Hernia - you sick of hearing yet?

Ok appointment went well. The binder did its job during recovery to stop swelling and aid healing. I’m released from their care and allowed to go into the wild. I forgot to ask if I’m free of the binder now or not BUT feel I will be in it for any lifting or straining situation. I did call and leave a message or the nurse asking if I could ditch it for normal days. We will see what they come back with. 

The bottom line is NO lifting over 30lbs for the REST OF MY LIFE. 

HOW am I going to do that???  Yeah I am used to picking up TWO 40lb bags of salt, one on each hand to balance me, and shuffling to the back yard. 

Guess I’m no longer on that duty OR I find a way to get someone else to put them in the car and invest in a dump wagon to get them to the back yard. Sigh. I would say getting old sucks but beats the alternative and really it’s all good because with my nether hernias I probably shouldn’t be listing anything heavy regardless as THOSE are not fixed and I would not want to think about the scar tissue they would have to fight to resolve them. 

So, we start lifting smarter or not at all : /

Hernia update (last with photos)

What I have discovered is that my stomach still hates adhesive after the ostomy. Who knew?  Not me!  All the itching was about the glue they used. Seems that if you don’t shower daily your glue doesn’t readily fall off as it should so at three week I googled about removing it. 

The answer was at three weeks it’s fine to peel it off. Talk about RELIEF!  I pulled three medium stops of glue off and all my itching subsided. Go figure. It wasn’t my wound healing it was my skin saying “get this dang glue OFF!!”  

It’s off now and the litte scabbing is from the glue irritating me. Everything else looks and feels great!  I will see tomorrow about modifications to my lifting protocol AND get clearance to go back to water aerobics. I’ve missed going. It makes my weeks rather full but it’s worth it!

The scar will be longer than the original but who cares really?  Not me. It’s just another to add. Shoot you can’t really see the one in my belly button anymore. It’s the squiggle that pulls to the right in the photo. Would think it’s just a fat wrinkle, eh?  lol. Nope. 

On fat I don’t really take much stock in that anymore BUT I officially hit 85 pounds lost the other day. Will it bounce up and down and go over that for weeks, I vacillate by 3/5 pounds in a week. Up/down in a daily basis. It’s all good. BUT it is documented in my fitness app so it happened. I laughed when setting the goal of 190 when I first started out but honestly I may just make it at this rate. 25 more pounds and I will be there. Sounds so small from where I started. So back to the gym and continue to eat well and we will see if I make it eventually :)

Before. Dec 15th

Dec 30 - Jan 9th

Hernia update

Well this is interesting. The glue is irritating my skin (not shocking as glue for my ostomy products could do that as well.  When I was taking a shower the other day I noted that the glue was pulling away from the skin - which is what it’s designed to do BUT there is a weird “gap” in the scar. I’m HOPING it’s a flap of skin that doesn’t affect form and function of the stitch line. Maybe skin that got pulled up a little higher than necessary to close the gap as my skin is rather loosey goosey after the weight loss. I will probably call the office Tuesday to see if I can have a nurse take a peek at it and give me her opinion on the whole situation. The wound has been weepy but it’s the yellow pre-scab type of ooze so I haven’t been too concerned. We shall see what they say this week if I can get in. 

Hernia update

Well a week later and the scar/incision is wider. It’s also caked in glue still. Mostly because don’t shower daily. Bruising is still there to the left of the wound. But honestly looking ok. I think this one will spread and get larger like the “bullet” wound style did.  

BUT Jr is definitely gone. Hasn’t popped up in the slightest. Could be that every time I took the good drugs I took a stool softener at the same time. No since is tempting fate as the failed bladder function likely the resulting pushing that resulted in the tear starting. 

The rest is good to go. I get around without pain. I went to the post office today and even went to do some dumpster diving. No discomfort.  BUT I’m not pushing it too much. I’m not doing a lot of anything. I am doing what I’m supposed to and not lifting 

2nd outing

First outing was meeting a friend at Blue moon to look at things there. I debated adding more to the shelf and decided “nawh.”  And went on with life. I also went to Heart of Georgia Thrift and bought a few things them promptly went home and took a nap. Naps are still good. 

