ONE WEEK POST-OP

We have returned from my one week post-op doctor appointment. It went well. Dr. Hodges pulled both drains out....thank goodness! They were hurting and really getting on my nerves, so won't be missing them. At all. He also pulled off all the tape around my entire incision even though I was saying, 'ummm, no no no noooo' the whole time. It didn't hurt....I was just half expecting the cut to open up. It didn't. Of course.

I have been cleared to walk a couple minutes at a time when/if I am feeling up for it. It will literally be a couple, as in 2, minutes at a time. Still pretty tired and sore but Dr. Hodges says I'm doing better than expected.

There is another post-op appointment in 2 weeks....

hopefully for more good news.

WELL, SHE AIN'T LYIN'

As I was laying in bed trying to get air to the raw 'tape burns' on my stomach, the girls came in to ask if I needed anything but ended up getting an 'eyeful' instead.

Brooklyn says, "Ohhh, Mommy, you look scary" and slowly turns around and walks out of the room. Alex stands there looking at my drains, raw spots, blisters, cuts and says in the most sweet and loving little voice, "Mom, you don't look scary...you look disgusting."

HA!

Can't argue with the truth!

NOW TO RECOVER

I was released from the hospital yesterday afternoon. Ellie gave me a very non-bumpy ride home and even got into it with the pharmacy to speed up the time it would take to get my meds! I'm still tired and drugged so hopefully this will make sense.

If not...well, you can't be surprised.

Brooklyn & Alex (with Grandma's help) created a great

'Welcome Home' for me!

Its good to be home with my hubby (isn't he the best, by the way???) and kiddos. Missed them staying in the hospital by myself...not that I was really aware of what was going on anyway. My mom has everything under control and seems to enjoy herding the kids. Although, I'm worried she will be the next due for hernia repair lugging Riggs around.

The girls have been very sweet and want to help with everything. EVERYTHING.

Riggs? Well, Riggs just gets mad at me because I won't let him have the bulb end of my drains. He thinks they are balls and I am being very mean. How do you explain to an 11 month old that they are attached to me and very much NOT a toy?!?

All in all....things are good and I'm on the road to recovery.

Thank you for all the love and support!

Happy Trails...

...blogosphere. This amateur is signing off on his first and only day of blogging. Today was filled with a lot of early morning yawns and anxious moments, but ultimately it was an overwhelming success.

Kudos to the doctors and nurses for their skill and knowledge to fix our wounded hero.

Thanks to all our tremendous family and friends for all the prayers, thoughts, calls, texts, emails, etc. I know it meant a lot to Mandy to know she had a lot of support.

Praise God for overseeing this whole ordeal. We are truly blessed that it was Your plan to have this thing come out a success.

And lastly, big props to Mandy for the courage and strength to battle through this. We are excited to get our old (I say this as in the past, not age!) mommy/wife back. We look forward to many pain-free years of family fun. You are one tough mama, and we love you more than words can express.

Scott, Brooklyn, Alex and Riggs

Resting (un)comfortably

Mandy has been rolled up to her room and is resting. She was coherent for a few minutes right when we got up here and she seemed to be in quite a bit of pain. She is now sleeping, so the pain meds must be working.

However, she is snoring rather loud. I think we all should continue to pray that this is a temporary side-effect of the surgery and we have not replaced one issue with another!

Let the recovery begin!

I just met with Dr. Hodges. He said everything went great. Hernia(s) repaired. Abs now reconnected. Excess skin removed. Tummy tucked. Pain started.

She will be in recovery for about an hour and a half, then moved up to her room. He thinks she will have to stay til maybe Thursday, mainly so she has access to the pain meds. She will most likely be pressing that button more than Ken Jennings on Jeopardy. But the pay off will be just as great.

Thanks for all the prayers! I will be back if there is more news.

The baton has been passed

I just met with Dr. Wing. She said her part went great. I think she dumbed it down for me, but basically she scraped some polyps and implanted the Mirena IUD.

The baton has now been passed to Dr. Hodges. He just got started and Dr. Wing said he thought it would be about 3 hours. He also thought she would be staying in the hospital 1-2 days. It doesn't sound like I will get updated now til he is done. I thought about sticking my head in the room in an hour or so to check in, but not sure I want to risk getting thrown out by security.