Hi, Jody.
Good luck with your impending surgery, and congratulations for committing to do this!
Everybody has their own unique donor experience. To get a feel for the possibilities, you've definitely come to the perfect place. LDO is a superb resource, with wonderful people available for advice and support.
For myself, I'm happy to say that my post-surgery course, a bit over six weeks, has gone smoothly. When I first awoke in the recovery room, they asked me to rate my pain and I immediately said 6-7, so they put something else into my IV. After that, I refused all painkillers, because I simply wasn't in enough pain really to need them (on the other hand, my lack of pain meds may explain why I found it so hard to straighten up for a few days after the surgery. When a nurse threatened that I might not go home on time unless I started walking straight, I quickly agreed to one half-dose of pain meds, which did the trick).
Having been reading LDO accounts for over a year, I was also expecting significant gas and shoulder pains, along with constipation (I arrived at the hospital armed with prunes, prune juice, and dried apricots). However, in the end I had none of that (regarding the constipation, it may have helped that my center did not require a bowel prep).
My surgery was on a Sunday afternoon, and I was home by Wednesday afternoon. For the first week or two I tired more easily, and took extra naps, but nothing terrible. I started doing a bit of light work from home about two weeks post-surgery, and returned to regular work one week after that (22 days after surgery). My work combines mainly sitting at a desk with some periods of being on my feet; if I had a more physical job, that would have been a different story. However, because I have a long commute and no car, I used taxis a lot to save my energy.
I will note that it was not lots of fun to get out of bed the first couple of days after surgery, and for about a month afterwards sitting down and getting up from chairs hurt a bit (however, the nature of the pain is such that it might be relevant only for males).
I had surgical staples (inside and out), and I was much more comfortable once the outer staples were removed, nine days after surgery.
But, judging from my own mistakes:
1)DON'T sleep on the side with your surgical wounds. I did it once, at around one week post-surgery, and it caused some annoying back and side pain.
2)beware of sneezing--that hurt! You can prevent the sneeze by pressing your horizontal finger hard against your upper lip.
Beyond this, the only remaining issue for me, six weeks post, is the continued difficulty in lifting. I am trying to be very good about not lifting too much, but even when I lift things well under my limit, I get painful twinges. So I have resorted to strategies like making two trips rather than carrying everything at once, moving a bag in stages, emptying it out bit by bit, etc. I have had to convince myself that for now I'm not the guy who once (okay, a long time ago) used to lift weights and carries everything by himself. When it comes to lifting, for now I'm more like a little old lady.
But that's it; I'm already in my fourth week back at work, am barely using taxis at all, can walk long distances, etc. Almost nobody at work knows I had surgery, and I am managing just fine. Also, since the surgery my temperament has been unusually placid. I've sort of dropped down from Type A- to Type B. It's actually nice to be this calm, but I barely recognize myself.
I donated to somebody who was originally a stranger, but we met and became friends through this process.
Good luck,
Snoopy
Topic: Soon to be a donor. Questions (Read 19184 times)