Andrew surgery

 

Yesterday marked 6 weeks since Andrew's hernia surgery recovery on February 10.  Six weeks is that time for a full recovery and he's come a long way since day one.  I'm already starting to forget how those early days were.  I remember Andrew being drugged after, but still in a lot of pain, and say something like "Beatrix can only see me through a screen for a while".  I thought it was funny, the way he said it didn't sound like normal Andrew, but his concern was genuine since Beatrix has a habit of climbing all over daddy and wanting to be held.  The first few weeks Andrew wasn't meant to hold anything heavier than 10 lbs. so that wouldn't work out for Bea.

The top left photo was on the way home.  No the most flattering ;) but funny how serious Andrew can look.  The top right was day one at home, post surgery nap.  He napped everyday for a week.  His body knew it needed a lot of rest to recover the trauma of hernia surgery.  Thankfully Andrew was able to take a few sick days and then work from home for another week or so.

Getting Andrew out of the car and in bed post surgery was a 10 minute process.  It was the first time I thought Andrew looked his age.  He's so youthful and happy that he comes across younger but not in that moment.

From day two Andrew needed to have a 10 minute walk twice a day.  Bea liked to be a part of this.

This is not Andrew's first hernia surgery. 12 years ago Andrew was biking a lot to his work in Tempe, at that time.  He's record distance was 35 miles and soon after that his hernia was discovered.  The surgery was right about the time I was 38 weeks along with Avery when we bought our house and were fixing it up to move in.  Not the most convenient time.  That surgery was laparoscopic, so two smaller incisions outside the hernia area.

Remember when Andrew biked 40 miles on his 40th birthday?  Well, later that week Andrew felt a bump on his other side which turned out to be another hernia!  Because of covid it took a couple months to get a surgery appointment since it's outpatient and not an emergency.  The last week or two before surgery were very painful and uncomfortable for him so we were glad to finally have it taken care of.

This time instead of a laparoscopic surgery his doctors recommended open repair, which is a larger incision at the sight of the hernia.  This is a better option because its less likely to have complications or recurrence but healing is more painful and longer, similar to a c section.

Notice the pillow buffer on the picture below. ;)

Now that 6 weeks are up Andrew is pretty much back to normal!  He started working out again on Monday, which will be slow going, and hopefully we'll hop on a bike again.  Thankfully the Tour de Tucson 100 mile bike race was postponed from Andrew to September of this year so he'll have plenty of time to work up those miles again.

So proud of Andrew and am grateful for our amazing bodies that heal and recover.