The good, the bad and the ugly

So, I figured the whole point of blogging this experience is to share the good stuff, the bad stuff, the weird stuff and all of those angles that might not be known to others thinking about this. In that vein, I'm going to address the ugly parts for a moment. Before I get there though let me point out that I am still exceedingly happy with how things are going, I'm just hitting a few speed bumps as it were....

Okay, so I had my one week post-op appt. with Dr. Smith today. They removed my staples (I thought they were stitches, and found out they were staples when the steri strips came off yesterday) which pinched, and was annoying because there were so darn many of them, then they looked at my bellybutton. I had been putting some Neosporin on the incision sites because it was cooling and had the added "pain reliever", but it turns out that I shouldn't have done that. Some of the ingredients in the Neo give rashes, which are now evident in some areas around my staple marks. So, no more Neo. No worries.

The other weird thing was my belly button -- the tape hadn't come off but it was pretty painful last night so I TOOK the tapes off, and it looked like I had a section that was kinda pus-infested. Turns out it was a scab, not pus, but that meant that I had put a ton of Neo on it and it didn't need it -- it actually made it a bit worse. So my new fake belly button hurts today. Oh well. Not the end of the world.

I also really want to shower every day, but I'm trying not to get the tapes too wet, but the hot water feels so darn good.

Otherwise, on the hyster angle I'm seeing very few indications I even had it! Kinda nice! I had one hot flash, but that was to be expected. I was told I could see random ones here and there, but only one and they're not that bad, as I'd had them before when I was on the Depo treatment.

Last night was tough too, because my bruising is slipping down my body to my thighs which makes them really uncomfortable, and it's extremely hard to get in a place that is comfortable. So tough, but really I keep reminding myself that in the grand scheme of things it's great. The one amazing thing to hear from the doctor is that things are looking good for being one week out, and then that the swelling will only keep going down. That part amazes me. I'm still going to get smaller! Holy crap!

You know, how they say people when they lose weight don't realize what they're losing? They still see themselves as fat and not thin? They don't really comprehend what they've done to change their bodies? Well, when I got settled in the 160's was when I got my haircut, and started really recognizing the differences in my body. I like it, I enjoy it. Now, I'm dealing with the whole, "Half my stomach is missing... hmmm.... that's odd" I still think it's there. Mentally, I'm still carrying it around -- which isn't really helped by the binding garment so I'm going to find a girdle-y thing to "step down" into as Dr. Smith said. Hopefully that will make it a little bit more concrete for me. We'll see.

The other last challenge for me, has been my eating. I'm not doing horribly, and I'm glad for that part, but with guests and events and so much going on around me there's so much "not good" to eat. Today we went out to lunch and it was hard to make a good choice with seven other people all having milk shakes and cheeseburgers. I know how to make the good choices, and I don't understand why I can't do it now. My big thing is to make sure that I end up getting back on the wagon. I think the best idea for me is to plan my entire day for tomorrow. I think I can do that tonight. That will be my goal. The family leaves tomorrow afternoon so it will be easy to stay op -- just stay upstairs away from the fridge! :) Good plan, I think I can handle that!