After 2 days short of 6 weeks of rest and recovery, with my family who have been so gentle with me, last week was my first week in full activity.
I started work, again, as a teacher's aide and recess aide at an elementary school. Many kids were excited to see me back at school. They rammed into me in order to give me a big hug. At that point, just within myself, I though, "Woah - okay, I do have feeling in my stomach." What I mean is that I was reminded by the ramming that I was still recovering and that if I'm not careful, I could hurt myself.
I worked my full 3 hour and 45 minute shift each day, walked to and from school, and none of it tired me. I cleaned the house, and I even cleaned somebody else's house who is recovering from surgery, and I had no problem picking things up or moving them, but if I noticed that it would take flexing my stomach muscle, I opted to have someone else move it. I figure if it is suggested that a construction worker stay away from work for 8 weeks, that means there's still some recovery, or mending up, going on. I have no restrictions anymore, but I think it is wise that I still be careful. I don't want to push it, and end up with a hernia.
A few times in the past week I found myself worrying about this or the other, or feeling upset in some way. At these times, I had an urge to take a long walk. One day I had a big hamburger, and the next day I had a big urge to take a 3 mile walk. That may not be long to you, but it is to me. It was beautiful! It felt great!
I saw a picture of my tiny recipient friend. She has gained some weight since I saw her last, four weeks ago. Worried that the kidney I gave her may be failing her, I searched the internet for reasons for gaining weight after renal transplant. It turns out that 2/3 of renal transplant recipients gain weight after surgery. This happens for a few reasons. One is that they have such strict diet restrictions while on dialysis that have now been lifted, and everything tastes better. Another is that one of the medications they must take is a steroid. This by itself can cause weight gain, but it was explained online that the steroid makes you hungry all the time, and makes it so that you stay hungry enough to eat more than one serving, and there's not enough activity quite yet to be able to use up the extra calories. Long story short, the kidney is doing just fine, and so is my recipient. She is just in a transition period, adjusting to a freer diet and the side effects of steriods.
Today I noticed that I don't have edema in my stomach anymore. All I have left is a numbing feeling around my large scar under my belly, and maybe some tenderness to go along with that numbing feeling, but that's it! Two days from now will mark 7 weeks since my surgery.All is well.
