Day 8

My daughter thinks I should keep some sort of diary as we go along on this journey. I’m not sure because everyone is different and what I’m thinking and going through may not even apply to someone else. But, for her sake, I will try.

Today, the problems are clothes and the digestive track. I’ll no doubt look back at that sentence and laugh at how unimportant it is, but still.
I have a drain, with a bulbous end, kind of made me think of a turkey baster , only larger, which must be drained (by me...gross) quite often. And the end is safety pinned to outer clothing so it doesn’t pull on the connection into my body, which I understand extends into me 12 inches. As I said to my son, I now know how it feels to have balls as it always seems to gravitate to my crotch.
Then there are the staples...from under breasts down to crotch. During this stage, no underwear, (unless you have a closet full of thongs, which I don’t) no pants, slacks or anything can irritate the incision. Basically, I am naked under whatever I find to wear. I have a nice blue bathing suit coverup that works and yesterday my daughter went to the local boho store and got me a couple kaftans...not my style at all, but because I have to walk several times a day, I do need to be covered in something. We’ve found nothing yet I could actually wear to go out to dinner. My shifts are too narrow to accommodate the “baster”.

Problem two: everything was shifted around inside so your intestinal tract is a mess. For most, it’s constipation, but not for me. It’s been 8 days and things are still not normal, but there was a slight improvement today which I am hopeful about. My daughter has gone crazy re organic eating and she’s doing the cooking, so I’m fine with that. Last night she made a delicious Alice Waters roasted chicken with carrots and sweet potato. I’m still eating very small portions, tummy has shrunk. For once, I feel this is on the plus side.

About pain: I haven’t had any worth mentioning since the second day. The most I take is a couple Advil once in a while, which I think are a no- no, but tough.

For the past several days I have walked around the block several times a day at a decent pace. And I’m going out to a quick dinner tonight, wearing a very loose pair of slacks. Not sure how that will work out, but I guess that’s progress.