Recovery Day 13

Happy Monday Y'all,

Well, damn.  Friday-Sunday were pure hell in my world.  I have been fighting off that nasty virus that I caught from my mom.  The coughing became so intense that I pulled muscles in my lower abdomen region (where I was operated on), my upper back, my chest, and my neck.  I feel like hell froze over my body.

Today I woke up and had enough!  I headed back to a doctor and saw an ENT.  My virus turned into a sinus infection with bronchitis... UGHHHH!!  Good news?  I was given antibiotics and steroids to help me feel better soon.  I was told I would probably start to feel better by Wednesday.  I hope so, because all I want to do is go back to work!!

In terms of surgery recovery?  Sadly, I couldn't do any of my exercises or walking for the past few days.  I got so stiff that I tried to brave through them yesterday and failed.  The good news is?  I don't have much pain anymore and the swelling is finally starting to subside - who knows, maybe these steroids will also help that?! ;)

Here's to hoping that I start feeling healthy enough to continue on my road to core muscle surgery recovery!!! 

With Love,
Ash xx

Recovery Day 9

Happy Thursday (Snow Day #2),

The blizzard hit and with it?  Downed trees, power outages everywhere and the storm literally puked snow.  Last night I developed a fever.  It reached 100.6.  I took 2 Tylenol to get it down.  I dripped sweat all night.  My throat remained on fire with some coughing (which is incredibly painful at this point).  The fever stayed down all night.  At 6am it creeped up to 99 again, so I took 2 more Tylenol.  I was not feeling well AT ALL.  My throat was on fire and my whole body was feeling week.  I made the decision to get in contact with a doctor...

But around 8:30am, when I got out of bed, I noticed a rash all over my right upper arm and all down the middle of my legs.  It was burning, hot, red, raised (not so much itchy, just uncomfortable).  My mom made the decision to take me to the hospital ER, since she was told a possible symptom of a blood infection could be a rash...

I just got back from the ER.  Strep test was negative.  Flu test was negative.  CT scan of sinuses were unremarkable for infection or swelling.  The doctor threw around the idea of meningitis (since I have some neck discomfort).  This scared the shit out of me... However, the doctor said, "my suspicion of a meningitis infection is low, so I don't believe we need a spinal tap at this point.  However, medicine is never perfect and people present symptomology differently.  If your symptoms get worse, come back."  Ohhhh... OKKKKKK!! :(

At this point, since my mom got a nasty cold/virus a few days ago, they think I may have developed a a virus.  They don't know what is going on with the rash.  They told me to follow up with a primary doctor tomorrow, which I will.

At least it's not surgery related... but I feel like crap... Here's to hoping I feel better soon.

With Love,
The Diseased xx

Recovery Day 8

Happy Wednesday,

The nor'eastern blizzard is approaching.  I have intense facial swelling and sinus pressure.  My throat is itching AND on fire. I will be in bed all day.  No changes to my surgical sites or symptoms.  The good news is, I feel my stomach swelling decreasing and feel some "healing" itching.  My inner thigh bruises are going away and I'm gaining more flexibility and speed in my movements.  Still soreness all around, but that will be expected.

See Ya,
Ash xx

Recovery Day 6 & 7

Hi All,

Today is officially one week since surgery. I tried driving yesterday! I made it to the gas station and back. Phew. Pain was tolerable all day after walking 2 miles, AM exercises and PM physical therapy. However, last night, the 400-600mg of Motrin every 6 hours finally started creeping up on me. My stomach was a mess and I began to feel weirdly swollen/bloated (even in my head).  Unfortunately, it was also pretty rough sleeping - I couldn’t get comfortable and all the healing muscles felt cranky, numb and crampy.

However, I woke up and somehow drove myself to work for the morning... It went terrible. I couldn't keep up physically or mentally. I will hope for a snow day (due to the pending storm) and might have to get docked pay for a few days (since I used up all my sick and personal time). I really need another few days of rest and can’t handle the pace of a middle school just yet. 😩

After work, I drove straight to NYC. I had to have Dr. Coleman’s assistant, Kira, check my incisions. I also placed a call to Dr. Poor about my swelling/bloating.  Kira said my incisions looked good, but confirmed with Dr. Poor that I'm retaining water from all the Motrin I'm taking. Therefore, I have to stop, cold turkey, all medications for pain.

😩😩I'm on my own now!  Let’s hope my body and brain can champ through the pain and discomfort... And here’s to hoping my body releases this retained water ASAP. I’m sick of feeling like a balloon. 

