Today, I am 20 days out from my surgery and I am frustrated with the recovery time.
Yes, I know I had major surgery.
Yes, I understand that it takes time to heal.
But, I feel so…….useless. I have to rely on people to get me food, do my laundry, and clean up things around me. I get worn out just getting dressed for the day.
I have literally spent hours googling “recovery time after mastectomy” just to see if I’m normal.
I am.
It sucks.
One of the main reasons for this frustration is that I have had some lovely accessories *please add sarcastic tone* called drains. They have been with me since I woke up and are the most irritating part of this whole process. I’m not going to gross you out, but just know that I have to spend a good 15-30 minutes tending to them per day. (This is down from the previous multiple times I had to tend to them.) I’ve also only been able to sleep on my back which has caused my lower and upper back to tighten up. I can’t soak in a warm bath to loosen the muscles and stretching give me relief for a few minutes. Hopefully, these drains will leave my presence on Thursday, March 1st and never return.
The other frustrating situation is the fatigue.
The first week after my surgery, I felt pretty good. I had the pain under control and was surprised at the amount of energy I had. I even surprised the family members who were there helping me out.
Fast forward to the next week and I felt like I was hit by the entire contents of the Sandman’s satchel! I was napping 2-3 times a day. I’ve finally got it down to once a day, but I’m still fatigued even after 8 hours of sleep. My only guess is that all the medications in my system were finally out and the low-level pain I have is making me tired.
Let’s hope that the drain removal will help with this situation and I will start seeing some improvement when I don’t have extra tubes and bulbs hanging outside my body. Until then, here’s a peek at a video I did 1-week post-op where I was full of energy. Now, the thought of even setting up a video exhausts me.