The Feed

So... not daily updates for this one 😅😅 My biggest update for the day is that as of yesterday, my pain wasn't really getting any better at the end of the Oxy, and I pretty clearly have some decent abdominal swelling... so, I'm skipping the Tylenol altogether and taking Ibproufen every six hours instead. After 24 hours of steady anti-inflammatories in my system, I maybe, might actually take that shower today that I've noped out of since Monday thanks to the pain. That's abou

This video pops up on my feed this morning... "if patients have catheters, or maybe central venous devices... we virtually never see this in patients who aren't in nursing homes, or hospital settings..." Yeah, I was in the hospital overnight on a Foley catheter and double-fisting the IV's just a few nights ago... I absolutely don't have it, by the way. Zero symptoms. I just think it's funny I've been flirting with every single public health risk summer 2026 can throw at us. I

CW: I had an organ removed, and I'm gonna talk details. Welcome to day 3 post-op, where it starts getting properly gory. I mean, it was pretty gory on Wednesday, but I was born with that uterus, it's definitely one of the more visceral organs to begin with. So, more gory than expected, but not so much to be concerning. The pain has kicked in, I wouldn't be surprised if today was peak pain day, or maybe tomorrow. It feels like a pretty average period, for the most part. So, pa

I've spent my day monitoring my urine color, and water and electrolyte intake, because my body is doing its damnedest to flush all the anesthesia out. Exciting stuff, I know! I also have so far consumed a monster sized fresh peach for breakfast, and a refrigerator oatmeal for lunch, the latter after getting pretty woozy and wobbly and realizing that I was concentrating so hard on hydration that I hadn't kept up the caloric intake. I'm very glad I jarred those up to have on ha

I'm on day two without a uterus. It's been a rough couple of days. The surgery itself went perfectly, it was probably the easiest yoink of the day. It was the absolute freak-out my body decided to have after that was the issue. The biggest issue was my blood pressure. Pretty much the minute I came out of anesthesia, my blood pressure went up in the 210/120 range, and stayed there no matter what, so I was admitted for the night on the heart ward for observation. Second biggest

CW: many specific mental health issues, neurodivergence, chronic illness. Auntie Lore time! You already know I'm late diagnosed AuDHD with all the things that go along with multiple neurodivergence, like rejection sensitive dysphoria, dyscalculia, internal hyperactivity, hyperlexia, hyperverbalism, hyperfixation, dyspraxia, fissure and synesthesia, chronic insomnia, weak digestion, joint hypermobility... What does this mean, practically? Internal hyperactivity + the constant

After hearing about my surprise overnight scar improvement, my grandma tried my scar combo this morning. Now, I'm not taking care of her wounds, so I'm being told that now that she's started on my daily collagen and electrolytes regimen, her wounds have healed, and she's working on scar management now. Turns out, she was dealing with scabbing that was refusing to come off, and that she thought she'd have to go to wound care to have removed for her. I'm told the minute my mois

A few days ago, I saw a YouTube dermatologist say that topical Vitamin E doesn't do anything. Now, I recognize that this is anecdotal evidence and no scientific study, but I have to disagree... To be fair, there's the question of synthetic vs. natural, and percentage in the formula, and etc etc. Now, most naturally sourced Vitamin E is a soy derivative, so I have to be careful which Vitamin E products I use, and I generally stick to CocoJojo's Full Spectrum Vitamin E Oil (not

I may not have an audience, but damn it, I have opinions! I logged on with one more post-op update - I used my favorite cane for the first time since surgery yesterday, a single-point offset-handle aluminum model that's engraved so it looks like it's covered in shiny dragon scales. When my hip joint is fully functional, my left leg is my "strong leg" thanks to my balance issues and the foot drop in my right leg caused by the spinal cord injury. Which means that when I'm suppo

I had my last post-op appointment with my surgeon today, and I am free and clear! The little wounds on the incision are apparently very normal, and pop up at 6 weeks, when the internal sutures dissolve. Once they heal up, in about five days, I'm clear for hot tubbing again! Now I have to re-learn using my cane for my drop foot in my right leg again 😅😅 I went to the local Indian supermarket while I was out to stock up my spice cabinet and grain stores in my pantry, and could

