I posted about a care package last week… back for a Recovery post
Alright, so I had robotic laparoscopic surgery on 4/16. I had to be at the hospital at 6 AM and surgery started at 8. I woke up around 10:45 and was walking out to my car by noon on the dot.
I was honestly shocked to find out I had 5 incisions because I was under the impression it would only be 3 or 4. Overall though, I felt pretty good leaving. I was able to walk out of recovery and I didn’t have any food restrictions, which surprised me. I literally ordered mac and cheese and a chicken bowl on the way home and ate the whole thing 😅
The only real restriction I was given was no lifting. The pain was different and it definitely sucked. The first 3 days were the worst. Moving, especially trying to lay down or get up, was brutal. The gas pain has been the worst part by far and I am still dealing with that a bit.
For pain management, I stayed on a rotation of Tylenol and ibuprofen and it did a pretty good job as long as I stayed on top of it. That is a big one, do not fall behind on your meds.
I kept myself fairly active but also listened to my body when I needed rest. I took a lot of naps in the sunshine ☀️ and that honestly helped so much.
For work reference, I run an in home daycare with kids ranging from 1.5 to 4 years old. I took off Thursday, Friday, and the weekend, and ended up taking Monday off too, but I probably could have gone back then if I needed to. I have been fighting a little cough from the tube down the throat and that’s not been fun.
As of today, I actually feel really good. I have had zero food issues since surgery and no bowel changes yet, but I am feeling optimistic. More than anything, I am just so happy to not be in the pain I was dealing with before surgery.
I will say I do have a pretty high pain tolerance and even then parts of this recovery were rough, but overall it has been very manageable and completely worth it so far.