Bandages Off - Port Reveal

So, what's it like recoving from port insertion surgery? 

On the day-of surgery (Friday), I was pretty groggy, but probably still well numbed up, because it wasn't too painful.  That night was rough getting comfortable, but a wedge of pillows & tylenol was helpful.

Saturday I was moving really slow, having trouble with mobility in my right arm and shoulder, and was super tired, taking two tylenol every 5 hours or so.  I opted not to use the "hard stuff" because sometimes those pain killers can make me nauseaus and with tylenol it was definitely tolerable.  

Saturday night, I slept much better, still on Tylenol, and Sunday morning was stiff, but loosened up pretty quickly.  The bandage was still on, and itching me, and the area around it was bruised and tender, but not really painful.  By the end of the day Sunday, I was moving around much more quickly and had much more mobility in my arm and shoulder, and I was able to go without tylenol and slept all night without needing any.  

This morning (Monday) I felt just a little better than yesterday, with lots more energy.  In fact, I spent the day cleaning the house (slowly and mostly with my left arm), and went for a 40 minute walk with Ben.

But then, it was finally time to take the bandage off and see what was under there.  I was starting to itch from the adhesive on the bandage, and my doctor had said I could take it off this morning...I waited until about 3pm.  I think maybe I was nervous about what I'd find.

I feel a little like there's a little alien coming out of my chest.  THAT'S gonna leave a mark!  It's so much bigger and more prominent that I was expecting -- I wouldn't exactly call that quarter-sized. 

I don't love it (who would?), but it didn't feel quite as traumatic as I thought it would.  It is what it is....and this little bugger is going to be MUCH better than having the veins in my arm poked and prodded constantly for the next year.

First physical battle scar of this journey - check.  

I expect it to be a week or two before this thing is totally healed...and that will be about the time I am recovering from my first round of chemo. Maybe I'll be able to get a decent workout in then?  We'll see how that goes...