I’m trying to do some walking now before heading to PT. I’ll be getting soft tissue work done and a bunch of new exercises to do the next two days from home.

In better news, my work family sent me gorgeous multi-colored roses that are keeping me happy. 

With Love,

Ash xx

Recovery Day 5

Happy Sunday,

Today was a really happy day.  I got to wake up with Jon next to me!  I felt badly though, since Saturday I was basically a zombie after traveling home all day, zonked out in a chair with him next to me and went to bed by 9:30.  I hope he didn't take it personally, but my energy levels are really screwed up since surgery.

I went to do my exercises at the nearest Blink Fitness.  I tried my best to get to 3 miles again, but I had to stop at 2.  I was just in too much pain and I didn't want to push it.  I went home to do my exercises.  I did 30 reps of all that Dr. Sarah prescribed.  I know I'm supposed to do them twice a day, but I'm just too sore and tired for the second round.  I start PT with Dr. Danny tomorrow, so I'm sure he will kick my butt into gear.  I'll be going 3x per week, so I'm sure that will mean PT homework is in my future on my "off" days.  Man... this is sounding exhausting already.

Where I'm at symptom wise:

• Swelling all over my body; especially my lower abs and inner thighs
• Feeling of being bloated or filled with air all over my body 
• Bad psoas/hip flexor/groin pain (especially on left side)
• Sores inside my mouth from the breathing tube inserted during surgery
• Skin rash near my incisions from the bandage tape
• Lower back pain/soreness
• Hamstring twitching and soreness
• More bruising on right inner thigh
• Lack of energy after doing so little

Today was a very special Sunday, as I had many visitors!!  Jon, cousins Emmalee and Jaxon, Aunt Anny, sister Mego, special friends Gene and Geri, and roomie Julia!  I even had special phone calls from my step-grandparents and Oksana and an awesome pep talk from my rehab buddy Claire in NC.

Thank you to all who call, text, message and visit.  I couldn't get through these times without all of you.  Keep the prayers for a smooth recovery coming, I'll need them as I attempt to go back to work at some point this coming week.

Love,

Ash xx

Recovery Day 4

Hi All,

Sorry I couldn’t post yesterday. Day 4 was Saturday and the day I got to travel home!! I spent the morning doing my exercises and walked a total of 3 miles. It was really hard to move this day and then sitting in the car for two hours made me ridiculously sore.

When I got home, I was able to do some laundry, stop at my apartment to check my mail and did food shopping at Whole Foods with Jon!! I am so glad to have Jon back in my life - it was a long week without him. However, all of these errands + traveling, wiped me out. I was in a fog the rest of the night and felt so disgustingly bloated and gross. Feeling like you are filled with air and 800 pounds, when you can’t really move, is not so fun.

If I could describe to you how my muscles felt? It feels like my inner thigh, psoas, lower ab and pelvic muscles got sent through a meat grinder and thrown back in my body. Ugh.  My incisions are so sore and painful still as well.

I am also trying to ween myself off a ton on NSAID’s so I have switched from 600mg of Motrin to 400mg of Aleeve every 6 hours. These drugs have been ripping apart my stomach, so I’m trying to champ it.

Hoping for a better day 5 for sure. At least Harvey Finch the Havanese is back in my life and watching my every move like the great little love bug dog he is!!

With Love,
Ashley xx

Recovery Day 3 (Afternoon)

Hello Everyone,

Core muscle surgery is definitely no joke.  From my understanding, many muscles/tendons make up the "core" and therefore, there are many different types of surgeries to repair the area.

In my case, I had core muscle injuries on BOTH sides, which led to bilateral surgery.  The incisions were not near my groin/hips, as they are actually on my pubic bone near my vagina (sorry for the TMI) and are way longer than I expected.  It amazes me from two incisions that the doctor was able to repair FIVE muscles!  Both inner thighs, both psoas muscles/tendons (hip flexors), and all the muscles that attach my hip bone to my pelvic bone.

To gain a better understanding of my surgery and injuries, click here!

It's day 3 of recovery and here are my recovery stats:
1) Inner thighs are bruised (worse on the right side).
2) Pubic bone region (what some may refer to as the "camel toe" haha) is super tight and swollen.  Today the swelling doubled in size, most likely due to an increase of movement and the crappy weather.
3) Lower abs are very tight, swollen, and tender.
4) Groins are very tender.
5) Lower back (on both sides) is sore.

