Recovery Days

 I am three days post surgery, and recovery is going ... patchily, but I am getting there.

I had my gallbladder removed and an umbilical hernia repaired on Monday at a public hospital near my home. The Australian public health system waitlist, for anyone unfamiliar, often moves slowly, but once it gets going, it goes for gold. I got a call last Thursday to tell me my number was up for Monday, and the whole process cost me around $70 out of pocket (for my discharge medications). We are incredibly lucky to have access to quality care that doesn't bankrupt us in this country.

The hospital staff were, without exception, lovely - professional, kind and thorough, and really helped me manage my anxiety effectively . They listened properly to my concerns and my underlying health interactions and as a result, the increased congestion, asthma and nausea I feared were either avoided or minimised. The anaesthetic doctor in particular was wonderful, painful bruised arm notwithstanding (not her fault my veins are hot garbage). When I am feeling better, I will be writing a letter of thanks to the unit in recognition of their high level of care for me at a vulnerable time. 

As for post-surgery - I had, probably foolishly, expected to bounce back quickly from the procedure, foxed, I think, both by the experiences of younger friends who have had gallbladder removal with little impact, and also by my very smooth and close to painless recovery from my last surgery (functional endoscopic sinus surgery in 2023). However, I've had three things working against a a rapid rally:

  • The additional impost of the hernia repair, which turned out to be quite large;
  • The fact that I can't take NSAID drugs (they set off my asthma), which work to reduce swelling and inflammation significantly for those who can take them; and
  • The fact that I dislike the effect of endone so much that I have been going to great lengths to avoid it, leaving me reliant on paracetamol only.
It has been significantly more painful and disabling than I was prepared for, and I am nowhere near being able to function at any normal level yet - still mostly bed and couch bound, although I have done a few rotations of careful steps around the house today as walking is at least possible again. I had advised all my freelance clients that I would be off work this week, but was secretly thinking I might sneak in a few hours on Thurs and Fri - that was hilariously impossible today, and I don't have high hopes for tomorrow or the weekend either in all honesty (I *may* rise on Saturday or Sunday to at least reading through some material that has been sent to me, even if no work writing can occur).

The hope is, on the other side of this healing, that I will have less digestive pain and distress, and a healthier body to work with. Apparently the gallbladder disease was chronic, joining the ranks of my other chronic illnesses as a grumbling issue, but unlike Coeliac, Hashimotos, asthma and CRWNP, this one could be fixed with a surgeon's knife. I am really crossing fingers and toes that I do see improvement, and that this very difficult week will turn out to be worth it after all.

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