No, please don’t try both at once. 
You have to sleep on your back? I can’t really do that, i get reflux into my lungs. I hope i never have to deal with what you are going through.
Excellent! More progress. This sounds very similar to the time frames my best friend had for her explant surgery, which was likely less intrusive. So that’s actually kinda impressive.
I’ve had to do it on two occasions, and it sucked for me too. Hopefully Mama_Zappa doesn’t have the same issues!
Tubes as well.
I was already >95% post-menopausal (mid 50s), but I’ve been very fortunate that my menopausal symptoms are fairly mild. Even the hot flashes that I’ve had (I’ve never had the sheet-soaking type of hot flashes), seem to be responsive to diet change.
The first days after surgery my body temperature was very much out of wack, but it seems to have settled down. I have my follow-up with my own gyn on Friday, and we’ll talk then.
Sounds good. If someone had asked me a few months ago, I would have said I sleep on my back. And I often wake up on my back. But I have to lay on my left side to fall asleep. Hope you’re able to sleep well.
It sucks, for sure. I’m pretty well propped up with a wedge pillow but that plus the CPAP make it really hard to sleep. I finality decided to ditch the CPAP for the time being.
The elevation actually helps with the reflux.
I haven’t yet tried to sleep on my side though at this point I could, supposedly. Doc told me 2 weeks but a lot of web pages say even longer, and I figure it won’t hurt to be extra conservative.
For the “big surgery” next year (mastectomy / DIEP flap) the back sleeping requirements will be even longer. I’m seriously considering buying a recliner. Or I may just use my ultra adjustable office chair and rolling footstool; I’d need to add padding though (those Secretlabs chairs are rock hard).
A minor victory: I am still trying to go to sleep on my back, with gradually improving success, but this morning I managed to go sort of on my side: using the wedge pillow so the boobinal area was not on the mattress, and with a pillow behind my back. I wasn’t at a 90 degree angle to the bed, more tilted back a little.
Gonna persist in the back sleeping for a while yet, to position (hah) myself better for needing to do so for at least a month next year.
And apparently the Steri Strips have become permanent additions to my body. Those things are NOT BUDGING. Apparently the packages they used on me came with extra Krazy Glue. I’ve maybe gotten 2-3 centimeters in length off, a few millimeters at a time.
Goo Be Gone can be your friend. Dab on with a q tip, let it soak a few minutes. As the edges loosen, dab a bit more under those edges.
It has a strong citrus scent. Use straight shampoo to wash the Goo Be Gone off after the steris are gone or else you’ll smell like a workshop for hours.
Goo Gone Original Liquid - 8 Ounce - Surface Safe Adhesive Remover Safely Removes Stickers Labels Decals Residue Tape Chewing Gum Grease Tar Crayon Glue Amazon.com: Goo Gone Original Liquid - 8 Ounce - Surface Safe Adhesive Remover Safely Removes Stickers Labels Decals Residue Tape Chewing Gum Grease Tar Crayon Glue : Arts, Crafts & Sewing
If you’re hesitant to use Goo Be Gone, baby oil or even olive oil can be tried, dab on, let soak longer, keep adding as edges loosen.
Good idea.
Hell, there’s always the old “smear peanut butter on it” standby trick, like we sometimes use for stickers on dishes.
I once saw a video about how to remove those stickers, I think involving covering it with clear tape then hitting it with a heat gun. This might work, but is probably not the best choice for Steri Strips.
When i wore a continuous glucose monitor that simply didn’t want to leave me, i had good success with olive oil and patience. I dribbled on olive oil, rubbed it around the edges, tugged gently, and repeated several times. (Usually without adding more oil.) I had olive oil around the house, and figured it has to be pretty safe to use.
Yesterday I found one on the kitchen floor. The two which were covering my left hip incision came off. Right hip will probably leave tomorrow, the others are on their way off, as I’ve already trimmed the edges which have lifted up. Annoyingly, there seems to be a limit to how close I can cut the tail end of the stitch, so there’s a little piece sticking out on my hip.
Yeah - I can only trim so close to the part that is still stuck. Got another centimeter or so off this morning.
Goo Gone actually makes a medical adhesive remover, LOL. I’m debating ordering a bottle of it.
I bought a package of medical adhesive remover wipes and that was apparently enough to scare the damn Steri Strips - they all finally came off at just under 4 weeks.
Eagerly awaiting 6 weeks (a week from now) when I can a) buy some regular bras, and b) go back to my swim class.
Hurray for moving along through the process! How are you feeling?
Pretty good mostly. Still the occasional “zing” and achiness. I imagine it’ll all resolve just in time to do it all again!