Two weeks on from gall bladder surgery
Nov. 4th, 2014 08:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quarridorsThis morning marked 2 weeks since I had my gall bladder removed. Tomorrow lunch time will be 2 weeks since I was discharged from hospital after my blood pressure recovered.
Recovery has been going very well. I had my discharge call from the surgery department yesterday. It was about 20 minutes long and we talked through various aspects. They were very happy with my progress and I found the call pleasant, useful and reassuring.
The surgical glue has all come off, most came off days ago, and the wounds underneath look like small scabs from minor cuts. Laparoscopic surgery makes so much difference. Bruising is greatly improved too, dramatically better than even a couple of days ago, but there is still some visible. I've had no signs at all of infection or soreness.
Pain levels have been very good. If I sit at a desk with good posture and my feet on the floor then I feel completely fine. Standing up for any amount of the time becomes uncomfortable and lying down is painful without painkillers. My routine is to have painkillers after dinner so I can nap mid-afternoon and to have some more before bed so I can get to sleep. Otherwise I'm only taking supplementary painkillers if I'm going to do something like the washing up or showering and need to stand.
As pain is so good, it's quite difficult to remember how little I'm meant to be doing, although when I try to do it I'm quickly reminded. I tried to go to a nearby restaurant to meet a friend on Thursday. I didn't even get out of the building in the end but the amount of pain and exhaustion resulting from putting on street clothes and getting ready to go out made it clear how fragile I still was.
I talked about this during the discharge call and I'm not allowed to do any significant exercise or do heavy lifting and carrying for 4 to 6 weeks but as of today I'm allowed to go on walks as long as I don't have a heavy bag. I was told that even a walk around the local reservoir could be good for me right now, as long as I take breaks and have travel there and back arranged. I'll likely start with a shorter walk around my local areas to see how I do with that first. I'm under orders to listen to my body and stop if it's telling me to. It's very easy to over-do it and I won't be completely right for 6 weeks after surgery.
I've also been advised that I can start having the fattier foods I've been avoiding from today. I'll likely have some poppadoms and curry tomorrow and see how that goes. If I have an problems with that I should wait another 2 weeks. My digestive system has generally been behaving well barring some expected issues early on which cleared up quickly, I haven't had any loose stools which is one of the possible side effects and practically expected early on.
Because I work from home at a desk, I was allowed to start doing phased return a week ago. I've managed at least 3 hours work every working day for a week with 4 or 5 hours most days. As of tomorrow I'm going up to virtually full time (I have 3 flexitime hours in hand from before my surgery so I can have a longer lunch and an afternoon nap). I'm glad I've been allowed back to work because I'd have been very bored indeed by now.
My mum came to visit this afternoon and did some of the chores and housework that I'm not allowed to do yet. I now have a cleaner flat, clean bedding, a fully stocked fridge and some more portions of home cooked food in the freezer, which should keep me going for another week or so. I'm very glad to have patient and helpful parents who live nearby to come and help when I'm in recovery.
So generally recovery has been all going at or ahead of the schedule I was told to expect, with no unexpected difficulties. The only hitch at any point has been the low blood pressure on the first day and that had been resolved by midnight.
Recovery has been going very well. I had my discharge call from the surgery department yesterday. It was about 20 minutes long and we talked through various aspects. They were very happy with my progress and I found the call pleasant, useful and reassuring.
The surgical glue has all come off, most came off days ago, and the wounds underneath look like small scabs from minor cuts. Laparoscopic surgery makes so much difference. Bruising is greatly improved too, dramatically better than even a couple of days ago, but there is still some visible. I've had no signs at all of infection or soreness.
Pain levels have been very good. If I sit at a desk with good posture and my feet on the floor then I feel completely fine. Standing up for any amount of the time becomes uncomfortable and lying down is painful without painkillers. My routine is to have painkillers after dinner so I can nap mid-afternoon and to have some more before bed so I can get to sleep. Otherwise I'm only taking supplementary painkillers if I'm going to do something like the washing up or showering and need to stand.
As pain is so good, it's quite difficult to remember how little I'm meant to be doing, although when I try to do it I'm quickly reminded. I tried to go to a nearby restaurant to meet a friend on Thursday. I didn't even get out of the building in the end but the amount of pain and exhaustion resulting from putting on street clothes and getting ready to go out made it clear how fragile I still was.
I talked about this during the discharge call and I'm not allowed to do any significant exercise or do heavy lifting and carrying for 4 to 6 weeks but as of today I'm allowed to go on walks as long as I don't have a heavy bag. I was told that even a walk around the local reservoir could be good for me right now, as long as I take breaks and have travel there and back arranged. I'll likely start with a shorter walk around my local areas to see how I do with that first. I'm under orders to listen to my body and stop if it's telling me to. It's very easy to over-do it and I won't be completely right for 6 weeks after surgery.
I've also been advised that I can start having the fattier foods I've been avoiding from today. I'll likely have some poppadoms and curry tomorrow and see how that goes. If I have an problems with that I should wait another 2 weeks. My digestive system has generally been behaving well barring some expected issues early on which cleared up quickly, I haven't had any loose stools which is one of the possible side effects and practically expected early on.
Because I work from home at a desk, I was allowed to start doing phased return a week ago. I've managed at least 3 hours work every working day for a week with 4 or 5 hours most days. As of tomorrow I'm going up to virtually full time (I have 3 flexitime hours in hand from before my surgery so I can have a longer lunch and an afternoon nap). I'm glad I've been allowed back to work because I'd have been very bored indeed by now.
My mum came to visit this afternoon and did some of the chores and housework that I'm not allowed to do yet. I now have a cleaner flat, clean bedding, a fully stocked fridge and some more portions of home cooked food in the freezer, which should keep me going for another week or so. I'm very glad to have patient and helpful parents who live nearby to come and help when I'm in recovery.
So generally recovery has been all going at or ahead of the schedule I was told to expect, with no unexpected difficulties. The only hitch at any point has been the low blood pressure on the first day and that had been resolved by midnight.
