Being home is reassuring although I have to cart the catheter around with me till Wednesday next when I see my surgeon again. My grandchildren were pretty disgusted when they came with my son to collect me to but agree it's better than having to wear a nappy LOL!
My son came up with a brilliant idea about it so I'm wearing a shoulder bag with a long strap and the only visible bit is the tube. Thank goodness for long stretchy skirts and donut cushions. My partner said he'd come stay with me for a few days when I got home but I'm not sure I want anyone around while I've got this extra baggage to deal with.
The closed wound drain was removed this morning - ouch - that hurt some but the drainage worked and I should only have a little seepage while the drain opening heals up.
Maybe I'll sleep properly tonight now that I don't have a nurse checking the wound every hour! I've also got back to wearing hospital netty knickers and a thin pad instead of the effective for examination but clumsy and ugly adult incontinence nappy things I was wearing in hospital. The catheter needs to stay in place for at least five days to reduce the risk of infection since urine can't be diverted away from the surgery site any other way. I could have stayed in hospital until it was removed but really wanted to get home so I was pleased when the surgeon said it would be OK if I could cope with having the catheter while at home.
Probably very much too much information in here; my excuse is that I would have wanted to know these things ahead of time and hope venting them here will help someone else. So: as someone who has pretty regular bowel movements, it was a real worry that I might split the stitches or something when I eventually HAD to go. When I first tried, it felt as though my body was trying to expel the catheter, and then as though it was leaking. None of those things happened and I did feel much better afterwards!
Being at home, I have access to mirrors and now I've looked, I feel worse about it, and pretty ungrateful too. My surgeon is a wonderful person with a lot of empathy for how I feel and did a great job. The scarring and stitches look quite horrible but I know they will calm down and can see they are healing well. As warned, I have no sensation on that side (apart from some associated pain at the moment) and that part of my anatomy will never look 'normal' again. Sometime I may blog how sex works out but right now I can't imagine having sex. Whingy me, I feel ugly and sexually unattractive. The WLE 'should' have left my clitoris intact but the nerves on that side are damaged and may never regenerate completely. The skin flap is still swollen so I can't even see it! The vaginal opening is also in hiding for the same reason and there's no way to know if that bit is OK till it heals.
Most of the stitches are soluble but the non-soluble ones at the top of the skin flap and around the vaginal opening will need to be removed in about 3 weeks.
