1. As I've mentioned before, while my abdominal wall heals after being sliced open during transplant surgery, I must limit my lifting to five pounds for another two or three weeks (or so).
Today the USPS delivered a small box to our porch and, in a moment totally lacking in thought and caution, I lifted it.
Mild panic set in.
I saw on the box that it weighed EIGHT POUNDS.
Visions of the collapse of my abdomen flooded my imagination. I pictured myself being helicoptered to Sacred Heart Medical Center for emergency hernia surgery.
I was sure I could feel my guts beginning to spill out around my waist, certain that in a brief moment of carelessness I'd set my recovery back irreversibly.
I wondered if I'd have to go back on the transplant list.
For a few hours, I obsessively focused on how my abdomen felt around the incision site, felt the area to try to determine if things were intact.
Turns out I'm fine.
Still, I'm on guard: NO MORE CARELESS LIFTING!
2. Once I regained my sanity and felt my psychological equilibrium restored, I took out a HelloFresh bag that's been in the fridge for over ten days and, for lunch, made myself two vegan mushroom French dip sandwiches.
Now I felt discomfort in my lower regions not from lifting EIGHT POUNDS, but from overeating.
But, I think it was good overeating.
Those were pretty healthy sandwiches and I made them on pretty healthy oat sourdough bread and the discomfort of vegan gorging didn't last long.
3. I was very careful about the weight of the light clothes I decided to launder this afternoon. I carried them to the basement free of anxiety and my abdomen, once again, seemed intact when I started the washing machine.
Later I did another load. This time I laundered three towels and a couple other items. Two of the towels were kind of wet and a little bit HEAVY!
In my newfound vigilant mindset, I divided this small load in two and made two trips to the basement.
When I removed the wet HEAVY towels from the washing machine, I took them out ONE AT A TIME, doing my best to guarantee that I didn't lift more than five pounds.
While those items dried, I once again felt the area of my incision, hoping against hope that I'd not find any bulges or areas of tenderness.
I didn't.
My laundry efforts succeeded without a life flight from Kellogg to Spokane.
So, just in case you were wondering, I now know there are moments during kidney transplant recovery that can be, well, whack.
No comments:
Post a Comment