I asked Dr. Ferguson if he thought it would be okay if I lifted my 18month old now after 3 weeks. He said to just be cautious since my skin and muscles still have a lot of healing to do. I'm so grateful to my wonderful in-laws for helping me care for James. I couldn't have done it without them!
It was encouraging to hear that Dr. Ferguson said that it looks like things are moving along well and that all looks good. They told me I should probably start peeling off the glue seal that was placed over my incisions. Travis gave me some glue remover pads to use.
Tonight, it was so weird to peel off that glue! It wanted to stay on there, but the glue remover pad helped. It was scary to peel it off because some of the trapped dead blood was coming off on the glue and I wasn't sure if it was scab that was supposed to stay on the incision. Most of the scab came off though and my scars look really good. I am surprised at how well I am healing.
It's crazy to think that Dr. Ferguson will go back through these incisions to swap out the expanders for implants. (I am hopeful that my scars will eventually fade well.) We have to be careful how far my breast skin is expanded. It's not like normal augmentation where there is a lot of breast tissue to "cushion" the skin as it expands. I just have a very thin amount of skin that is being stretched and can't be pulled like a normal breast. Also, if we put too much pressure between my skin and ribs, my ribs can actually be pushed out of place over time, causing problems.
I have been thinking about how healthy and active my body was before all of these surgeries. I had just completed a family triathlon with Dan and Daniela, was running regularly and feeling great! Now these surgeries have slowed me down so much and I feel my muscle tone declining. I fear pushing too hard and look forward to when I am fully recovered. I feel sort of "broken" sometimes because I'm not as fast at doing things like I used to be (reaching for a pot up high, bending down to pick up a hair ribbon off the floor...I have to sit on the floor to be with James, which takes so much more time than just carrying him and holding him...) and it sometimes feels like my body will never be back to normal. I feel more fragile than I've ever felt. I wonder... if I had known exactly how recovery was, I probably would have stalled longer from the fear of not being able to function like normal. I hope it's possible. It's good that I didn't have a full knowledge of what to expect, despite all of my research. This was important to do and it was better to just jump into it. I just had to get a good night sleep, wake up and go to the hospital for surgery...one foot in front of the other...My brain taking over and supressing any reservations because I had already made the choice to go forward with all this.
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Sounds like you are doing great!!!!!! Be patient, before you know it, you'll be right back to normal. You had major surgery just 3 weeks ago! Be proud of yourself for taking charge and beating this before it beat you. And remember, muscle has memory, you'll get right back in shape. I know it's hard to imagine feeling great again, normal, but you will, I promise!!
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