Post-op slump

Apparently it's a common rule of thumb that the 3rd day after surgery is the worst day - mainly because the nerve blockers that they give you during surgery wear out by then - and that was definitely true in my case. As far as for when I was in the hospital the Sunday after surgery was easily the worst day as far as pain and not wanting to move unless I absolutely had to. I'm kind of hoping that there's also a rule of thumb that the 3rd week after surgery is also the worst because to be frank this past week has sucked and completely knocked me down.

I was feeling pretty good the week prior actually making it on a few short walks and feeling up to doing a bit more all across the board. Then this week hit and I feel like my body has fallen apart all over again. I've been coughing quite a bit this week which is definitely not the most comfortable thing after having had an abdominal surgery. The worst thing about coughing though is that it makes me gag a lot sometimes and I have no clue why. I have also been having way more hot flashes, my back is so sore it's driving me insane, and I'm having definite growing pains with my ostomy bag. To top it all off I hit the slump I was warned about where food just doesn't sound or taste good so I've been back to feeling like I am making myself eat the last few days. I'm also fairly certain that my two-year old has eaten more than I have that last two days.

All that being said though there have still been a lot of tender mercies since being out of the hospital. I've had a lot of people checking in with me regularly to see how I am doing and I've loved seeing all of those who have dropped by for a visit in person. My grandparent's neighbor that I don't even personally know very well brought me flowers last night and I thought it was so sweet for her to make the effort to do that. My dad, my son, and I all had our birthdays within a 4 day period last week and it was wonderful that I felt good enough to enjoy them all. We didn't do too much for obvious reasons but on my birthday I was able to enjoy eating one of my favorite meals and even had a small piece of cake. Of course it has been wonderful being together with our cute little guy who seems to be learning about a hundred new things each day the past couple of weeks.

We've been staying at my parents house and they were kind enough to give up their bedroom knowing that I may not want to go up and down the stairs all the time. It worked out perfectly, especially the first week or so, because they have a bed where the top raises - similar to a hospital bed but much more comfortable - so it didn't hurt like crazy anytime I got out of bed for the first while. My husband started work again this week so he had been down at our house from Monday evening until Friday evening - on a somewhat random note other than being at our house for a few hours after my son's pediatrician appointment last week I haven't been home for a month now. My husband'swork was amazing to work with him needing time off for a few weeks which was a huge blessing.

One of my cousins watched my son for about 5 hours while my mom took me to an appointment and another cousin was sweet enough to bring me a not so sweet treat one day since I'm supposed to limit the amount of sugar I eat right now. I could write a whole post about how amazing my husband has been in taking care of me, constantly fetching things for me, and giving me as many back massages as I ask for each day. Suffice it to say that I wouldn't have made it this far without his help.

So, despite feeling pretty crappy all of this week I still have a lot to be grateful for. We still haven't heard anything back yet on the pathology report but I have appointments with two different gastrointestinal oncologists on Monday so we're hoping to learn more about what my prognosis is then. I know many of you have been praying for me so I'm going to take advantage of that ask that you pray specifically that I can get feeling a bit better again and that food will sound appetizing again soon.