Journey to Recovery

Before I had the surgery, I planned to write daily. Full documentation was my dream! However, life in recovery is different.   Recovery in the hospital mainly involved slow movements, eating and a lot of sleeping.  So between writing and eating and sleeping, I gave in to the latter.  Recovery at home is no different so I ended up jotting notes only on days when I felt like I reached major milestones.

Generally, the image below depicts how I felt like in my recovery journey - every day is an attempt to stand up straight. 

Image from Google Images

12 Feb 2020: Day 1 post-surgery

I woke up feeling so tired.  I was knocked out from 2pm the previous day until around 10am today. My husband said I look pale and took a photo of me so that I could see myself. I was yellow! Gosh.

The gyne came to check in. We were told that it was a successful operation - she took out all 5 of the fibroids, checked my ovaries which were good, and advised me to try sitting on bed for a few minutes the first day, sit on a chair the second day and walk around the room. 

I was starving but to be safe, I was advised to take clear liquid first. If I don't throw up, I could have solid food for lunch.  

First food intake post surgery: bland clear soup and tea with apple juice. 
I am obviously sad. 

Fortunately, I didn't throw up so I started another highlight of my post-surgery journey - feasting on hospital food.We were told by a friend that food in Mt E is excellent and that they have lobsters on the menu. Interesting I thought. Im used to hospitals having bland food but I guess this one is different.  My gyne said I could eat anything so I did. 

Lunch was lobster thermidor. You see the radical shift in my facial expression?  
Yes, I think I attribute a large part of my overall pleasant hospital experience to the food. 

I tried sitting up on my bed today but I couldn't and felt dizzy so I stayed in bed the whole day. My abdominal area felt sooo heavy. I realized how important core muscles are.  I still had my catheter on so peeing was not an issue. I also had something on my legs to aid blood circulation.  

The massager

Sleeping was a challenge. The nurse would frequently come in to check my blood pressure or give me meds.  I felt like I was woken up every two hours. My left arm was also swollen from the drip so they had to move it to my right arm. The injection was painful but it had to be done. 

13 Feb 2020: Sat on chair

Today, my doctor took off my drip and the catheter so I tried sitting on the chair. And I managed to do it!   It was hard of course. The bed had to be adjusted and my husband had to assist me. My core was numb so I had to use my arm to hold on to the bed railing and lift myself up to a sitting position while my husband had to move my leg one after the other.   Even sitting on a chair, I had to use my arm power to slowly sit down.  It's a good thing that I couldn't feel the pain on the wound when I move so that's one thing less to worry about.  It only hurts when I cough and when my husband makes me laugh. 

Me sitting on a chair with a proud smile on my face

Lunch today is grilled salmon. Hairstyle courtesy of the husband

Dinner is slow-cooked aged black angus beef short ribs.
I felt like I was in a hotel, not a hospital.  I usually skip the snacks because the main meals were already very filling!

It's also funny when everyday, nurses would ask me if I've passed gas or passed the motion. Interesting how those seemingly mundane things could actually say a lot about the condition of the intestines post-op.   

In the afternoon however, I was having a low-grade fever so the doctor advised me to stay. She is more comfortable about us being here. An infectious diseases doctor also had to check on me to make sure that it is not COVID. 

14 Feb 2020: Valentines day in the hospital

I managed to walk unassisted today so I opted to have breakfast by the window. 

View for breakfast

Menu for breakfast: Lobster porridge! The food is really insane

My mom came over to visit. She has allergic cough so it was difficult for her to come in.  The hospital doesn't allow anyone who have cough or any flu-like symptons.

Today was continuous observation of my fever.  Someone also came to teach me how to breathe - yes, how to breathe.  The clinical term is chest physiotherapy.  I had a bit of difficulty breathing  because of mild atelectasis - a common complication from surgery. Apparently, when the body is under general anesthesia, even the lungs are so relaxed that it sometimes forget how to do its job. In my case, a small portion of my left (or right?) lung collapsed so I had to do some breathing exercises to wake it up.  Good thing I didn't have pneumonia.  

