Posted: 4/1/2016
My recovery has gone ok so far, thanks to my new best friend Percocet. We've been pretty tight for the last week but I feel like we're seeing too much of each other so I've started weaning down our time together. It's definitely a "This hurts me more than it hurts you" kind of break up though.
That said, I'm a little more comfortable today than I was because we were able to take a couple of my drains out. During surgery they placed four drains, two in each side. These come out of the sides of my chest to let excess blood and other fluids drain out as my body recovers from last week's insult. Twice a day I get to empty the drains and, when the volume is low enough, they pull them out once they're no longer necessary. They know the volume is low enough based on a log I've been keeping. And my semi-functional brain helped me leave the log at home on the kitchen table for my first appointment yesterday. Oops.
My ever-patient mom, Cathy Abbruscato, drove all the way home again so she could take a photo of the log and text the photo to me to show the PA at the office. Verdict: two of the four drains could be removed. Hooray!
The procedure is pretty straight forward. The PA removed the Tegaderm holding it in place, told me to take a deep breath and then just pulled it straight out. It wasn't particularly painful but my body objected to the procedure anyway by promptly having a nice vagal response: I got lightheaded, with cold sweat running down my face, and turned sheet white. After about 5 minutes and a Gatorade, my blood pressure and color restabilized and she was able to pull out the second one with no problem at all. It just felt super weird to feel the small tubing slide across my chest from the INSIDE. Feeling queasy yet? Sorry. My life is weird right now. But that just leaves two more for next week, which will be a relief because the remaining one on my right side is the uncomfortable one.
In the meantime, I've been well on my way to finishing reading the entire internet while conscious between meds. As you can see, I've got my little command central set up on the table in the living room, next to the recliner I've been living in. Everything a girl could need, including now some snacks and new reading materials from Heather Addor, and a bouquet of flowers to enjoy from Briana Bowden, as well as a bouquet from all of my awesome Seton NICU peeps, because I have the best co-workers ever.
Also, one of my recovery goals was to feel well enough to get out to Ballet Austin to enjoy tickets that the beautiful Anne Marie Bloodgood gifted to me and Matt so we could watch her and her awesome husband Paul dance. We were able to see them in Hamlet several years ago, before I met them. They were just as amazing of dancers last night as we remembered. I'm so thankful for the gift and that I was feeling well enough to make it.
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