Here we are 2 weeks post surgery and I must say that I'm feeling great!  My endurance is lower -- I've been needing a nap in the afternoons of the days that I'm more active.  I return to work in just 2 days!  This may be challenging -- but I'll just have to make it work.  I just wanted to talk a little bit about how things went this last week since my last post.  I have to say that around day 8-9 post op, there was a major turn around in the pain department.  I was able to go longer between doses and that was something that I really focused on for a couple of reasons:  1.  I don't want to be addicted to pain meds, 2.  I wanted to find out how much pain there really is without meds.  So I started out at 4 hours between doses, then increased to 5 hours and then 6 all the way up to 15 hours!  As of today, I haven't had any pain medication since Thursday (2 days ago) .  That's also the same day that the surgeon removed the second drain.  That was so great to get rid of that little buddy! That friendship was getting really strained! ha ha! When he removed this one, it felt really wierd -- like a big worm was crawling around in my belly.  eww.... so glad that is gone!

Around day 9-10, I returned to sleeping in my bed instead of the recliner.  This was a little challenging at first, I elevated myself with pillows and kept 2 pillows under my knees to keep my body in a flexed position.  Laying straight was impossible at this point.  Today, I did lay pretty flat for about 15 minutes.  I'm not sure how much of this 'stretching' I'm supposed to do, but I figure that it needs to get started so I can resume standing straight up.  There is a constant pulling sensation in my torso where the muscle repair took place.  I asked my Doc how long this would last and he just said that everyone is different.  So, it's my goal to speed that process along! 

My biggest surprise is how much swelling I have in my torso and upper thighs.  I tried on a pair of my regular pants yesterday (the non stretchy kind! :)  and you would have thought I had gained 20 lbs!  They were NOT going up!  However the scale says I weigh 10 lbs less..... I'm trying very hard to eat healthy and not aggravate the outcome.  My doc says that most of the swelling should go down over the next 4 weeks with the remainder coming off by 6 months post.  So I'm anxious for this to happen and take some "after" pics in some of my regular pants.  (I took "before" pics that I'll post with the "after" pics when that happens) 

I have to continue wearing the binder for FOUR more weeks -- the one the surgeon provided is very uncomfortable and bulky and doesn't look right under my clothes.  I went to walmart and got a cheap version of spanx that just goes around my midsection.  It is wonderful!  It seems to me that is covers more area and it creates a smoother look under my clothes.  Granted, my husband had to help me hoist it up over my butt to get it on -- but worth the effort!  And by the way..... my husband is VERY pleased with the results!  That sure takes a lot of pressure off of me-- especially after spending 6 grand! He has been very supportive and has been a great nurse through this process.... this surgery has literally been a dream come true for me.....

The most painful activity now is coughing.  Wow! That's a killer!  So I'm trying avoid it..... I really hope that resolves itself soon..... 
That's enough info for now..... thanks for traveling with me!

D