That's right, we'll mend...

August, late-August, where-in-the-world-did-you-go-August. It's been cool - during the day, it's cool and sunny and not too humid, and at night cooler - near cold.  Last night, the fire alarm went off at 2am and I was standing outside for 20 minutes while they tried to figure out how to shut if off (faulty smoke head or somethin somethin - why it's not faulty at 2pm in the afternoon, I'll never know), and it was so cool - 65 degrees - that I near tossed it, I was shivering! The cool clean air reminded me of Venice - and how we often woke early early in the morning, like 4am, to catch busses to exciting places and so on. They say rain tomorrow and Thursday - I see her, Fay, making her way up through Virginia and I'm happy for cool and wet weather for a bit.

Thanks to all who read and posted / emailed their thoughts my way... it has been a very a-typical few weeks for me.  The short of it is, after my appendix came out, they put staples in the wound - to help close the skin.  Well, my skin had other ideas - like trying to grow into the staples, so those had to come out, and were replaced by these "Steri-strips", which had an adhesive which further irritated the skin, and have been replaced by the foolproof and mostly icky process of cleaning and dressing the wound twice a day.  It goes something like this, now: *remove clothing, remove binder (yup, I have to wear a fashionable white polyester girdle), remove tape and surgical pad (and screech in terror at how painful it is to tape and retape abdominal skin), remove gauze pads, pull wet (now dry) gauze from wound, get in shower, rinse and clean wound, get out of shower, dry, put new wet gauze in the wound, put new dry gauze on top of the wet gauze, tape new surgical pad to gauze, lie on bed for a few minutes thinking and relishing that it's now over (for now), reattach binder, re-dress, walk around all day; rep from * to end.  Icky, I know - I keep telling people that I feel a little like Alice in that Tom Petty video where I'm made of cake and everyone's eating me - ie, when I look down and see this gaping hole in my abdomen.  (Note: the process wasn't always so civilized - the first few nights it went something like: *remove clothing, shed tears of fear and discomfort, remove binder, shed tears of fear and discomfort, remove tape and surgical pad, shed tears of fear and discomfort, remove gauze pads, shed tears of fear and discomfort, pull wet (now dry) gauze from wound, shed tears of fear and discomfort to the point of crying like a little girl, and so on).  It's the first moment in my life, really, where I've felt that maybe I couldn't be perpetually single - that having someone here, even just to hold my hand, would have made a huge difference.

With all that said, I have been very blessed in this entire thing (and I use the word "bless" sparingly otherwise, in everyday language). Friends have rallied to walk with me (to build strength), work delivered bags of groceries, family came down to stay with me, friends have picked me up at the hospital, friends have sent emails of support, work has been very flexible with leave (don't get me going here, even if I had not taken a sick day for 13 months, I wouldn't have had enough time to carry me - but, for the most part, mainly the people that matter and sign off on stuff, have been very helpful and understanding), and on and on. Even today, when I opened the $35,000 hospital bill and saw how little I had to pay out of pocket (a couple hundred bucks), I told myself how incredibly blessed I was - to be still alive, and to have had it get here the way it has.

Truly, I look back on the experience and can't believe it.  I can barely remember being in the emergency room, having the catscan, and talking to the doctors.  I can barely remember waking up in the hospital post surgery, talking to the nurses, or craning my head to watch that TV.  There are moments I remember more clearly - coming to my room and asking the nurses to raise all the blinds (and open the windows, which they couldn't and wouldn't do), walking up and down the halls of the hospital to strengthen my body, being discharged, and so on - but overall, it's like it was all a very manageable dream.  It's been great to have so much great support from everyone - a real wonderful moment.

Life's good - I'm at work this week, working mostly full days, and eating whatever I want (like veggie chili, brown rice, and a brownie I had for lunch today). I'm finding that extra protein in my diet - protein powder in a morning shake, beans and nuts in the afternoon, do a lot of good to manage my energy levels successfully - all good.

I've been knitting only slightly - working on a scarf that's long overdue (and cold weather is coming). 

Anyway, I have a wee bit of editing to do before bed and an article due pretty shortly in September, but wanted to send a mass update out.  Greener pastures are on their way, more to report when I can and am able.  Meanwhile, apples are almost at the farm-stands! Yum!

Comments

[M-H]

This is hard stuff. I hope you heal fast. Take it easy and give your body a chance. I prescribe lots of knitting.

[Grandfatherknits]

Poor sweet baby! Giving you virtual hand holding even though it sounds like the worst has past; at least I hope it has.

[Mel]

Eep! Wet-to-dry bandages are great for getting open wounds to heal, but they're awfully gruesome, especially for non-medical types to be changing. Hopefully everything granulates in quickly.

[Tom]

You have my empathy for dealing with the dressings post-op. I had two surgeries last year and, after spending some time with friends who tended the dressings (one was a nurse, and the other should be), went home and had to do it myself, on my back no less! I found that my skin tolerated paper tape better than the standard-issue silk tape. Hope you get past this stage soon!
---Tom (MSKR '08)

[Jody]

I am glad you are feeling better! I have some experience with wound care myself. My husband had colon surgery last Winter and I had to help him change the bandages and clean his temporary ileostomy. Not fun! I am glad you had friends and family around to help. If you ever need a ride - I'm just a short ride from DC!

[John]

Javajem's husband here...

I dunno who told you to keep those incision sites wet, but that sounds daft. I highly recommend seeing a wound care specialist like I was referred to -before- my big surgery last Fall. Their advice made a big difference in how my belly healed up.

Caring for my temporary stoma I discovered by accident that the liquid of the "skin prep" towlettes I had to use made dramatic improvements in the condition of my scars. Where it may have landed across one of the sutures I had to cover, the scar looked great. The other, untouched sutures, not so much. For a laugh, I started finishing off the prep procedure with a quick wipe over each of the sutures and they all started doing great. No gauze, no coverings, no nothing. They're obviously still scars, but they look like I got them ten years ago... not nine months.

[Johann Mitchell]

I hope the appendix healing is over soon and you're back to yourself.

[Karen Frisa]

I'm behind on my blog reading so just read your last 2 posts now. So sorry to hear about your surgery! But glad that you're hanging in there. I know what you mean about being single/alone in situations like this. I was in the ER in January and was feeling very scared and alone until a friend was kind enough to come and sit with me. Made all the difference in the world. Know that we're pulling for you...

[anne marie in philly]

get well soon!

I am allergic to the glue in steri-strips...strange...

I am behind on my blog reading too...{{{{{hugs}}}}}

[Van]

Oh man! I have very much been through this, five years ago after I had to have a colostomy for a few months. Once the drainage system was reconnected I had some small wounds on my abdoment that healed quite slowly. Fortunately I had homecare nurses come and redress the wounds for the first couple of weeks, so by that time I was emotionally prepared to do it myself. And the whole experience of having friends rally around, pick up groceries until I was able to go out myself, and so on was very similar, an intense reminder of how fortunate I am. Deepest sympathies here, but mostly glad to hear you're alright.

It took all summer, but this week I finished the traveling rib hat I started that fine, memorable day on the porch at Easton Mountain. I've posted photos on Ravelry, and will blog about it soon.

[Sean]

Sounds like a rough go of it, sweetie, but I'm glad it's getting better. I know healing seems to take forever, but soon you'll be back to your old self.

Hang in there!

- Sean

[Helen]

Are you better? Please tell me you're better.....