I survived PT with Dr. Sarah Guarino again today!  Today we added 1 leg balances, cat/camel on all four's, and laying on my stomach for a few moments.  I also walked more than 3 miles on a treadmill today.  I can barely move... but hey, apparently I'm getting stronger.

Dr. Poor examined my incisions.  He believes an infection might be brewing on the left side, but nothing is showing yet - it's just throbbing and painful.  I will watch the sites for changes in temperature, color, and see if itching starts.  I get them checked in NYC with Dr. Coleman's assistant on Tuesday anyway.

Dr. Poor told me that the numbness, after surgery is common and should subside as I get back to "normal" movement.  He also explained that the right hamstring twitches (that began pre-surgery) should begin to subside once I get all of my strength back and stop compensating for the injury I used to have!

I am on schedule to head back to North Jersey tomorrow morning after my PT exercises and walking.  I'm anxious to be so far away from all the wonderful doctors and staff at Vincera, but I'm happy I'll be in back in a real bed.

Every day is a new day.  Every day I am getting stronger.  I will get through the pain.

With Love,
The Swollen Camel ;) xx

Recovery Day 3 (Morning)

TGIF!!!

Today is Friday morning.  I had a rough night.  My left incision is hurting very badly and any time I move I feel a sharp/pinching pain.  The numbness throughout my groin, legs, and feet while sitting has progressively become worse.  My right hamstring continues to twitch involuntarily, which is started to concern me.  While my inner thigh pain is decreasing, I am still extremely sore in my lower abdomen.  I've noticed that if I lay or sit for too long, I get too stiff.  Even though I'm in a ton of pain, I try to keep walking and moving.

Through much discomfort, I walked my treadmill mile last evening.  I was too sore to do anymore of my exercises, so I took it easy.  This morning, I walked TWO miles on the treadmill and now can barley move!  However, the doctor's keep telling me to "not stop moving."

I'm about to head to PT and will see Dr. Poor about "where I'm at."  I am looking forward to a low-key afternoon and to see Douglas for dinner tonight.

I'm still on track to drive back home tomorrow morning, so fingers crossed that will happen.  While I won't be able to move back into my apartment for another week, I'm excited to be in a "home."  Hotel life is great while on vacation, but not so much when you're recovering from a major surgery...

With Love,
Ash xx

Recovery Day 2

Hello World,

After sleeping 10-12 hours, one would think I’d be rested. Well, when I woke up, I was extremely nauseous. I had to have my mom come with a garbage pail in case I hurled again.  Luckily, I never got sick. But I was super dizzy. I did muster up enough strength to take a ride to the nearest Whole Foods for some Kombucha to ease my queasiness.  I even bought a Japanese yam to make for dinner tonight in the hotel microwave (and for anyone who knows me well, you guys know that a Kombucha and a sweet potato are two big ways to my heart).

Today at PT, I had my bandages removed. The tape didn’t hurt that bad when it got ripped off my pubic/groin area. I have sterile-strips that will stay on for a few weeks (or until they fall off). I’m lucky because I have no stitches on either incision. The incisions are held closed internally with stuff that will dissolve on its own. In terms of exercises, I did the same ones as yesterday and then got iced with the game ready machine. 

My PT homework is to walk a mile on the treadmill at the hotel, do a set of my PT exercises again, and ice more!

Today, while sitting in a chair, I developed numbness in my groins, down my legs and in my feet. Sarah, my PT, said I should monitor that. If it doesn’t get better, I’ll see Dr. Poor tomorrow to figure out what’s going on. 

As it looks, I’m still on schedule to come home on Saturday and start 3x per week PT sessions on Monday. Tuesday I’ll be off to NYC to have my incision sites checked at Dr. Coleman’s office! 

I'm excited to see my bestie, Doug Hollinger.  He lives nearby and is coming to have dinner with us tomorrow!! Yipeee!! 

I’m signing off for the day. I have more exercising, icing and rest to attend too. I’m praying for tolerable pain, good sleep and another successful PT appointment tomorrow. 

Love,

The Recovering Core Muscle Surgery Girl xx

Recovery Day 1

Hi All,

Well, I didn’t “wake up” on this day, since I never went to sleep. However, I learned that laying down or sitting too long is NOT a good idea. The longer I’m idle, the stiffer I get. Also, sitting in a chair too long, makes my legs and feet go numb. 

