The Summer of Miscontent

How Was Your Summer?

I was lucky enough to be home from work for 2 1/2 months this summer. Unfortunately, most of that time was spent in my bed. This is a blog post about what I did this summer. Reporting this in December seems a bit tardy but I honestly didn't allow myself to write about it before now because I wanted some distance between myself and my recovery.

I decided that I wanted to have an abdominoplasty done. For most of my adult life, I've had significant skin hanging from my abdomen and I repeatedly had strangers ask me about my pregnancy. Buying pants was a pain. Ultimately, I felt like skin was not even really part of me. I researched the local surgeons and started consulting a couple years ago. When I knew we'd probably be leaving Canada Summer 2014, I felt like it had to happen Summer 2013 or never (or at least not for awhile…). Luckily, when I met with the surgeon, we were able to schedule a surgery within the next month. The timing was perfect.

My surgery was booked for June 18th. I planned on one month of recuperation and then 3 weeks of fun in the sun with the kids.

June 18th

The surgery is booked for 7am. It will be about 2.5 hours long. I woke up and the first thing I remember was pain in my hips. It felt like someone had repeatedly smashed a metal bar against them. Along with the abdominoplasty (which included sewing up abdominal muscles that had separated after several pregnancies), the surgeon had also done some liposuction on the hips. Not for the faint of heart! I was surprised to see that I had a drain out of each hip which I had to measure when I emptied the fluid. That was kinda uncomfortable as the days went on. Partly because this was a private surgery, I was supposed to return home that afternoon. The problem was - every time I got up I would faint. They called me a vaso-dilator??? Finally, after a third try, I was able to get into the car without fainting.

June 19th - 27th

Eric and the kids were SO good to me. I couldn't move my entire mid-section so I stayed on my back propped up with pillows and I depended on Eric to move me, help me get up and go to the bathroom, etc. The surgery included the area from underneath the breast-line down to the pelvic bone and the outside of both hips. I was taking a few pain-killers but not too much. Eric prepared great food for me during this period of time. Fabulous smoothies full of goodness, salads with fish for lunch. I may have been feeling crummy but my appetite was just fine! The kids didn't come into my room too often. They were kinda grossed out. Eric went out for one evening and Konrad was left responsible to help me move around. He took it so seriously and did such a great job. Nothing like stitches and drains to encourage children to be good to their parents! 

June 28th

I had my drains removed. The drains were uncomfortable and a real pain since they were on the outside of each hip close to the waistline. I was sort of nervous about this whole thing - it sort of felt like a baby moving around inside your belly when she was pulling out all of the plastic tubing. Unfortunate for me, I started spiking a fever that afternoon. I knew I was in trouble and starting emailing the surgeon to let him know my temperature and sending pictures of the wound site.

June 30th

Although it was Sunday, the surgeon met me at his clinic at 8am to see what could be done. He drained the site and put me on a second batch of antibiotics.

July 1st

I was so sad that I couldn't celebrate Canada Day with the kids very much. Eric and the boys went for a walk at the Mackenzie King Estate and Anders brought home 3 salamanders. I was determined to go out for fireworks although I really should have stayed home. At this point, the infection was pretty advanced. I had a high fever, the site was red, swollen and was starting to leak through the incision.

July 2nd

I meet with the surgeon again and he has to open me up again. I knew this was the only way to find relief so I did not contest in any way. I've never had surgery while being awake so it was a bit unnerving but I did alright. He froze the area, tried to clean out some of the infected tissue and put in some new drains. 

July 5th to August 15th

The surgeon removed my drains on July 5th and assured me that the incision would not close up. Man, I was so surprised when not only did the incision site not close, I developed a marsupial pouch! It was pretty shocking at first when I could see inside my body but I got used to it. I changed the gauze every few hours to ensure it was clean and eventually, I gained more mobility. We decided to leave it as an open wound to encourage healing and complete recovery from the infection. Apparently, open wound healing is best for infections. At first, it was hard to get around but as my body started healing, I could start going for walks with the kids, sitting on the beach. I started enjoying the summer a bit. Swimming was off-limits but I managed to do some things with the kids. 

August 15th

D-day had come. I had to be closed up at some point. So, after 6 weeks of having my marsupial, I had another surgical procedure while being awake and the surgeon cleaned up the site and stitched me up for good. The procedure was not fun and I was very sore for a couple days but recovery didn't take too long. I went back to work on September 3rd and life has gone on. Healing has been slow but it has happened. I started riding my bike again towards the end of September and I've been walking and doing yoga regularly. I really want to start running again but I have a bit of an issue with part of the abdominal wall and it hurts when I run. One day soon though - I will run. 

I really don't regret having the surgery done despite the subsequent infection. I don't like living with regrets and I'd rather accept the consequences. At the end of the day, the surgeon did a great job and I am satisfied with the results of the surgery. I love it that this surgery can be a success for a someone like me who may be moderately active but I am by no means 'thin'. Getting an infection from this surgery and this surgeon in particular is rare - but I suppose it's better that a fairly healthy person go through this and recover rather than an older person whose body might not be able to heal as well. I learned a lot about myself through this whole thing. I learned that I can be brave and undergo surgery without anaesthetic. I learned that my husband and kids are great and really took care of me when I needed it most. I think I also understood a little bit about the resiliency of the human body. It really is amazing.