Today it has been two weeks since my surgery. Things have been rough since I have been home, but looking back today over the last two weeks I have really come a long way. The first few days home were really tough because I couldn't do anything for myself, and that was hard. I hadn't expected to be so helpless, and I am so thankful that Matthew has had the last two weeks off of work to help me. Things have been improving a little each day, although I am still really short of breath, and getting tired really easily. I am spending less time sleeping though, I am now down to only one nap a day :) The last couple days I have been able to shower, dry off AND get dressed all by myself! It cracks me up the things I get excited about doing now. I wont ever take my independence for granted again.
I am still having a hard time at night, I have been sleeping on the couch since I got home because it has more give than the bed does. Its not all that comfortable though, and I am looking forward to getting back to my bed. Although, Rowan has been enjoying having my side of the bed all to herself! I have been able to walk around more, still making my daily trips to the mailbox, although I do get short of breath really fast. I tried to help Killian make his bed last night, and was huffing and puffing after just a minute or two. I will be so thrilled when my lungs are stronger. I am still on Percocet every 4 hours, but at a lesser dose. I should be done by early next week with the pain meds, and able to just use extra strength Tylenol. Right now, most of the pain is actually coming from my right front ribs. When they did the surgery, they spread my ribs open so I am swollen and bruised front to back along my ribcage. The area around the incision is also really swollen and sore, and my mid back hurts when I try to do too much. I cant lift anything heavy at all, the laptop is about my limit, and that's actually pushing it. I have to lift it with my left arm, I would drop it if I tried to lift it with my right. But again, I am getting stronger every day...the first few days home I couldn't even lift a dinner plate by myself!
Matthew goes back to work on Monday, and I am a little nervous about it. I am going to have to drive Killian to and from school, and take care of Rowan by myself. I think I can do it...I have to do it. I can handle small stuff, like making an easy lunch, and getting Row dressed and today I was able to sit at the table long enough to play a couple board games with the family. Its exciting to me to see the changes, the little things each day that I can do that I couldn't the day before. Another 6 weeks, and I should be back to normal...probably better than what my normal has been the last 3 months!
I have an appointment on March 10th with my pulmonologist, a follow up visit because I haven't seen him since before the biopsy. The next day I am supposed to be at the hospital at 9:30 to get an Xray done, and then at 10:15 I have an appointment with my surgeon. Later that day I meet with the Oncologist for the first time, I am trying to come up with a list of questions for him because I don't want to forget anything. I am really excited to meet with him and get some more information. I will also find out if Chemo is something I need to do right now. I am leaning more towards doing it "just in case" because I would rather be overly aggressive than not aggressive enough. But I will just have to wait and see what they say.
We have been really getting a lot of love this week...Aimee and her family have brought us 3 dinners, and Tanya came to visit and brought us dinner on Wednesday night too. Its been so nice to have those nights where we don't have to worry about cooking or cleanup. I cant believe how lucky we are to have these wonderful people in our lives. The little visits and chats have made the time go by a lot faster, and I feel like his whole experience has been made so much easier by the support we have had from our friends and family.
The kids are finally feeling better too! It was such horrible timing for me to come home from the hospital to two very sick kids. Temps over 102 for both of them, runny noses and horrible barking coughs. Killian still has a cough, its been almost two weeks for him now. Rowan is getting better, she got the cough after Killian and I think she ended up with croup. We have had the humidifier on every night, and I have had her sit with me in the bathroom while I take a long hot shower, and it seems to be helping. But now....Matthew is sick! Poor guy, he has had so much on his plate the last two weeks, he has been doing everything around the house, taking care of a sick wife, and two sick kids, and then he ends up getting sick too! I am really proud of him, he has handled this all so well, and really stepped up and taken care of his family. I couldn't ask for a better partner to go through this with, I love him now more than ever!
Lastly, I got my stitches out on Wednesday. They had used some sort of glue to close the incision, but I had the stitches for my chest tubes. Here is a picture of what they look like - pretty gross up close! The incision is about 5 inches long, the chest tubes where about the size of a nickel.
I am still having a hard time at night, I have been sleeping on the couch since I got home because it has more give than the bed does. Its not all that comfortable though, and I am looking forward to getting back to my bed. Although, Rowan has been enjoying having my side of the bed all to herself! I have been able to walk around more, still making my daily trips to the mailbox, although I do get short of breath really fast. I tried to help Killian make his bed last night, and was huffing and puffing after just a minute or two. I will be so thrilled when my lungs are stronger. I am still on Percocet every 4 hours, but at a lesser dose. I should be done by early next week with the pain meds, and able to just use extra strength Tylenol. Right now, most of the pain is actually coming from my right front ribs. When they did the surgery, they spread my ribs open so I am swollen and bruised front to back along my ribcage. The area around the incision is also really swollen and sore, and my mid back hurts when I try to do too much. I cant lift anything heavy at all, the laptop is about my limit, and that's actually pushing it. I have to lift it with my left arm, I would drop it if I tried to lift it with my right. But again, I am getting stronger every day...the first few days home I couldn't even lift a dinner plate by myself!
Matthew goes back to work on Monday, and I am a little nervous about it. I am going to have to drive Killian to and from school, and take care of Rowan by myself. I think I can do it...I have to do it. I can handle small stuff, like making an easy lunch, and getting Row dressed and today I was able to sit at the table long enough to play a couple board games with the family. Its exciting to me to see the changes, the little things each day that I can do that I couldn't the day before. Another 6 weeks, and I should be back to normal...probably better than what my normal has been the last 3 months!
I have an appointment on March 10th with my pulmonologist, a follow up visit because I haven't seen him since before the biopsy. The next day I am supposed to be at the hospital at 9:30 to get an Xray done, and then at 10:15 I have an appointment with my surgeon. Later that day I meet with the Oncologist for the first time, I am trying to come up with a list of questions for him because I don't want to forget anything. I am really excited to meet with him and get some more information. I will also find out if Chemo is something I need to do right now. I am leaning more towards doing it "just in case" because I would rather be overly aggressive than not aggressive enough. But I will just have to wait and see what they say.
We have been really getting a lot of love this week...Aimee and her family have brought us 3 dinners, and Tanya came to visit and brought us dinner on Wednesday night too. Its been so nice to have those nights where we don't have to worry about cooking or cleanup. I cant believe how lucky we are to have these wonderful people in our lives. The little visits and chats have made the time go by a lot faster, and I feel like his whole experience has been made so much easier by the support we have had from our friends and family.
The kids are finally feeling better too! It was such horrible timing for me to come home from the hospital to two very sick kids. Temps over 102 for both of them, runny noses and horrible barking coughs. Killian still has a cough, its been almost two weeks for him now. Rowan is getting better, she got the cough after Killian and I think she ended up with croup. We have had the humidifier on every night, and I have had her sit with me in the bathroom while I take a long hot shower, and it seems to be helping. But now....Matthew is sick! Poor guy, he has had so much on his plate the last two weeks, he has been doing everything around the house, taking care of a sick wife, and two sick kids, and then he ends up getting sick too! I am really proud of him, he has handled this all so well, and really stepped up and taken care of his family. I couldn't ask for a better partner to go through this with, I love him now more than ever!
Lastly, I got my stitches out on Wednesday. They had used some sort of glue to close the incision, but I had the stitches for my chest tubes. Here is a picture of what they look like - pretty gross up close! The incision is about 5 inches long, the chest tubes where about the size of a nickel.