I headed to PT for 8:45am and had to walk all over the room (forward, backward, and side stepping). I then had to squeeze a ball in between bent knees, do lower abdominal stabilization contractions, bridges for my glutes, half clam shells, and straight side leg lifts. Wow did this hurt!  I got extremely nauseous and dizzy and it didn’t end well. 

After PT, I headed right downstairs for my follow-up with Dr. Poor (Dr. Myers right hand assistance). I saw stars and passed out in the room. But he thought things were looking good!  Once I was coherent, the glorious news came... I was allowed to SHOWER!!! I immediately went back to my hotel room to scrub Dr. Meyers Sharpie marker artwork off my skin.  It was hard moving about, but with help, I felt so amazing being clean!!!

One of my closest friends, Diane (who is currently residing in Delaware) came for lunch! It was so nice to see a friendly face. She even brought me a yummy candle to burn in my hotel room and some other goodies!! 

After lunch, I started to have a severe allergic reaction to Percocet. Not only was I itchy, but I got hives everywhere and I started not being able to breathe. For anyone who knows me well, you know I have a history of lung collapses, so this feeling makes me PANIC!!! I got driven right back to Vincera so Dr. Poor could check me out. I was good after some Benedryl, but he told me no more Percocet’s. Instead he gave me a new script for Dilauded. I was too scared to take that heavy duty drug, so I just stuck with 600mg of Motrin and a Xanex before bed.

Thank goodness for the Xanex, because I was able to sleep for 10-12 hours!! But I can tell you that the Motrin does not work as well as Percocet’s and I dealt with much pain and soreness all night. 

With Love,

The "allergic" girl xx

Core Muscle Surgery Day

Hi Everyone,

Tuesday, February 27th was surgery day with Dr. Meyers @ The Vincera Institute. We are staying at a Courtyard Marriott right in the Navy Yard of Philadelphia, PA. The hotel is literally a 2 minute drive to Vincera, which is super convenient since I need to spend a lot of time there. 

A fun fact of the Navy Yard?! It’s the home of the Urban Outfitters-Anthropologie-Free People company world headquarters!!

I have to say... The Vincera Institute is quite amazing! Everything is housed in an old navy barrack brick building.  On the bottom floor, you have the doctor’s offices, an imaging company (ultrasounds, X-rays, Ct-scans, MRIs, etc.), a cafe with amazing green juices and smoothies, the surgical/operating rooms, and treatment rooms for acupuncture/massage/yoga/nutrition. Upstairs is an entire floor dedicated to physical therapy for all patients. 

It seems that many people I met while getting evaluated the day before surgery are staying at my same hotel. I have a feeling I’ll be making some “walking wounded” friends over the next week. Haha!!

For anyone wondering, I kept a timeline of my surgical day schedule:

6:00: Wake up and shower

6:30: Arrive at Vincera to check-in and sign my life away

7:45: Called into prep room to get my IV hooked up and ready for operation

8:00: Dr. Coleman stopped by to wish me luck

8:15: anesthesiologist came by to talk about the risks/drugs I would be receiving

8:35: Dr. Meyers came by to create beautiful artwork on both groin/pelvic areas, just to make sure we both knew he had to operate on both sides haha

9:15: Taken to operating room

9:30-10:30: Bilateral core muscle surgery with Dr. Myers

11:30: Woke up in recovery room and ate a bunch of snacks I packed - almonds and an RxBar

12:30: Walked around the PT facility and iced. 

1:30: Back at the hotel to rest and walk every hour. 

This first afternoon/night was interesting. I felt pain, itching from Percocet, sore throat from a tube they inserted, and general soreness. It was extremely hard for me to walk “upright,” as my body wanted to hunch forward. I couldn’t get on/off the toilet by myself. I couldn’t sit down or stand up from a chair by myself. I couldn’t get in or out of bed by myself. I couldn’t change my clothes by myself. The pain was dull and sore, but also sharp at times. The pain was horrible in my inner thighs and in my lower abdomen (near my pelvic bone); my low back wasn’t feeling too hot either. 

Some tips? Have stool softeners with you. Have "carb" snacks like plantain chips and ginger ale to help calm your stomach and the side effects of anesthesia (i.e. dizzy, nausea, bloating, swollen, temperature control issues, restless body, etc.). Be prepared for your body temperature to be “off” after surgery. I go from freezing to sweating in a matter of moments. And always wear comfy and loose clothes that are easy to get in and out of. 

This night I did not sleep well at all! My body was so tired, but my brain wouldn’t shut down. It was super hard to get comfortable and I felt very shaky all over. 

With Love, 

A "Walking Wounded" Girl xx