Monday, May 27, 2013

6 weeks down (+ photos of healing)

This last Friday marked the sixth week since surgery.  It went by SO fast.  I went from being worried of the results to being worried that it may come back.  HA!  I traded one worry for another, not sure which one is worse…  I would have been worried of the actual surgery itself had I known how much it hurt.  I had read post after post of people saying “Oh, my husband had that surgery and he said it was easy”.  Yeah, well – I’m not a damn man and I should have taken that into account.  I think a reason why I was so sore was because the surgery took more than double the amount of time expected.  They were completely digging around in my pitter.

Anyways, the scars are healing up quite nicely.  I used the Neosporin type of ointment that the hospital gave me after the tape came off for about a day or two – but I didn’t want it greasing up my clothes, the couch or the bed.  Then I switched to tea tree oil and let me tell you, I love that stuff.  It’s a very strong smelling antiseptic and I swear that it has some sort of numbing quality to it.  The incisions started feeling just a little touch better each time it was applied.  

The hubs turned off our BBQ once and accidentally touched the underside of the grill – the underside of a 400 degree grill.   His forearm instantly started to blister.  As you may or may not know, he’s got some really nice, super colorful art on his arms.  I was so worried that the blisters would scab up, then ultimately scar up and just royally jack up his beautiful arm.  But we were quick on our toes and slapped some tea tree oil on it for a few days and now you would never know that he was even burned.  No scar at all, even when it seemed pretty evident that a scar was on the horizon. 

Here are some photos of the healing.  The incision on my back is the one that is taking longer to heal.  It has a tiny bit of the stitches sticking out through the middle of it.  You can kind of see it in the photos - it's right in the center of the incision.  It's slightly annoying, it almost feels like a thin guitar string, sticking out of my skin that catches on things like fabric, couches, clothing, etc.. Other than that, pretty much everything else is about the same. I’m still numb in my arm pit and running down along the outside/underside of my arm, which is still annoying because as I’ve mentioned – it’s numb but feels slightly like a bruise when touched.  With that being said, it still feels like I am shaving someone else’s arm pit – and I’m still not into it.  Though, my angry nerve is going back to it's regular old normal self.
Back in the sun
Back in shade

Left pitter in sun

Left pitter in shade
  I have had something new going on that is kind of bothersome.  When I reach over with my left arm, every now and then I get this sharp pain that runs from the top of the incision on my back right on up my neck.  You know when you move your neck some random way and it feels like you’ve pinched a nerve?  It feels like that, but from my back up to my neck.  I'm beginning to know the sensations right before it happens so I can stop whatever the hell I am doing so it doesn't fully happen.  It's actually slowed down; about three weeks ago it was happening as many as 5 times a day, this last week it only happened once.  Apparently the numbness and any nerve situation in that area is totally common.  But, whatevs!  As long as we are on our way to full recovery and I stay clear, I'm good to go.
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND EVERYONE!!

4 comments:

  1. Hello Amber, I have a scar on my chest that is from the port they inserted for the chemo. Anyway I was getting those same feelings in the nerves that you spoke of and the Dr. looked at it and said I had a keyloid scar. It is a raised scar and it shoots pain from the nerves in that area. It has got better but I still experience those pains sometimes.

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    1. The hubs has a few of those keloid scars, too. I think that anywhere that nerves have been messed with it takes them a while to go back to normal :/ Oh well, what'ya gonna do? :)

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  2. Vitamin E oil is great too. You can alternate them.

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    1. I keep on thinking that I need to go get some, then I see a shiny penny and completely forget! Thanks for the reminder, I'll put a sticky on my wallet.

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