Healing Experiences (Day 4, 5, & 6 post-op)

Hey All,
I know I said I would update first about my feelings but I decided to do this post on healing days 4,5, & 6 just because I ended up going longer then expected without updating. So I definitely wanted to update about healing experience first but don't worry because a feelings post will be up next. I might even do it tonight after I take my
Healing is going extremely well! ::knock on wood:: lol But I can't complain so far. Everyday things look a little better and feel a little better. I have had achy painful moments but nothing that the meds and ice packs can't take away. Currently at day 6, I've drastically cut back on the percocets and mostly am only taking Motrin (ibuprofen) and icing frequently. So I'd say I'm doing pretty good. Pain seems to be pretty connected to how much I do. If I walk around too much, my balls are quick to let me know that I'm walking to much because they start to ache. The biggest thing I notice is I tire easily, which isn't so surprising since I did just have surgery 6 days ago. But ya, if getting tired easily is my chief complaint I'd say I'm doing fantastic. But anyways let me give you more details of how the last three days have gone and exactly what has happened.

Day 4 post-op (August 2, 2013) - I had my first (and last) post-op appointment. Dr. Medalie wasn't going to be in the office this day and I was scheduled to see him Monday but he told me before surgery he believed it was likely I'd be ready to have the drain out and go home by Friday so he wanted me see his nurse practitioner Andrea. So I saw her Friday morning. Very nice lady by the way! Super nice, let me talk her ear off about my penis, as I love to do these days. She checked it out, said that it is looking great. Since hardly anything was coming out of my drain tube anymore she took it out. She just snipped the stitch and took out the drain. It didn't hurt at all! I was nervous for her to take it out but literally she was like "Are you ready?" and then was like "Okay, it's out." I didn't even feel it. I was in disbelief. lol With the drain out I had the okay to start showering in a real shower and be able to get my whole body wet, yay! She told me that now that I can shower I needed to start washing my penis a little more thoroughly. The biggest thing she stressed was that I was the creases around the base of my penis. There's lots of swelling all around the penis so there's some areas that weren't really being washed by the warm soapy water rinses. She suggest in the shower I take the antibacterial liquid dial and get my hands all soapy and just gently wash the area. And rather then pushing the penis to the side to get around the edges of the base she suggesting pushing gently down on the surrounding tissues of the penis to allow me to clean the base of the penis. I was very scared about washing my penis fully (it turned out fine, you'll read about it on day 5 lol). she also gave me a script for 800 mg ibuprofen every 8 hours and she suggested I cut back on the percocet to just when I feel like I need a pill between the doses of ibuprofen. She said the ibuprofen should help with swelling too which it really has. So drain came out, everything looked good, and I was free to leave Cleveland whenever.

But we stayed one night because after my doctors appointment we went to the Cleveland park zoo!!! I highly recommend it. lol We got me a wheelchair. I put a big comfy pillow on the wheel chair and this wheel chair was way more comfortable then the one they had at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. My friend pushed me around and we had a good time. We stayed for almost 3 hours but then the zoo was closing. Then we grabbed food at CiCi's Pizza. Finally, I went to the hotel and I was exhausted!!!

I was so exhausted that I didn't even take the shower that I had been dying for. lol My friends packed up all my stuff and the plan was for us to leave in the morning.

Day 5 post-op (August 3, 2013) - Woke up bright and early and finally took that much needed shower. Washing my penis was really not bad. There was nothing to be scared of. Gently washing with warm soapy hands in the shower was fine and actually made everything feel a lot better. That hot shower on my pubic lift incision was helpful too. I feel liek it just relaxed all of my tense muscles. It was beyond refreshing.Also this was the first time I really got to touch my penis and testicles. I mean I you know would dab it with a wet wipe after peeing and my hand would sometimes graze it while adjusting my jockstrap after using the bathroom. But this was the first time really touching it. I had to touch it very gently obviously. But it was awesome, feeling this little package in my hand. It was just another one of those "whoa, this is real moments" where I was overflowing with joy. And I just felt so good after that shower. While I showered my friends packed the car. No heavy lifting for a couple weeks for me. Then I went to the front desk and told them I was checking out a couple nights early. I wanted to see if I could get any money back. I had been receiving a special rate for staying a full week so I wasn't sure if they were going to be able to refund me anything but I figured I'd give it a try. And they were able to refund me one night back! I had to pay for the full 7 days since I recieved the special weekly rate of $56 a night but they were able to refund me the 8th night so they credited the $56 plus taxes back onto my card. Woot woot!

