Feeling Better

I thought I would post a quick update and let everyone know that I'm feeling better today. I did a couple of things yesterday that I think helped.

First, I started using my breathing apparatus thingie again. After surgery, they make you breath into this thing 10 times an hour to make sure you use the full capacity of your lungs so that you don't develop an infection or pneumonia. When I got out of the hospital, I continued using it for a few days, but I was breathing so deeply and easily that I stopped using it earlier in the week.

Last night, I noticed that in addition to everything else I was feeling yesterday, my breathing had gotten shallower. So, I started using the breathing apparatus again. I noticed that I wasn't able to inhale as deeply as I had earlier in the week... although I was still able to surpass the goal mark the nurse had orginally set for me. So, I'm using it regularly again.

Dave suggested that another thing that the breathing helps is my stress level. Getting the news about my pathology report was stressful, and I started feeling poorly the next day. But, deep breathing is really good for stress release and muscle relaxation. So, the deep breathing is helping me on that level too.

Also, in lieu of my thoughts about Vicodin, I decided to cut back again. For the last few days, I've been taking two Vicodin at night to help me sleep. Last night, when I went to bed, I felt so miserable that I didn't want to give up my Vicodin completely, but I only took one. I supplemented with Motrin.

This morning when I woke up, I didn't feel nauseous at all and the prickly skin sensation is gone. I also have more energy than I've had in days. I'm starting to feel good again. And, that's wonderful. So, I'm going to continue deep breathing and probably come off of the Vicodin altogether... with the possible exception of the day I have my drainage cups removed.