4/9 (Sun) Day 2 after surgery The smell of the antiseptic that had been applied to my body kept coming up, and I felt gross because I couldn’t wash.. I endured the day while promising myself I would shower tonight. In reviews, some people said they went to work on day 3 wearing compression garments and could walk freely, but my pain hit its peak, so every movement was agony. I didn’t get that kind of luck.. The long-awaited first shower. Even taking off the compression garment was painful. It took 1 hour to apply waterproof tape, wash, dry the surgical areas > disinfect > ointment > dry, put on bandages, and put the compression garment back on.
4/10 (Mon) Day 3 after surgery The swelling that had only been in my thighs moved upward to my groin and downward to my calves and feet. My feet especially started swelling a lot, to the point that I could feel my skin pulling. Since I work from home, I sit for about 10 hours, and this was the first time my feet felt more uncomfortable than my back. For food, I’m eating regular meals for recovery.. I’ve just been eating seaweed soup or gomtang over and over.
4/11 (Tue) Day 4 after surgery I thought that as the swelling went down to my feet, the swelling in my thighs would start going down, but what the heck, my entire lower body is just swelling like it’s about to burst. My feet and ankles are so swollen they hurt, like they’re going to burst.. The pain when urinating/defecating has become bearable now that I’ve learned the trick of holding the toilet with my hands while sitting. I’m using a bidet and pantyliners too, but is the tumescent fluid coming out downward? There was some kind of sour smell, so I had no choice but to wash. After washing, I felt seriously refreshed. I was worried I might get stretch marks as my whole body swelled, so I gently applied body lotion. I’m glad I did, because rubbing only enough so it didn’t hurt also worked like a massage, helped me tell exactly which areas hurt, and above all, maybe my skin really had been dry, because I felt it become moisturized as soon as I applied the body lotion. I’ve also learned how to move my legs, so now I can do legs-up-the-wall. It feels really refreshing when I do it.
Conclusion: apply body lotion. Do legs-up-the-wall as much as possible.