I think I'm doing reasonably well. I definitely have hurt more the last couple of days than I did earlier in the week - Monday was pretty good and Tuesday I felt great - at least until I got home and climbed the stairs - that did hurt. Since then the pain has come and gone - never horribly bad, but enough that I know it's there. I've probably been averaging two pain pills a day which is two more than I'd like to take but considering they are for use every 4-6 hours I'm taking 1/3 to 1/2 of the dosage I could be taking so I can live with that.
The funny thing about the hurt is that it's not always the incision area that hurts; at least half the time and probably more it's the area up the sides of where the surgery was or the area above the penis and below the stomach. The sides - well it's a simple guess on my part - but I'm assuming it's the cords? Either way it's made for some interesting feelings. The last two days I have felt swollen down there. J says it's not really any different that it has been all week, so perhaps I'm just more in tune with it than I was then. If I continue to feel as I have the last day or two I'll send a picture to Dr. Arnkoff on Monday - before then if need be - but I'd prefer to wait as if he needs/wants me to have it looked at I'd rather my regular GP do it as I'm comfortable with her versus an urgent care or ER visit. Now obviously if I were to be having issues then that would NOT be a concern and I'd just go, but if it's more of a "check-up" type of visit - well then I want to see my GP.
A few other notes from the trip that I left out, and the week since.
- A pair of sweat pants is highly recommended. Truthfully I would've preferred Yoga pants, but I had some old sweat pants that I no longer wear and didn't worry about ruining them. But comfort is important especially during the travel home.
- A cheap pillow is also highly recommended. Post surgery, Dr. Arnkoff tells you to sleep with your feet elevated. Well HI Express has very nice pillows but they are huge and it wasn't comfortable for me. So we ran to Wal-Mart and got a cheap regular pillow that worked much better. And it was helpful on the trip home as well. Money well spent.
- Constipation. Dr. Arnkoff explains that the pain medicine can cause that. Well it's always an ongoing battle with me between the hormones and the blood pressure medicine I struggle to get enough liquid in my system. This did make it way worse - to the point that I had some lower back pain off and on this week. What I found helps - besides getting more liquid (especially water) into my system - is a shake, or a blizzard for you DQ fans. It's basically liquid and getting so much of it into me in a short time really helped relive things. A bottle of Magnesium Citrate helped as well, but even the cherry flavor of it is kind of nasty, so.....
- Stairs. As I've mentioned, stairs have been hard for me. All of our bedrooms are upstairs, including the master one which is ours. We have our own private bathroom, so I've managed to not leave the room very much, but I have to every so often or I get cabin fever. Slow and steady on the stairs, and at least for me I've found that it hurts less if I lead with my right foot for every step - my left side is sorer.
- Food. I haven't had much of an appetite since we got back, but one thing that helps is to try and have some things that you really like. I'm not advocating gorging, but not eating isn't usually very helpful, so having some things you like/enjoy can improve things significantly.
- Somebody To Take Care Of You. I am blessed to have such a wonderful wife/partner as J. She's taken such good care of me, but she had to return to work today. I'm sad to see her have to go back, but I'm glad in a way as now I'll have to be a little more self-sufficient again. However, it would have been beyond tough to have survived this by myself. I strongly recommend taking somebody along for this procedure - the increased costs are well worth it.
I'm a little tired - I didn't sleep all that well so I'm going to take a nap now. As always thanks for reading.
- M
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