Day 26
i want to summarise the various discomfort and ways of dealing with them, which i have tried and worked for me
. I will separate the discomforts i faced according to weeks.
week 1:
1. post anaesthesia headache --> This was during the first 3 days after surgery. Its down to luck i guess, some people get them, while others dont. Keep yourself hydrated and have some caffeine. Lie down instead of sitting, and the headache will go down when u lie down to rest. It will be gone spontaneously within the first week.
2. Fever --> Developed fever the day after surgery. Went away after a day. Let the doctor know and he will give you meds for it.
3. Nausea
4. Swollen feet -->My feet start swelling the night after the surgery. Try elevating or keep them on the chair/ bed when you sit or lie down. Swollen feet can get real painful if you keep putting your feet on the ground for a long time, during the first few days after the surgery. Dr park told me that you can massage the feet to help improve circulation. My aunt actually bought ginger, slice them and boiled them. She then let me soak my swollen feet in the boiled ginger water, which is very comfortable. This is a traditional Chinese technique she said.
5. Swelling in my thighs too--> make my legs look fatter than pre op.
5. Bruises start developing. They look scary and makes the region a little sore and tender to touch. Generally harmless, however some bruises are painful. So prepare heat or ice pack.
6. Deep soreness in the calves when stand/ walk
7. Pure pain during stretching during the first and second week of post op. Now in Day 26, i dont really feel anything when i stretch. You can up your stretching game slowly by stepping further away from the wall and do the belly to wall stretch.
8. You get easily tired and out of breath, even for just a short short walk. Like you just ran a full marathon.
9. Walking up any slope = dont even think about it. After the third week, i am able to walk up slopes much easier and faster.
10. Having to sleep only on my back and not being able to shift and change your position when you sleep. I actually got back aches and pain from sleeping only on my back. This is tricky even for me, as i mainly sleep on my back even before the surgery! I think it not being able to toss and turn that is tricky.
11. Apart from back aches from sleeping on my back, my back is a little sore from the spinal anaesthesia. Lasted for a few days.
12. Poor appetite during the first week post op. Mainly due to headaches, nausea and needing to take so much medications every day for the first week post op ( we are given 5 pills to take after EVERY meal, so its 15 pills a day plus the vitamins and bromelain.. )
13. Mild depression. stems from being kept at home, loneliness, home sickness, worrying that i will never recover again etc.. Mood is also heavily affected by the weather.
Week 2:
1. Muscle cramps --> mainly in the morning. Painful during
2. Nerve Pain --> i had some nerve pain during the first week, but the frequency of occurence is much much higher during the second week for me. Often, its a burning sensation, sometimes it is a burning sensation + a stabbing high intensity pain. Usually at my right leg , ankle and frequently in my heel region. Now is week4, i didnt experience nerve pain. But lets hope it remains this way! Fingers crossed. Nerve pain is the most painful for me throughout this whole process. Try applying ice packs or take the strong pain killer Dr gave.
3. Pinching feeling in my heels when i walk/ stand too long. Not as pain as nerve pain or cramps. Bearable but irritating. I see it as a signal for me to sit and rest.
4. Itchiness under the bandages and swollen feet. Prepare thick and good calamine lotion before the surgery, I had hives before, which is way worse and calamine lotion really helped. Get the viscous and thick kind, the more watery ones is not as good i feel. The itchiness mostly died down at week4.
Week 3 - Now :
From week 3 onwards i didnt really experience any new form of discomfort or pain. Mainly the continuation of the previous conditions.
day 26 updates:
went for my fourth and final check up at Dr park clinic today afternoon. I was SO HAPPY when Dr told me that there are no more fluid left in my left calves! this means that i no longer have to worry about doing aspiration when i return to Singapore !!! SO happy its crazy. Dr Park also gave me the stocking before i left. He say that the stockings can be worn if i am wearing skirts, but bandage is still the way to go He also wanted me to update him my conditions and measurements every month. Before i left i asked him several questions, which i think some of you girls will be interested in too.
Q1: After i return home, if there are days when i do too much walking, will fluid still build up and do i have to aspire myself?
This question is very important, because a girl wrote here in the forum that she had her surgery down in taiwan, and there were a lot of fluid build up in her legs after she returned home and did long hours of walking one day. Her doctor instructed her do aspiration ASAP, and i was worried that i will face the same problem as her. Dr Park assured me that i will not have to do any more aspiration, and even if i walked too long, there will just be swelling but there is no need to do aspiration.
Q2: i plan to start yoga class when i return home, as my new form of exercise, How long do i have to wait before i can do yoga?
Dr park said that yoga is very good for the post op healing, and that i can start when i get home.
Q3: There is a small small lump at the inner side of my right calf, which i can feel it when i massage my legs. Is it normal ?
Dr Park said that it is normal and the small lump muscle will eventually smooth out over time.
*I just realised that i have never shared a side view pic before.
- Julia
, as japan and korea is near and some korean do learn japanese ! But dr park's english is great! So no communication barrier at all. I was actually unaware of the difference between dr park and dr jong techniques at the time of planning for the surgery. I picked dr park because of his experience with the surgery and because Korea is the capital of beauty and plastic surgery here in Asia. Many Singaporeans opt to head to seoul to have plastic surgeries done, despite malaysia and thailand being just a stone's throw away and much much cheaper. 
