As tentatively promised to Holly, I wanted to post my progress at one month post-op --
Progress has tapered off a bit, as I was hitting the "major" milestones the first month. I am at work 5-6 hours per day now, and feeling good. Yesterday I even shopped for 10 minutes after work, and bought my first post-op shirt! It is still so strange to try on a top and not have it hang crookedly on me. I do still have a slight rib hump by my right shoulder blade, but without the added curvature it is not noticeable to the "average" eye.
My energy level has certainly increased over the last week. Though, I am surprised because sleep is still an issue for me. The first 3-4 hours I am able to sleep pretty solidly, but after that I am struggling to find a place/position to sleep comfortably. I've tried my pillow-top mattress, the floor with blankets for padding, the couch, and a futon. Then yesterday, I bought a memory foam mattress topper. None of those effectively ease the pain I'm feeling in my lower back. The only thing that seems to help is to get up and walk around for atleast half an hour, and by then, it's difficult to get back to sleep. I am going to purchase a heating pad today to see if that might help.
Pain meds are a thing of the past, as of yesterday! No noticeable difference yet. Still have the same achy muscle pains and numbness around incision, though incision itself sometimes burns a little.
As a side note.....I visited a family friend in the hospital yesterday, and boy did those IV's and nose tubes bring back memories! I have to say, though, that my hospital experience was great; it was not nearly as frightening as I anticipated.
Progress has tapered off a bit, as I was hitting the "major" milestones the first month. I am at work 5-6 hours per day now, and feeling good. Yesterday I even shopped for 10 minutes after work, and bought my first post-op shirt! It is still so strange to try on a top and not have it hang crookedly on me. I do still have a slight rib hump by my right shoulder blade, but without the added curvature it is not noticeable to the "average" eye.
My energy level has certainly increased over the last week. Though, I am surprised because sleep is still an issue for me. The first 3-4 hours I am able to sleep pretty solidly, but after that I am struggling to find a place/position to sleep comfortably. I've tried my pillow-top mattress, the floor with blankets for padding, the couch, and a futon. Then yesterday, I bought a memory foam mattress topper. None of those effectively ease the pain I'm feeling in my lower back. The only thing that seems to help is to get up and walk around for atleast half an hour, and by then, it's difficult to get back to sleep. I am going to purchase a heating pad today to see if that might help.
Pain meds are a thing of the past, as of yesterday! No noticeable difference yet. Still have the same achy muscle pains and numbness around incision, though incision itself sometimes burns a little.
As a side note.....I visited a family friend in the hospital yesterday, and boy did those IV's and nose tubes bring back memories! I have to say, though, that my hospital experience was great; it was not nearly as frightening as I anticipated.
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