Then we embarked on your journey back to Massachusetts. Only one of my friends with me has a license so Lauren had to drive the whole way home while Kendra kept her company. I on the other hand made myself comfortable in the back seat. I had 3 big comfy pillows. I laid down on my back with one pillow under my butt and two behind my neck and head. I kept the middle seat belt on loosely around my stomach just in case. I left my legs either bent, criss-crossed, or occasionally put them up one on the back of the back seat and the other on top of the door's window edge. and I was actually very very comfy! I was nervous it was going to be a terrible ride but it was actually great. I had a cooler on the side of me with ice packs and drinks. Plus I had some snacks so that I could eat every time I needed to take my pain meds and anti-biotics. I also had my phone and my friend's Nintendo 3DS with a bunch of games. So I kept myself entertained and also took a lot of naps. It was very nice in the car actually. I found it very soothing.

We did decide to stop at Niagara Fall while we were in upstate New York. We just made a short stop, checked out the fall (They were beautiful!), took a bunch of pictures, hit up the gift shop, and went home. They were all out of wheelchairs for rent at the visitors center so I had to do some walking. A little more then I would have liked to because the closest parking lot was full so I would say we had to walk roughly 2-3 blocks to get to the visitors center and then the falls viewing area wasn't too far from there. But it was still tough. It was hot out and I was walking slow. I was uncomfortable. My testicles started to ache and my body started to feel weak. As I mentioned, I get tired very fast since surgery. So once we got back to the car it was time to take more pain meds, I put an ice pack on my genitals, and then once it was time to take the ice off I knocked out for a while. My friends said I slept well, I was snoring loudly. I believe it because I'm not kidding when I say I was really comfortable. lol But anyways, Niagara was totally worth the stop.

We finally got home about 13 hours later. My parents greeted us outside. My friends and parents unloaded the car. I said my good byes to my friends and came inside. Another friend came over and spent the night. She helped me out. When I was applying my last antibiotic ointment treatment for the night she pointed out that a spot was a lot darker than the rest. And I, who am ridiculously paranoid became really scared so I took pictures and e-mailed them to Dr. Medalie. I didn't think it was life threatening so I decided to let the poor guy sleep and I'd call the office in the morning. Then I got comfortable in my bed and relaxed for a few hours watching TV and talking to my friend. Although the hotel was super nice, it's always much better being home. :-]

***Edited: I can't believe I forgot to mention my Mom decorated my room with "It's a boy" decorations and balloons! lol So I had that when I walked into my room. I got a kick out of it! lol

Day 6 post-op (August 4, 2013) - Woke up early. I was not in any pain which is good because I'd gone a long time without any of the percocets. Currently I'm doing like my nurse said, I take the Ibuprofen 800 mg every 8 hours and I don't take the percocets until I start getting pain bad enough that ice for 20 minutes can't fix.

After about an hour of being awake I gave Dr. Medalie's office a call. It's a Sunday so the office is closed but I spoke with the on-call doctor. Described what was going on with my penis, the spot that seemed really dark, and he asked me if I was having fever, chills, or any signs of infection. I was not, so he said there probably wasn't anything he could do over the phone but that Dr. Medalie was coming in soon and would tell him to take a look at the e-mail. Dr. Medalie e-mailed me very promptly letting me know that everything looks like it's healing just fine. He also said not to focus on any specific spots. He said there was going to be lots of swelling and bruising for several weeks. So he put my mind at ease. It also made me feel really comfortable knowing that even on a Sunday if I needed to talk to someone about concerns I could. And to have him check out the pictures as soon as he got to the work was also reassuring  I really do feel like I'm in good hands with Dr. Medalie and all of his staff.

Since then I've just been hanging around relaxing in bed. On the computer and watching tv. also eating and i'm about to either play some video games or take a nap when I'm done with my blog. The pain is even better today. Every day it really does look and feel better.

Mom is buying a cheap shower matt for the shower floor so I don't slip. When she gets home I'm going to take a shower. I'm looking forward to that. Showers are so nice. Mmmm. They really make all the surgery sites feel so much better. Plus they relax me.

I'm still taking antibiotics 4 times a day. Still applying antibiotic ointment 3 times a day. And washing with antibacterial liquid soap once a day. Percocets only as needed trying to use it as less as possible. And ibuprofen every 8 hours.

So far that's it for today. If anything worth mentioning comes up in the rest of the day, I'll update the end of this post. As usual, feel free to shoot me any questions!