Exchange City
Comments
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You are so sweet...Yes, I am feeling good. I am more "ache-y" than I was, but I am mostly laying low today. I took some more pictures for the picture forum....not great ones since I had to be my own photographer, but god to see some small changes! I hope all is well with you!
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Question for everyone post-exchange.....did you sleep in your bed right away, or back to the recliner? I have been in the recliner for a week (well 6 nights, actually)....funny how it isn't as appealing to me as it was the first time. :-) I am just wondering if this is typical. PS said I would prefer it at first, and that it would be good for the implants, too. I may just stay there for another week until I see him again, but wondered what everyone else is doing.
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mnmbeck - S l o w and easy is the way to go!
I never had a recliner, so I was in my own bed if sleeping (well, a few times I fell asleep on the couch but not for any long period of time). I had (have) about ten full sized pillows on my bed, so I would just tuck them in all around my head and shoulders to support me (at about a 45 degree angle) and then always had one pillow positioned flat under each arm. I am a side sleeper, so I used to use this same routine after my BMX, and would go to sleep propped up on my back, yet wake up on my side. 
I asked my PS about this and she said that your body will do whatever it needs to be comfortable, so go with it. And I did!0 -
Mnmbeck,
I thought it was only me! How interesting that after the exchange, the recliner wasn't the refuge it was for you after the BMX. Do you switch from one to the other? I would often start off in the recliner and wake up to go upstairs a few hours later. Sometimes I returned to the recliner before dawn. It wasn't like I set a goal to sleep in the bed, I just had figured out how to be comfortable in a bed, at least most of the time. Sometimes NOWHERE was comfortable, no matter how many pillow I placed in how many places. I did not snap back quickly like the majority do after exchange because of extensive pocketwork (ouch) so it took a full four weeks to turn the corner.
This time it's different but not because of another new implant and more pocketwork. After four times, I know what to do there. But recovery from the surgical repair of muscles is all new. I would love to sleep on my side but it just isn't possible yet. (I do try it every night though.
) Trial and error is all we can do at the beginning. One night it will work. I'm only 12 days out. Patience!0 -
mnmbeck...I was back in our recliner for about two weeks post-exchange. Then I used lots of pillows in bed for a while (psychological need) but made it back to normal sleeping eventually.
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mnmbeck- I am 12 days post exchange. I have slept in my bed since surgery, never in a recliner. I was able to sleep on my side the same day as surgery comfortably! I was not comfortable in my side with the TE.
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Veronica...hoping you are feeling good after your exchange. My husband wanted to rent a recliner, but I thought it was unnecessary. So I will be sleeping in the bed and hopefully on my side.Take care.
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well. I have a lot of trouble making it up the stairs to my bedroom even before any surgery. So i sleep on my recliner whenever I can't face crawling up the stairs. It was a couple of months before I had enough recovery in my chest to help pull myself up the stairs. With my cane in one hand and pulling myself up the side it takes a while! LOL. But my knees were problem. I had no trouble sleeping on my side in my bed by the time I could finally make it up there. We bought a lift chair that was made to be slept in as it goes way back til your toes are lower than your head. That made it easy to sit up in the chair.
Much love.
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I spent part of the first night in the recliner and then realized I didn't need to. Moved to the sofa (would have used the bed but had two drain tubes). I still sleep on the sofa much of the time, simply because it's become habit to fall asleep with the TV on, or because I fell asleep sitting straight up earlier in the evening and it's too much effort to drag myself to bed. When I DO sleep in bed I'm perfectly comfortable with side or even some stomach sleeping. The only trouble I have with stomach sleeping is that my lower back gets kinked up - the boobs don't bother me at all
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Thanks for the clarification about losing an implant, and reminders to take it easy. I have a few doses of antibiotic in me, redness is better, but left one looks like it is just sinking in my chest
I just have to not look at myself for now....it is what it is, and hopefully my surgeon will have some answers tomorrow. In the big picuture of life, I am alive and have no evidence of disease. Mn-I slept in recliner one night, just couldn't sleep, and then propped pillows in my bed and since it hurts to change position, i am staying on my back as I sleep...
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starting to get a bit worried about Friday. I am dreading what the implants are going to look like, the TEs don't seam that big to me I still look flat and I read that most people think the implants are smaller than the TEs. I have 875cc in both my TEs and my PS is going to be using 800cc high profile rounds. I just want to look like I have some shape!
Kathy
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Rosebud, yes you will look smaller than the TE's. Also flatter.
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hello everyone! My exchange is scheduled for April 24, so I've been reading back a few pages to get some info. I was trying to figure out how much help to line-up and for how long after my surgery. I know most PS do 2 weeks no lifting / no strenuous exercise. Does that include no driving?
I was supposed to meet with my PS for my pre-op consult yesterday, but had to reschedule til Friday because of sick kids.
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McKatherine - My doc said no driving while I was still on pain meds. I drove my son to the airport on the 6th day. With little kids, you'll definitely need help.
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Shorfi, I usually wear hard contact lens, I am so near-sighted that I wear my sturdy industrial glasses (with coke bottle bottoms for lenses) to bed - every night. I told my PS and nurses prior to surgery to leave them on as long as possible and put them back on immediately after surgery. Each time (3 surgeries and 1 colonoscopy) I have awakened to glasses as they were when I wheeled into the OR.
The suggestion for scrub cap is perfect! Have you had your pre-op appt yet? Maybe you could express your concern and ask if they could put the wig back on in recovery.
