Unexplained bruises

My friend, Rachna, took great care of me during her whirlwind, 2-1/2 day visit. She treated me to an almost full-body massage over the past couple days and discovered a number of mysterious bruises on my body.

For some, I could account - the numerous blood draws, the special line placed in my wrist to monitor my pulse during the operation, and the tube secured in my neck with two stiches for heart monitoring and if I needed tube feeding, etc.

The cause of others, I have no idea.

Although, when my home care nurse visited yesterday, I mention my sides and area under my ribs hurt (away from the cut). She nodded knowingly and explained the doctors used instruments to open the incision site up so they could look around. Huh. I don't think I want to think about that too much.

Michael witnessed the use of such exploratory devices - like rib spreaders and let's-look-in-here stretchers - when he stocked the operating rooms at University Hospital. No wonder I hurt so much. Sometimes, that area hurts more than the incision site. It feels like I participated in an special, hour-long Teresa Carriere's workout class designed to torture, ah condition, the abs in shape for bikini season. Yowza!

I'm more sore today than I've been over the past two. I'm having a hard time reducing my activity level and feel the need to help around the house. And yes, I'm stubborn. I'm going to try to rest more today and better follow the recommendations of the doctors and nurses. (Apparently, I can't lift anything over five pounds. The peanut butter jar in my cupboard is more than five pounds!) Sigh.

But I'm recovering well and am in good spirits. Yesterday I reduced the strength of my pain medication from Percocet to Tylenol 3s with no noticable difference. In a day or two, I'll see if extra strength Tylenol will do the job. I'm not one who's comfortable using the super pain killers if they're not necessary. Don't get me wrong, morphine was my new best friend in the hospital immediately after the surgery. But as I heal, lesser medications suffice.

The plan for today is rest, eat more protein to speed up healing and reconnect with my wonderful husband while the kids are at their second-last day of school. That sounds like the prescription to heal up some of those external and internal bruises.

Your battered friend,
Tina