Gabapentastoned....

Dear friends, Catherine here:

Kip is taking a new nerve-pain medication called Gabapentin and it is making her pretty groggy. She spent much of the day gazing into the middle distance and described the state as 'gabapentastoned'. I'm not sure it's a great buzz; it looks too fuzzy to be fun. We are hoping that she adjusts to this because the instructions are to take it for four weeks!

The homecare nurse came this morning and removed the large bandage. All of the incisions are clean and seem to be healing well. One of the other things that the nice young doctor told us yesterday was that because of the cancellation before Kip's surgery, they had a bit of extra time. Rather than use staples, they used cosmetic sutures which are self-dissolving and apparently leave a nicer line in the end. Great for Kip, but as Julie said, why do they book so many appointments so that you have to get lucky to get the good cosmetic effect?

There is still some swelling, but Kip did get a first look at her chest. She said it was initially strange to look down and see her belly-button, and it was a little upsetting just to see herself cut up like that. But it will heal and she says she feels confident it will be okay.

Last night, while drinking contraindicated red wine, she named the four drains after the Beatles. We then sang some appropriate Beatles songs. 'Help', 'Baby you Can Drive My Car', and the obvious, 'Octopuses' Garden'. (Kip has been making lemonade out of lemons as usual)

The rule is that when the drains collect under 50cc's over 48 hours, they are removed. We're hoping that the Beatles will be broken up by Monday and three of the drains will be removed.

In all, it was a quiet day. Thank you again for all of your support,

With love,
Catherine (and Kip)