2 Weeks and High Hopes

Two weeks post surgery and I'm off to my second doctor appointment today.  He is going to check out my surgery sites and the drains.

The drains are there to allow the excess fluid to escape the body.  When your body is injured, it sends fluid to the area.  The lymph system isn't one of the body's systems that one usually hears about.  It's like a virus protection that runs in the background of your computer.  The nodes in the various places of your body have a fluid that filters out the impurities of the body.  When the body is hurt/injured, it sends more fluid to that area to filter out the bad and promote healing.  If you cut yourself, you can sometimes wee the clear fluid along the cut, before it mingles with your blood.

At any rate, when you have surgery, the body believes that it's "injured" and the lymph system kicks into overdrive.  The drains are there to collect the fluid so that there's not too much swelling and discomfort.  As the body heals, the amount of fluid slows down.  However, the drains can end up being a double edged sword.  At some point, the fact that the foreign item is in/out of the body, you run the risk of infection being introduced to the body.  Two weeks is the usually the max that doctors like to leave it in. 

Like the science lesson?

A couple of days ago, my fluid started to increase, instead of decrease.  In fact it's up to 40 ccs on each side.  I know that in order for the drains to be taken out, they should be under 10 cc's in 24 hours.  The drains are painful where they enter my body.  They're at a spot in my upper pubic area that make wearing panties and pants difficult.  The tubes catch when I sit down or on clothing and pull. 

To be honest, I want them out.  But I'm afraid that the doctor is going to tell me that with the output they have to stay in.  I'm anxious again, not to the point that I was pre-surgery, but anxious.  I'm trying to mark time to a new milestone in recovery and this is the one that I'm hanging my hat on for now.  Once out, I'll be a whole lot more comfortable.  Once out I can shower (try living on sink washing up for 2+ weeks and see how it goes) I'll feel so much better.

I'm admitting that I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but they're pretty high even so.  We shall see.