Nathaniel's Op Incision

This is a photo taken by Quinn of Nathaniel's incision when I was changing the dressing on Sunday....

It's the first time I have changed the dressing since leaving the hospital. It needs to stay covered as it heals... With my ab repair op back in 2003. I had to keep micropore on it for several months. The plastic surgeons claim that the best way to ensure a neat and thin scar is to keep the incision held together like that. So I suspect we'll keep this one dressed for a few weeks yet.

I think the incision looks good. The 2 scars at the bottom are where the drains were, so those are little crosses. The very bottom of the main incision leaked a little at first in the hospital, but dried out after a day or so, and that area has a bit of a scab on it now. It's not wet or infected though, just has a yellowish scab from the plasma that was leaking.

He is doing well and is mostly back to his old self, and is walking quite nicely again now. He is still a bit clingy and whiny at times, and still wakes up and looks for me a lot more at night. But he seems ok.

He has a check-up with the surgeon on Thurs. I think she'll be happy. In a month he goes back to the paed cardiologist for another u/s to see how his heart and valve are doing and if they have settled in to a nice new normal. He'll also have his 1 year check-up then!

The complaint I sent to the hospital was acknowledged and they said they'd take it up with the relevant department. Let's hope they do.

I took a while to recover. It was overwhelming being back at work last week and trying to catch up and do everything I had to. My whole body was sore, tense, stiff and tired. If I tried to run I would feel nauseous and like I would get another migraine. So I just stopped trying to do much of anything. After a chilled week-end where we spent lots of time just being, playing, getting fresh air and sunshine etc though I feel so much better this week. I did have a bit of a pity cry last night after a tough day, and it felt good to actually finally let go and let it all out, after being so 'strong' and coping through it all. ...