Today I feel much better. It’s probably due to the fact that all I’ve done is sleep and eat, but a big factor is also that I finally took off my bandages. I was disappointed that the doctor didn’t take them off yesterday, since the tightness was already too much to bear, but somewhat a little relieved as I wasn’t ready to see what was underneath. I got to take a peek at the carnage this morning, and all in all it’s not too bad. I still didn’t take off the tape around the incisions, but in a few days I’ll hopefully be more prepared for a full view.

From the brief glance I managed to steal, my chest looks pretty amazing; some people take two months to get the point where I’m at. One of the drains was clogged for an entire day, so that side is a bit more swollen, but it will surely even out since we got rid of the clog this morning. One of the main reasons I chose this doctor over others is the surprising cleanness of incisions, along with the quick recovery and healing. It also helps a lot that I didn’t get any liposuction, so there’s no bruising or swelling.

At the moment my head is about to explode, so I won’t bother writing much more as it will very likely be a non-coherent jumbled mess of words. I wrote a work email that was three sentences long and realized that I had forgotten what I was trying to say, or what the email was about. Back in freshmen year of college I went through a few months of constant migraines. When I look back at that year I regret not doing much, considering all the extra hours I had on my hands. Well, now is a perfect moment to recollect the past and, slap in the forehead, figure out why the hell I didn’t do anything that year: I had a frickin headache the entire time. And then the memories flood back in – actually it’s more of a live recreation of the past rather than bringing back a memory. I can’t focus on more than a couple of words at a time, let alone a complete sentence or three. Ah, I remember an analogy I used to use that I think perfectly sums up my thinking abilities right now: it’s like trying to solve a really hard math problem, but you keep blacking out every 5 seconds, so you lose your place and you have to go back and remember what you were doing, but by the time you’re there you’ve blacked out again.

Other than that I’m feeling quite well. I also just took a “shower” (it was more like an old fashioned rub down with a towel), and I put on a shirt AND went out for lunch. Eating and appetite have gone up, as has food retention (in both senses of the phrase). I can walk the entire length of the hotel lobby hall without feeling faint, and I’m complaining a lot, which is a good sign that slowly my normal self is returning.

I’ll check in later when I get my phone back so I can upload some pictures.

Update: picture time!

PS: If you’re a little queasy, don’t scroll down.

Day 2, right after taking off bandages.