Thursday, January 19, 2012

showers and other awesome things

Can I just say? Showers are awesome!
I have to keep reminding myself to use my left hand for things like turning the water on and off, and picking up full bottles of liquid soap, and there are places I can't quite reach, I'm sure, but I still say, showers are freakin' awesome!

Just as awesome: dressing myself. I know it was only for a few days, but it was difficult for me, having my mom and others help me to dress, and to wash. (Yes, I did bathe, in a very shallow bath, avoiding my chest and all the bandages. I figured no bathing applied mainly to the area they messed with, which was all above my ribcage, and sometimes, you just need a bath.) So I was thrilled to be showering and dressing all on my own. I even fastened my own bra, in the usual way, behind my back.
Later, I figured out how to put my coat on without assistance (gimpy arm first). Pretty proud of myself for that one.

Still having some swelling, on the right side. The nurse told me to wrap the area in an ace bandage, and use ice. So we wrapped me up, and then mom pulled out her Halloween t-shirt, a snug fitting, long sleeved shirt, made to look like allover tattoos, neck to wrists. This was to help compress my upper arm. Kind of awesome. And it helped. Much more comfortable tonight.

Not so awesome: still numb in the underarm area. Really hoping this isn't permanent nerve damage. It didn't show up until the day after surgery, if I remember correctly, so I'm guessing this is more due to the swelling than anything that might have happened during surgery. However, nerves are tiny, and hard to avoid when cutting stuff, surgically speaking, so, it's possible the numbness could continue. I'm just really hoping that's not the case. It's annoying, knowing I'm touching my skin, but not feeling that sensation on the skin itself.
Nothing I can do about it, so, I should stop thinking about it. Possibly. Nerves take forever to grow back, so, it is what it is.

Overall, though, things are looking up!

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