A Great Milestone!

Before the surgery, I read a lot all over the internet about people's experiences with open heart surgery. I was mostly interested in the personal accounts of patients, their first hand experiences, the "how does it really feel", and "what does it really look like" from the very shoes of a heart patient. 

In almost all the accounts, everyone talks about the "chest tubes". They leave these drainage tubes hanging out of your torso, through which liquid and blood from surgery will drain for a while. And for some people, this "while" can be pretty long (about 5-6 weeks). 

Everyone talks about the chest tubes because they are painful! I am 19 days since surgery now (hard to believe) and today the last tube came out. It's the first day when I can really yawn and burp freely, without feeling like someone puts the brakes on me every time I open my mouth. Although the place where the tube was is still leaking and I have to baby it for two days (no water, change dressing at least daily, etc), I feel free, literally. Like whatever they did to my heart is finally on its own, and my "new" heart can start working on its own (that happened the day of surgery, I am sure, but today is like Pinocchio lost the strings and can move alone without Geppetto deciding where ... ).

Recovery is still underway, and nowhere near done - but it's also rewarding to hit a long awaited milestone. I can breathe finally deeper, which will mean building more stamina during my rehab and building a stronger core every day - thank God. 

There are other hurdles, still, from recovering during this time. I am losing weight quite fast - could be because of the diuretics that help to eliminate the extra fluid, or could be the lack of appetite, or a combo of both. I tried  to eat some meat yesterday (at the advice of my nurse, to eat as much protein as I can), but my body went into hives for the first time since surgery - remember my protein allergy? Yeah, the surgery didn't fix that. 

There is the numbness in my arm and leg, the permanent cold all over my body, still some fog from my leftover narcotics (trying to stop them today and replace them with just Tylenol) - but overall, I feel like, one foot in front of the other, will eventually get me close to where I was before February 11, minus the ticking bomb in my chest.

For today, I am grateful for yawing freely. A small perk for humanity, I know, a huge step for me.