It's the day after surgery, and I'm doing really well! I can't thank everyone enough for all the support and well wishes. I went into this surgery having no expectations so that I couldn't be disappointed if reality didn't live up to what I pictured in my head and I think that is the best thing I could have done. I put everything I had into the last surgery. I hoped that it would fix me... I hoped for a miracle. The lymph node transfer has definitely helped and I'm glad I did it but going into it I expected a lot more so when it came up short I was a little devastated. I have not had the same experience this time and I don't think I could be happier with the results.
We arrived at the hospital at 6:30. They took me back to the pre-op area and got me ready. I had the same nurse from my last surgery so that was kind of cool. She remembered me and we got to talk and reminisce a little as she prepared me for the surgeons. My favorite part of having surgeries is the time between being wheeled into the surgical room and slowly drifting off to sleep. When I wake up I always try my hardest to think back to the last thing I can remember before falling asleep. This time I remember being wheeling into the room, they helped me switch over to the surgical table, they stretched my arms out on the arm boards, and all the doctors were standing by my feet. My surgeon called in the time and then I was gone. The surgery lasted about 3 hours. I woke up around noon in some pain, but they quickly helped to get that under control. As soon as the pain settled my mom came back to see me. I woke up not completely out of it so sadly no funny videos this time. I did talk to my sister Jessica on the phone when my mom came back. She said it was funny because I just wanted to tell her everything, but other than that I was good to go. My doctor came to check on me real quick before they discharged me, and then they wheeled me out. The nurse that wheeled me to the car was very "impressed" with my coordination so soon after waking up from surgery. He was very nice. My surgeon talked to my parents before I woke up and let them know the surgery went very well. They were able to get a liter and a half of whatever they take out with liposuction from my calf and thigh. They made 4 incisions which gave them access to do the liposuction, and they took quite a bit off of the bump on my ankle in the scar revision. The goal for the scar revision was to make it look more uniform by taking off as much of the skin graft as possible so eventually only the piece of my neck skin will be there. This will make it look less patchy which will make me happier. I am still in some pain, but I do have medicine for that. As long as I remember to take the drugs on time the pain stays under control. I have to keep it wrapped up to prevent further swelling which has been kind of hard because my leg has been leaking fluid so my bandages keep getting dirty. I've already rewrapped it about 5 times. Good thing lymphedema has trained me to be a professional wrapper. As long as my leg is wrapped and I'm properly impaired I can walk around a little bit which I like because I'm pretty independent. I am happy with the results so far and can't wait to see what it looks like when it is all healed up. I will be posting some before and after picture later down the line for you guys after everything has settled down and I’ve had time to heal a bit more. Thanks for being awesome, everyone! Today is another big day in my lymphedema journey. My surgery is set to take place at 8:30 this morning and should only take a few hours so I probably won't be getting too crazy afterwards like after my first surgery. This surgery shouldn't be too bad and most likely will not be my last.
I'll update you guys a little later when the drugs wear off. Sorry, I know I've been awful about writing. This last semester was crazy busy. I have attempted to write several times but got interrupted and never finished a post, but the semester is over and I'm home for the break now. I will start by giving a rundown of the past few months to catch you guys up on my life with lymphedema. The semester definitely had its ups and downs but overall I think it had more ups. I liked being busy because it didn't leave me much time to have my bad days were I ultimately just pity myself and the cards I was dealt. I stayed a lot happier which is always a good thing, but with being busy all the time it left me little time to set aside to care for my leg. As we all know living with lymphedema is a full time job on its own between the compression garments, elevating, wrapping days, pumping, and manual drainage. After the past few months in the fast life I should be fired. Sadly, it is not a job I can be fired from. With that being said my leg is probably the biggest it’s ever been, but I'm sure if I had not had the surgery earlier this year it would be way worse. It really hasn't grown that much, and with not being on top of my management routine I am pleasantly surprised. I would also like to add that my leg still stays pretty soft which by itself almost makes the surgery and everything that came with it worth it. So fast forward to the present, today I had my pre-op. It went really well. I love my doctor. It is a little difficult at times because I am the first patient in the Southern California Kaiser area, to receive surgical treatment for lymphedema so my doctors are still learning. That means they don't always have the answers to the questions I have. I'm not going to lie, I feel a little honored at being the gineapig. I get to help pave the way for others in my similar situation. I am excited to see how the treatment of lymphedema continues to progress. Now I will share what was discussed at my appointment: 1. What is going to be done in the surgery? - Lower leg and thigh liposuction with a side of scar revision. The scar revision is for the bump of tissue on my ankle which houses that transferred lymph nodes, which I recieved in January of this year. 2. How long is the anticipated recovery? - For a normal person it would only take about 2 week but because my lovely lymphedema leg is not normal we don't really know. We are just going to have to wait and see. (Hopefully not too much longer than that because I have to go back to work and school in 2 weeks.) 3. There is another surgical technique called Multiple Lymphatic Venous Anastomoses (MLVA.) Will that still be an option for me? - Currently Kaiser does not have the instruments needed to perform this surgery, but my doctor is working to get them. When she does get them she will let me know and we can look into that further. None of my surgeries should prevent me from getting a MLVA which looks to me like the most promising treatment at this point. That's about it. I'm not really expecting much out of this surgery. I'm trying not to get my hopes up so I won't be disappointed with the results. I'm going in will the idea that the appearance of my leg won't change so if it does I can be happy about it. I go in for the surgery Friday the 23rd of December so I will keep you posted on how it goes! Thanks for reading my posts and for your support it really means a lot to me.
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AuthorHi, my name is Sydney, and I have Primary Lymphedema. I created this blog to share my journey, and I hope that by sharing my story I can help those who are on a similar path. Archives
April 2017
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