As I was getting out of the shower this morning I couldn't help but feel a little like Frankenstein with all the lovely scars and bruises and stitches and holes now covering almost every inch of me. I realize these things will all heal in time but I can't help but feel sorry for body. If you cannot handle uncensored photographs then I suggest you stop reading now.
The thing that I just don't understand are my bruised arms - both of them. I was getting 4 needles a day (3 were Heparin shots and 1 was my daily blood work). I usually bruise a little from shots but these are just out of control. The following pictures are from this morning after my shower. Mind you, this actually looks GOOD from what they did look like...
Left arm
Right arm
Attractive, no? I have very sensitive skin so not only do I bruise easily but it takes about a week and a half for a small bruise to go away. I can't imagine how long these will take.
Of course all of the bandages are pretty much off from when I was in the hospital but I still have the bandaging across the actual lung surgery incision. That looks fun. I wonder what it will look like when it's finally healed. I was hoping that since I was losing my entire summer to this fun-filled surgery that I would at least be able to work on my tan the whole time. I'm not sure how well that is going to work out being that I can't expose the surgical areas to the sunlight - and I HATE tan lines.
Lucky for me my incision is directly along my bra line and where a bra would lay. So basically even if I do start feeling better breathing wise, my surgical area is still going to be sore causing me to not be able to wear a bra! Therefore unless I feel like going out and free-boobin' it, I'll be stuck in my house for at least a month. Talk about cabin fever.
The following pictures were taken in the hospital but everything pretty much looks the same - sans the bandages.
This shows where the epidural was in the center of my back:
After the epidural was taken out:
The large white bandages were covering my chest tube. After they took that gross garden water hose look-alike out, all that was left was a small incision that looks like a nickel slot. Not too bad except for the long strand of surgical string they left sticking of the hole. That's fun.
Lastly - aside from all the random bruise patches legit EVERYWHERE on my body - is my stomach. I have felt (and looked) pregnant since I got out of surgery. I'm guessing where my other doctor did the laproscopic surgery he had to inflate the area to search around for the nodule in my pelvis. He later told me that he couldn't find the nodule and this was the reason I wound up with 4 holes as opposed to two. Great! The camera went through my belly button (ew) but the other three holes were him trying to find the nodule to remove.
Tell me I don't look like a damn compass. When I first arrived at the hospital on the 28th I met with my doctor to sign a consent form for surgery and I told him if he ruined my tattoo on my hip I would kill him. Notice how close the incision is to it? He did a good job. The bottom arrow is on my upper vag - as if I don't have enough holes down there.
Overall, I'm sure things could've been worse but for someone who has never had major surgery or any broken bones or serious injuries, all this is a lot to take in. When I originally thought my lung scar would be more on my ribs I was hoping to get another tattoo to cover it but now that it's on my back I guess I'm just going to rock the scar. It might look pretty bad ass. We'll see.
Off to do my lung exercises!
You are absolutely radiant and these scars could never diminish your beauty! I'm sorry that the recover is rough, but hopefully in time, you'll be pain-free!
ReplyDeleteXOXO,
Mike