10:00 and all is well ...

In two days (Thursday), it will have been four weeks since my surgery. It is so wonderful having surgery behind me, the worries, the fears, the logistics of preparing my household for my 'down time'. Recovery feels like a slow process. I had expected to be almost pain free at this point, but I still have times every day (usually evening/night) when it seems to be just as 'fired up' as it was in the first few days. I'm interpreting the pain as a burning sensation .. almost identical to when you've burned yourself.

I have moments of feeling almost guilty that I'm not doing something productive with this time away from work. A wonderful friend who came up to visit with me this weekend responded to that statement with this question ... 'when did healing and recovering from surgery become non-productive' ? Good point, So the last couple of days I've done less and felt better about it. I've stopped feeling like I really should be cleaning out a closet or taking the car to be cleaned. I've realized that with only a couple of weeks left before I have to go back to work, the time I spend just 'healing' is crucial. I'm not using it as an excuse to be lazy; I'm doing the small daily things to take care of myself, but I'm not feeling like I'm wasting time when I take a nap or relax and watch a movie. Isn't it wonderful how friends can change our perspective on our life situations ?

My incisions are looking good. I have a few spots that look irritated and appear to be healing a little slower, but no sign of infection. I have the same hard spots that I experienced with the biopsy. When I say 'hard spots' I mean hard as a walnut shell. This is mostly in the area where the lymph nodes were removed. Dr says this is normal and should go away in six months or so. In the meantime it feels like there's a rock under my arm, not overly painful, just hard.

Arm exercises are going ok, progress seems steady but slow. I've concluded that everyday movements contribute as much to regaining my range of motion as the specific exercises. Stretching while I'm still in bed has been very helpful as well. I can stretch arms farther and with less pain with the bed supporting them.

I've graduated to wearing pullover tops again; a tank with a button-up shirt over it looks better .. will have to go shopping for more. In the meantime I'm determining which pullovers/tees look ok, and those that are cut too low or are too clingy & accentuate my concave chest. I'm liking not having to wear a bra. I'm liking not feeling like it's 120 degrees under my breasts. Definite advantage.

Yep, it's 10:00 and all is well with me.