15 Feb 2020: Shower day!

I woke up feeling tired but my temperature is back to normal.  I thought we were going home but we were told to stay one more day because I didn't satisfy the 24-hour no fever criteria for discharge. 

Dr Dharsh changed my dressing. My husband saw the wound. I saw the photo.  It was huge! My gyne used tissue glue instead of stitches so the wound was neat. It was like one straight line. 

Lunch was steamed lobster.
Yes, I did try all the lobster dishes they had on the menu

Dinner was lamb shank. I've gained so much weight from my hospital recover

I showered today! I felt so much refreshed but in the afternoon, I felt my fever coming back.  I felt hot although my temperature was only 37.2.  

My husband went home to rest. He hasn't slept properly in the past 4 nights. 

16 Feb 2020: Discharge day 

It's time to finally go home! 

Not before having lunch though.  This is Wagyu beef rendang

On the way home. Another test of my arm strength. I had to use my arm to slowly get on the car while my husband moves my legs inwards.

17 Feb 2020: The day after discharge

I've missed the lobster meals, the nurses and the heated toilet bowl in the hospital but it feels good to be back home.  

It's hard to go to the toilet though.  I had no bars to hold on to when sitting down on the bowl or getting up so I need my husband for support. And at night, when I have to go and pee, I have to wake up my poor husband because there are no nurses who could support me.  

When sleeping, I could only lie on my back so it tends to become uncomfortable after some time. 

19 Feb 2020: Out of the house

I went for a walk at the playground down the block today. Assisted by my mom and my husband, I walked 3 rounds then went to the provision shop across the road to buy coconut water.  That was a short walk but I felt my core muscles waking up. I also felt a bit tired.

The body is amazing. A week ago, I couldn't even sit on my bed because my waist and pelvic area felt so heavy but now, I can walk outside of the house. 

Having this surgery made me realize how important our core strength is. My core muscles were under anesthesia (as of the rest of my body) and was resting for a long time. So now, every little thing that requires core strength magnifies the amount of core muscles needed to do it.  Wiping the kitchen counter for example is not easy.  Or pouring milk in a glass. I couldn't even put the pan on the stove or fill the pot with water!

24 Feb 2020: 2 Weeks post-surgery

Woke up. Had breakfast and felt sleepy after so I went back to bed. 

29 Feb 2020: Today is day 18 post-surgery.

Hooray, my wound is dry! The doctor removed my wound dressing and gave me the go signal to shower without covering my wound. The only thing I have to do to the area is to apply antibacterial cream around it once a day, preferably in the morning.

It could just be psychological but after my doctor's visit, I felt a lot better. I felt that I could walk more so I did.

22 Mar 2020:   I managed to wipe my legs on my own! 

When I shower, I would usually wipe my upper torso and ask my mom or my husband to wipe my legs and my feet because I couldn't bend down.  But today, I tried placing one of my legs on the bed and bend a bit and managed to reach my feet! Yay!

23 Mar 2020: Last day of MC

Except for the discomfort in my lower right chest which went away after doing several rounds of deep breathing, I feel perfectly fine now especially in terms of mobility.  I can do simple household chores such as cooking, washing the dishes, and vacuuming. I still dont dare to bend though until I see my gynae on the 25th.  Tomorrow, I am back to work but with the COVID-19 situation, I will be working from home which is a good thing.  I am glad that I don't have to commute more than hour each way to work which I am sure would tire me out.

Overall, it has been a smooth healing journey. The pain were mainly caused by me coughing or laughing but other than that, I didnt feel anything. It was of course uncomfortable as it felt heavy and I couldn't bend down.  I would just sit down or sleep whenever I feel tired.  Walking everyday, even for only 10 minutes was helpful. I'd be impatient sometimes, especially when it will take me and my mom or husband 30 minutes to reach the park because of my turtle pace walking when normally, we would be there in 5 or 10 minutes. But I guess, the recovery process teaches us to let nature take its course, let the body heal when it's ready. It couldn't be rushed. 

My MC is done but Im far from being fully recovered. I feel like it would still take months before I could fully recover. My abdomen is still numb. It's weird when I touch it and I don't feel anything. My body has definitely changed.  It gained some battle scars. Proof that it is strong.