swollen

Sorry if you get easily grossed out. But surgery's not pretty. (:

April 1st -- surgery went smoothly. I don't think I'm afraid of being nude in front of doctors anymore, or my mom. At least she can vouch that she saw the "before" and that it was money well spent. Anesthesia is an experience in and of itself. The nurse and anesthetist asked me, "So, where you going to go on vacation in a minute?" I managed to slur out, "Georgia...to visit...my..aunt.." and was gone. Next thing I know, I am waking up and disoriented. I can feel my body being shoved around as the nurses applied my gauze and strapped me into my compression garment. "We're all done, Alex." Huh??? It felt like no time had passed. My mom walked in from behind the curtain and then I realized I was finished. The big event had come and gone in no time.

On our way home, Mom had to drop a couple things off at the salon. Everyone inside knew that I was having my procedures done and they all came out to see me in my post-op glory. It was a cute moment. The rest of the day, I stayed knocked out on my medications and only got up to use the restroom. Man, I have never realized what a huge ordeal it was to be able to pee. Seriously. I had to talk my body into relaxing every time I walked into the bathroom. Sleep came relatively easy to me; Mom slept by my side the first night to help me do everything. Literally everything. I couldn't sit up, roll over, stand, scoot, nothing. The incisions from surgery were a mess to keep up after, too. Constantly leaking fluid. I'm super thankful for her willingness to help me. I kept apologizing for asking for help every two seconds. She's the best mom.

April 2nd -- had my post-op exam. The doc had me remove my compression garment and all the gauze and padding all over my body. My legs were covered in splotches of blue, purple, and black. Swollen everywhere. I could see the beginnings of my new legs shape. Hooray! My doctor said I was moving around pretty well for it having only been 24 hours. At home, I walked around to keep circulation going in my legs but getting up is a pain. I enjoyed the few hours of napping I was allowed. My instructions were to stay awake as much as possible.

Today has definitely been the best so far, naturally. I can tell that I'm super bloated and swollen still, but the drainage has decreased to almost nothing -- just one little sucker on the back of my calf is still on/off (gross! ;P ) I got to shower finally, another hooray(!), which felt amazing. Cassie came and visited me. I told her all the gross and embarassing details, which she stomached as best as a Cassie champ could. Hahahah. I'm wrapped up from top to toes in my compression garment and trying to keep my legs elevated at every chance possible. My calves will take the longest to heal as gravity and walking force everything downward. I'm off my narcotic, which means I can drive. I was worried that I'd have a glimpse at why people become addicted to narcotics like hydrocodone and vicodin. Fortunately, it just curbed the pain, nothing more. 

Now that I've documented the biggest event thus far in my life, I will go back to chilling in front of the TV. Comment if you wish. (: