#you'd think i'd be starving him by how he acts getting 1/2 cup a day instead of 2/3rds

[mottski]

one week post-op round up that i forgot i wanted to do yesterday:

-it always consistently takes me four days to feel vaguely humanoid again after surgery and it'll be another week at least before i have my usual energy again

-my cat handles sudden, drastic changes in schedule far better than i do and i'm proud of him

-no one talks about how godawful getting your drains taken out is. in all the write ups i've seen, it's always been "you'll feel better once they're out!" and never a hint of a warning about how deeply unpleasant the sensation of feeling a tube get pulled out of you is. i very nearly passed out. it's over quick, but man i wish i'd had some warning going in of what to expect

-my brain hates seeing unnatural things sticking out of me, so looking at the drains for the first week gave me mild head-spinny sensations. i'd wondered initially if it was also from the massive physical changes to my chest, but now that the drains are out, i don't have any issues.

-i'm entering the Itch Phase(tm) which... is probably about as itchy as my hips were, individually, but unfortunately for me it's happening in three places at once instead of just one. i want to gnaw my torso off. it's gonna be a long week or so until it stops. thank god half my chest is still completely numb, honestly

-overall, this is hands down the easiest recovery i've had. i wasn't sure what to expect pain-wise or mobility-wise, but... i mean, unsurprisingly, tissue removal is a lot smoother sailing than recovering from having your hip broken and your muscles re-adhered lol. the only thing i can't do yet is sleep on my right side comfortably, and i can only partially tilt myself onto my left. i'm a side/stomach sleeper and suffering :(

-i am so accustomed to doing a surgery recovery once a year that this one doesn't feel particularly exciting or noteworthy, which is kinda funny. i'd heard/seen so many accounts of people post op seeing their chest for the first time and having an emotional reaction to it that i half expected to, too. the most i felt was more of a "huh, neat, this is what things look like now," which is about on-par with what i felt after my first hip surgery. not bad, just an immediate, unquestioning acceptance of my new status quo. i've always been Like That with all major events in my life, though, so i'm not surprised.