year and the gynae......it is keeping them on their toes but they seem to be reacting emotionally a little as well. I can see they care deeply. The gynae surgeon and her secretary told Alan before my surgery that they were "shaken" by the cancer diagnosis. They had been asking how I was coping with it and when Alan told them I was shaken, she said, "we were both shaken too". Many of the doctors I deal with here in Adelaide don't have FA patients. We are VERY few. I am paving the way. Even the top doctors have never had an FA patient. I am proud to say I am paving the way for other FA adult patients. These doctors are being well educated and trained......hehe.....by me.....and Alan........hehehehe. They are becoming quite diligent. They are now doing the surveillance without me asking and being very good. They are thinking about it. I feel good about my doctors at the moment.

Other news. Isaac is doing well. His teacher rang me on the phone last night and told me how well he is doing with his maths at school now. This was something Isaac was struggling with and I have been "tuitoring" Isaac at home with. We do fun games with his lego as counters. We do sums etc. Isaac has his own black board at home and he likes to play teachers and students. It helps make learning fun. It was encouraging to hear that my tuitoring has been helping him significantly.

Anyway, I need to go and get myself organised. My mum is now here to visit with me.

Bless you all,
Charisse