Sunday 25 May 2025
Slept ok til like ~3:00 then was awake for a while. Got some more sleep til ~9:00.
Luckily we were able to convince the heater to work. We may have left it on pretty much full time for the next two weeks on 20C because we were too scared to touch it in case it died and didn't come back again.
Apparently all the opoids they give you cause constipation. So that was fun. Not. I'm totally not used to constipation, I never get it.
Stu's leave officially finished today (but he then extended it a week as carers leave). A while back he decided he was approaching burnout and needed a break. He'd just been so pissed off with everything even to the point of road rage, which is super unusual for him. So he took a combo of leave and long service leave and took six weeks off from 12 April to 25 May. His first couple of weeks were him just collapsing in a heap and recovering. He'd been toying with the idea of doing a road trip to visit friends and family up north, but then, the C-Word. It kind of derailed everything and ruined the last few weeks of his break with a whole lot of added stress. For me though it was kind of a blessing, because I had the car available to me for appointments, and Stu could come with me to them as well which was super helpful.
Monday 26 May 2025
The post-op bra I got hurts to sleep in. I mean yes it does give really good support and stops things flopping around, but it's fairly tight and squishes a bit. Slept mostly ok though. I don't think the endone really does much - it still hurts whenever you have to roll over.
Dr RW's office called, I have an appointment for 10:00 Friday.
Forgot my anti-inflammatory in the morning.
I've got significant bruising under my arm.
Decided to wear my regular bra during the day - much more comfortable.
Tuesday 27 May 2025
The post-op bra still hurts to sleep in. But slept mostly ok anyway.
One of the care nurses called me. She reminded me to keep an eye out for infections, blood clots (I'm moving around so that shouldn't be an issue), do my arm exercises (they want you to be able to raise your arms above your head, not an issue), do some short walks, keep up with the Panadol (I don't think it's really necessary), don't use an underwire bra (hahah yeah right), keep water off the dressings (hahah yeah right).
Wednesday 28 May 2025
I tried sleeping without the post-op bra. It didn't really seem to make any difference to comfort/pain though.
I was able to do shoulder exercises with no issues.
Thursday 29 May 2025
Wore the post-op bra again overnight - marginally better.
Overnight last night I felt a bit more tender under my arm.
Friday 20 May 2025
Saw Dr RW in the morning. It was a short meeting though because she didn't have the results of the pathology from the surgery yet. She did have a look at everything and was happy with my progress.
Saturday 31 May 2025
Had a little bit of Sheep Dog (peanut whiskey) after dinner (possibly the first drink I'd had post surgery, can't remember). Later my face went all red and my heart was pounding. Weird. Took a polaramine before bed.
Sunday 1 June 2025
Felt better in the morning. Breast still a bit sore in the post-op bra and while in bed. Under arm still very tender.
Wednesday 4 June 2025
Still doing ok. My breast is still a bit sore with no bra on (when showering) or whenever I roll over in bed. My underarm is still quite tender/swollen/numb.
I went to the nurse walkin clinic in the afternoon. They removed all my dressings and everything looked good.
Talked to Dr RW in the afternoon. She said everything looked good with the pathology. There were clear margins on the tumor and no lymph node involvment detected. So that was good.
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My first couple of weeks of recovery went pretty smoothly. I mean sure there was some pain if I moved the wrong way, but nothing unbearable. I gave up on taking the endone before bed after like three or four nights because honestly I don't think it made any difference - it still hurt whenever I rolled over. I think it was about a week or so before I could lay on my front, although I tried not to do that too much. The sweetie tried to take care of me/the house (he did most of the cooking) so that was nice. The bruising got quite colourful (dark red under my arm and yellow around my boob). But no infections or blood clots or any complications, just some numbness under my arm.
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