I have stopped the “good” drugs at night as of Tuesday night. Was taking Tylenol 1x per day in the morning as needed then holding off until bed time even if I was achy in the late afternoon so I wasn’t doing too much of the Tylenol drugs. It worked out well. I’ve just been achy when moving so it encourages me to slow the heck down!

So while at blue moon we saw that there was an estate sale hosted by one of the owners. And we were allowed to shop early …. So you guessed it. I went to an estate sale Wednesday :) 

First we scape day Tuesday. Driving out to see what I can see ;)

Photo of the fire screen I was able to score for Lizzie. It was only $5. Can’t beat that!

And a rejected tree skirt. I did buy some glass and had Barbara bring my Sherpa. I was able to load. A bag one piece at a time and get it to the table, put it in one shoulder and ensured I wasn’t using my belly and took it to the car. I could just sidle up to the tail gate and squat a bit to let it down ;). No hard, no foul. I also lifted with my arms and then hugged the grate to me and didn’t use my belly to get it to the car. Barbara unloaded it for me so it all went well and Butch brought it into the house for me. 

And the outside of the house with the wreaths I got from goodwill. ;)

Boat before

The anchor locker

It’s dirty! The anchor is in the garage and we have another one as well so we have a spare if we need it

Dirty swim platform with a ding on the left back side. Butch days it’s squishy but it feels sturdy to me. 

Tilt you head to the right. This is the back cockpit of the car. That latch is to the motor compartment. The item to the right is the engine attachment that allows you to hook a hose to the engine for water cooling so you can run your engine while on dry land without burning it up!  Who knew? Not me. 


The side compartment on the starboard side.   There’s a lot of junk in there. 

The port side has a fresh water shower for the transom so that’s nice. We can clean up in the boat if we do an overnight stay on it. (Likely)

Leaves, leaves, leaves. 

The chairs that are add ins for the back. They replace the bench seat that most of these style boats have. There are screw holes back there that indicate there could have been one at one time. I guess if we can locate one we can put it in. May not be worth it. 

Seats are in excellent shape!



Under the chairs. Not sure what’s up with the sliding hostess. They don’t cover a lot… nothing to report here. 



Looking down on the starboard side where the radio is. More junk in the cabinets and holds. Lots of stuff tucked here and there. Time to clean it all out!!



The dash needs some updates and some screens replaced 

Dirty!!

I guess you need this if you’re skiing.



Stuff and leaves. Under the port front seat 

Bonus tools. Butch already cleaned these up. Good thing we have lots of vinegar to soak them in. :)

Beside the port seat. I didn’t even look to see what that stuff was!!

Humidity and press wood items is NOT advised. There are two of these that are failing horribly. Guess we will replace with solid ones OR strip these and see what they look like. Probably both!!



Lots of nooks and crannies 

Beside the fridge. 

Lordie the mud dobbers did a number on the plugs. It’s crazy. We’ll have to pull this off and clean it. 

The fridge!  No shelf. But I’m sure that can be easily replaced. 



Another nook beside the bench

Out further

And closed

These didn’t get attacked by the mud dobbers 

Not sure what they store in here. We’ll figure something out.

And closed. 

Under the port seat

Starboard seat

With the table set up. It’s wobbly and the hinge doesn’t keep the table flat. It needs to be pulled apart and redone. 



Found screens and covers. 

With the bed set up. Should work out well. 






In the head there are lots of rolls of TP I think that Butch chicked them because there is no way to know what sort of yuckie are in them!! Note the top storage is peeling as well. That’s the 2nd that need to go. 

Top storage open with a furry ridge of failed wood product. 



Back side of the panel. 

The head that needs, well, a head. ;) we’lol get there in time. Butch got in there and cleaned it out and vacuumed it all. 

I’ve not been in there this week as it was raining Sunday when he wanted to work on it so I took the opportunity for a complete down day and watched Christmas movies all day in bed :)