How to know you're an 80's baby... my mom would make going to see the doctor less scary by playing this on the drive over and singing "let's get a physical!" and encouraging my brother and I to join in. TW: weight loss, with numbers. Obesity & BMI. Surgery & recovery. I had my six month check-up with my PCP today (you get semi-annuals when you have enough wrong with you), which of course means a weigh-in. I'm at 205lbs, which is 12lbs lighter than the 217lbs I was on surgery

Well, just about, that's tomorrow. But I made an unsettling discovery yesterday. Brace yourself, I'm going to say it again - recent 50lb weight loss! Part of the "spare tire" fat distribution I had on my hips/FUPA since puberty gave me an overhang over the top of my thighs. The fat is gone, but the skin still hangs there a bit. Now, the incision goes to exactly where my thigh meets my pelvis, so that skin overhang covers maybe an inch and a half of the incision. Complication

How long should I be doing these recovery count-outs, anyway? Final post-op appointment is the 20th, so likely to week 7... which is pretty impressive, spine all took 12 weeks for full recovery. I would have assumed it would take about that long to heal bone around a titanium implant, but this is going lickety-split. I mean, January, as January tends to do, seemed to drag on forever, but as time spent on opioids also tends to do seemed to go by in a blink. I'm honestly kind o

I'm to the point where I was before my hip went south in October. I can get around my house without a mobility aid, and I'm back to just a cane when I go out (unless it's to a place where I need to bring my own seat, then I use a rollator walker or a manual wheelchair, that was pre-bionica thanks to the spinal cord injury). I can even get my own socks and shoes on! This feels like a big life complication resolved, so I'm in high spirits today. I saw my new podiatrist today, a

Funny story... They used Dermabond to close spine surgery 4, and it gave me the worst rash. Like, itching at an 11, it was terrible. So, I had my doctor put Dermabond on my medical allergy list. I pointed this out before surgery, and right before I went under, in the OR, the surgeon's assistant told me that they usually use Dermabond to close the incision based on where it is, and could they spot-test the Dermabond before making the decision on how to close the incision? And

Guess who hasn't been to PT now in nearly two weeks? Thankfully, I'm doing all my home exercises every day, and healing just fine, but this whole stuck at home while I have a bunch of medical appointments thing is pretty infuriating to someone who takes commitments seriously and hates being unreliable. With a chronically ill body, you'd think I'd be used to being unreliable af and give myself more grace, but I do not. But this is what it looks like outside my bedroom window,

Tomorrow is three weeks post-op, and I have two updates, finally: "Winter Storm Fern" (as a person named Katrina, I hate the practice of naming storms, but shared meaning and all that...) had me miss two PT sessions and my first post-op last week, so all of that has been pushed into this coming week. Since that was when I was supposed to be graduated from my walker back to my cane... I graduated myself. tbh, I've been walking around smaller rooms in my house unassisted. I fee

Today, at two weeks and one day post-op, is where this blog will likely stop having daily post-op reports. Why? I don't really have anything new to report. Today is day 2 of a 6 day blizzard, and considering I can't get into the boosted truck with the 4 wheel drive, and the Kia Soul is... not quite as good on the roads in these conditions, and also considering I have a history of fucking up fresh surgery in a freak accident.... today's PT was cancelled, Thursday's will be res

I took my walker into the kitchen last night to take my bedtime meds, and got halfway back to my bedroom before realizing my walker was still parked in the kitchen 😅😅 Guess I'm feeling better! That one muscle is still prone to tightening up, but frequent, gentle stretching and Robaxin loosen it up again pretty quickly. And, I'm off the Oxy! Down to just my usual pre-surgery pain combo, hooray!! Thankfully, at-home PT exercises are going well, because we're in the middle of

Pain levels in that muscle are a lot better today, so I took that shower, did a steam treatment on my hair with chebe butter, changed my clothes… Speaking of clothes, if you have that mesh incision covering kind of “suture” holding your incision together while it heals, the smooth polyester “Adidas” style track pants are best for both being able to slide your butt over clingier fabrics like cotton blankets or upholstery as you’re getting in and out of furniture pieces, and f