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McKatherine - my PS said no driving for two weeks. I didn't obey that one perfectly but then again since I was off work for two weeks I didn't really have to go much of anywhere anyway. The weight restrictions and no working out orders I did follow pretty much to the letter.
My kids are grown and out of the house but if they were still young enough to need carrying around or stroller pushing or something like that I would have wanted someone around to help the first couple of weeks.
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McKatherine....my PS said no driving until off narcotics. I took the last one on day 3, drove on day 5. In hindsight, it wouldn't have hurt to wait a couple more days. I don't want to redo this surgery....I'm always worried that I will do something to compromise healing/placement of these implants. Many PS's say no driving for 2 weeks. Some say no NOTHING, not even going for a walk, for 2 weeks. I have gone for a couple of long walks. It felt good! I would be going daily if I didn't live in MN ....we're experiencing WINTER still!!!
I have 2 kids....ages 12 and 14. We homeschool, so they are around all day. However, I'm finding this isn't as great as I thought. The ARE home, but need to be getting schoolwork done, so that means they just make messes!
I would have needed a lot of help in the first couple of weeks if I had younger children. The problem is....you CAN do things. (a big contrast for me....I felt completely unable to do things after BMX). You just SHOULDN'T be doing them in order to heal properly. This is the part that is hard....almost impossible.....for moms! I am trying hard to follow the lead of those before me....
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Mnmbeck...I am taking in everything you say about not doing much of anything for those 2 weeks. Fortunately, my husband does all the cooking and cleaning up afterwards. I am going to just relax so that I can heal properly. Also, my husband has his own cleaning business, and thank goodness he knows how to keep our home clean.
Secondtimearound...I am just not going to worry about my wig. It is what it is. I will just put it back on when I leave to go home. I don't know why I am making such a big deal out of this.
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Hospital just called with my time for tomorrow, I have to be there for 6:00am surgery scheduled for 7:30am, so a very early start for us, but at least I dont have to wait around all day not able to eat or drink and getting more and more worked up about it all. Keep me in your prayer please. I will report back as soon as I can.
Kathy
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sandra4611 - How are you doing? You certainly have 'been through the mill' as my dear grandmother used to say... Hope that your healing has been relatively uneventful!
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Rosebud we'll be with you In your pocket tomorrow! Good luck!
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RoseBuds - If I can get Moon to move over,
I'll be in your pocket watching over you tomorrow, too! Best of luck to you! Here's wishing you a complication free and easy recovery....0 -
Rosebud, count me in too. I'll bring balloons...and margaritas.
McKatherine, I agree with the previous posters. Even if you feel good after your exchange, there is internal healing going on too. I used to fight the restrictions. I guess I considered the "take it easy" warnings were for other people. I got away with it for years so that just reinforced the notion that I was a superwoman.
Now I know the importance of letting your body heal at it's own pace. Sit down and do nothing but heal for two weeks. Don't lift anything. Don't reach for anything. (And certainly don't go shopping for sports bras and get one stuck so badly that you tear some of the internal stitches like I did. Bruises over part of one of your new foobs is NOT a good thing. Set me back quite a bit.)
An anesthesiologist told me that it takes about a week for every hour you were under general anesthesia for your body to metabolize the drugs. You may think you are fine (yep, I did this dumb thing too) but when you get out in traffic, you realize you aren't. I couldn't turn the wheel like I should and couldn't push down on the brake without causing pain across my chest. If I'd had to get myself out of a sticky driving situation, I don't know that I could have. Two weeks was just too soon. A week later was better and I stuck to my own neighborhood.
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Sandra why do we always learn that stuff too late?
Az, I'll move over. There's always room in a pocket! LOL
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Thank you all for the good wishes.... I like the idea of balloons and margaritas!!
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Shorfi--you are NOT making a big deal about your wig! Our lives have been turned upside down throughout this journey and we are trying to maintain our dignity throughout it all. I think the suggestion about asking the nurses to put your wig on you in recovery is not an unreasonable request and I am sure they will understand. Please don't be afraid to ask. A wise man once told me, "if you don't ask, you will never know." That phrase changed my life for the better so many years ago.
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Rosebuds-will be thinking of u tomorrow. You were one if my Nov Sx sisters! I'll be in that pocket too!
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Rosebuds, I'll be there, too! Our journeys are so close...I think your BMX was the first week of November, mine was at the end of October. I had my exchange surgery a week ago, yours is tomorrow....even at the same time mine was!!! I was glad to get it over with right away in the morning. I was fortunate....it didn't take long, and I was home by 11:30!
Before surgery, my PS walked in and said, "Are you EXCITED that this day has finally come?" I had never thought about being 'excited' for surgery. In hindsight, maybe that would have been a better attitude. I told him I was scared, anxious, nervous, worried. He just said I should be over the moon to be at this stage, to wake up 'squishy'...finally. He said that this whole TE experience will be like one long, bad labor. Awful, but once it is in my rear-view mirror, I will barely remember it. Well, it's been a week...and I remember :-). But, it sure would have been a good thing to walk in with that wonderful attitude. So, I'm telling you.....be EXCITED about tomorrow. A new day!!! New beginnings!!! Halleluia!! :-)
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I'm in your pocket too. Wishing you the best and hope you have a safe and speedy recovery.
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Good Luck Rosebud, you are fortunate to have an early surgery! It will be a breeze, you got this!
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