On the mend again.

Deciding to stop pain medication less than 48 hours after major abdominal surgery is not brave.  It is stupid.  And I was stupid.

It left me in the worst pain, worse than anything I experienced last fall, worse than when I woke up from this surgery.  Luckily for me, once I swallowed two kinds of pain meds (and my pride) again yesterday morning, I started to feel the way I had since waking from surgery.  Which was fantastic.

I walked the floor only twelve hours after surgery.  I was able to go to the bathroom by myself on Friday afternoon.  I sat in a chair in my room most of Friday and Saturday instead of the hospital bed.  What a difference not being sick before surgery made – I have much more strength.

Still, I cannot get comfortable enough to sleep more than a couple hours in a row.  I cannot bend over to scoop litter boxes or to deal with the mess of an overturned kitchen garbage can (darn cats!).   The stairs throughout our house seem tougher to navigate this time around, too.

Overall, though, I’m doing much better this time around.  As long as I keep taking my pain meds through Tuesday as recommended…