Friday, June 26, 2009

I am one itchy bitchy

I'm alive, and doing well. Thank you to everyone who has checked in on me. :-)

The surgery went fine. When I woke up, I was in much more pain than I expected. After 2 hits of morphine and a couple of percocet, I was at least able to converse without gritting my teeth, clawing the bedrails, and whimpering.

I stayed on a steady, every 6 hour diet of 800mg ibuprofen and percocet until today. As of today, I went down to just the ibuprofen and since I slept right through my midday dose, I've just had it at 6am and 6pm. So far, so good. I definitely feel a little more sore today without the "good" drugs, but it's not bad at all.

Know what is bad? Forgetting that you are WILDLY allergic to steri strips. Ugh. After my last c-section, I had a horrible reaction and ended up with a near-full body rash before we figured out that's what was going on. This time I did remember -- as I was laying in recovery. Um, that's a little too late.

It took about a week for the rashes to blister up nice and itchy last time, so I figured I would be fine. But apparently it gets worse each time you use them, so this round hit me much earlier. By yesterday, the itching completely eclipsed the pain and it nearly drove me off the deep end.

After a consult with the surgeon (via phone) today, we decided to just take the steri strips off and use band aids. The incisions are barely closed, so it's sort of scary to be cruising around with nothing really holding them together, but when the alternative is to have a thick, blistering, insanity-producing rash instead, I'll risk it.
I took 2 benadryl today around lunchtime and practically lapsed into a coma for 3 hours. The nap was great, and blissfully itch-free. But wow, I guess I can't snarf 2 of those and hope to function. At all.

LJ asked me to post some incision pictures for Show and Tell. I'll do that, but in the meantime, here is what you look like when you're allergic to steri strips. Good times.
First, a diagram of where the 4 incisions are. One near my sternum in the middle, one near the edge of my ribcage toward the right edge, one on my right side a couple of inches above my hip, and one inside my belly button.

Now, as I said, around each incision site is angry and blistered where the steri strips where. This is a shot of the one near my sternum and the one midway down my torso. Gee, think you can figure out *exactly* where those little bastard steri strips were attached?

Here's a shot of the middle one, and the one that's sort of above my hip:

I can't get a clear picture of the madness going on inside my belly button, but you get the gist from this fuzzy, gross picture:

And, lastely, here is a decent closeup so you can really appreciate the individual blisters that comprise the affected areas. Fun, no?

It's 9:30 and I can hear the benadryl calling my name. "Leeeeeee-uh, Leeeeee-uh..." Oh, I'm comin' baby, I'm a-comin'.

13 comments:

Delenn said...

Glad you are recovering, Leah! But that looks like so much itchy fun...glad you got the band aids so that it does not get worse!

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, I am catching up... I hope that you are okay and that you have a fast and speedy recovery. So sorry that you have to be in pain.

Erin said...

Oh honey. You poor thing. I hope it all heals up very soon! I had a horrid rash all over after my c-section, and no one could ever figure out what it was. Could we possibly have this in common, too?

Seriously, though. Take all the benadryl you need, and just heal! You don't need to be doing a thing.

Mazinn said...

Hi. I am facing gallbladder surgery on July 6, and am scared to death. The fear is crippling, and my family just dont' understand. I could use someone to talk to. Please email me at: mazinn@localnet.com

I am so terrified I cannot function, and it would help to talk with someone who had this done.

Thanks so much

AwkwardMoments said...

WoooooooooooooooooooW Those incessions! I am glad you are out and doing -- Ok except the itching!

Meghan said...

Umm...OUCH!!! Those blisters look horrible. Hope they heal up fast. Aside from the pain and itches...is your whole stomach and GI better??

barrenisthenewblack said...

You (like me) are a delicate special snowflake. Take care of yourself, and don't do too much. xoxxooxoxxo

Nearlydawn said...

Honey, I feeeel for you!!

I've had a similar experience... I had an OMG moment when during my C-section they used this super-huge clear banaid-like thing... at the end they pulled it off and at least 2 layers of my skin went wiht it. All I could think of was OMG that is going to HURT!

I didn't realize he hadn't read that part of my chart!! Oh BOY did that itch like a moe foe!

Hope your recovery from the itches is swift and issue-free.

Unknown said...

hold on to the good drugs- you can get good money for that ;)

That's so not fair about the reaction... cheers to benadryl!

Anonymous said...

Yikes! I want to scratch that for you!

Your belly button doesn't look too bad! Mine looks like a trainwreck.

seussgirl said...

I totally thought I was the only one who had that particular issue! I first realized I was allergic to adhesive (our best guess of the root) when I had bunion surgery on both feet and both incisions ended up covered in blisters. I went to the emergency room. So now I avoid adhesive whenever possible - even when having blood drawn, I use the stretchy stuff instead of the tape.
I was scared to have the epidural because I could only picture my entire back broken out in a rash. I can't remember if they used something else or if I just lucked out and didn't break out.
So, I feel your pain, and hope for a quick recovery!

Artblog said...

ooooh, looks painful :( Glad it went ok thought, that's what counts! You have every right to be an itchy bitch, HUGS my love.

xxx

nancy said...

oh geez. That's terrible. And your right, way too late to remember. I hope the bandaids hold. I would definitaly try the overlapping of butterfly strips. Those worked when my steri strips bursted open when my incisions freaked out.

Good luck!!!