back to 1-handed typing

the Dr said surgery went fine (but when do they not?).  Was home by 6, slept until 10, had a bowl of chicken soup (thanks Linda), helped Bill pill the cat and went back to bed.  The good news was I didn't need to take any narcs - the lesser Tylenol based pain meds have been enough, since they loaded me up in post op.  I know that may change today or tomorrow, but so far so good.


He did remark to Bill during his report that the tissue damage from the radiation is still much in evidence.  He wrapped my arm from wrist to elbow, and won't take the bandages off until 2/3 when I see him next.  he did say I could start using my fingers, but today, at least, my hand is too sore, so I'm typing one-handed, again, for the next little while.


What he did to the donor site on my thigh is wild.  There's no dressing other than a thick sheet of plastic tape and a single piece of gauze, which is already blood soaked and almost not visible.  He wants me to take the tape off today, in a shower or tub, because it's holding back this large pool (or big bubble) of blood!  I'm not even going to post a photo because it's too gross. Then, I'm supposed to leave it open to the air to let it scab up, over the gauze, which serves as scaffolding.  As it heals the edges will come up and we'll cut them off with a scissors. He said I could shower and just treat it like any scab.


I am compelled to note that this is almost exactly the opposite of what the plastic surgeon did in August, who's goal was to keep it moist as long as possible.  He did say he took a thicker slice of skin than she did. He also joked that he didn't use the bio-brain dressing she did because it was expensive (at least I hope it was a joke -- he did add that he didn't think that method worked as well). I'm waiting for the site to start to hurt, since my memory of August was that it was the main source of post-op pain.  We'll see.