Some medical episodes during home recovery

Most changes, or episodes seemed to happen to me in the first four weeks of recovery at home. The first week I would lay down in bed and try to go to sleep and as I dosed off I would be wakened by a light coughing fit and then gag. It was like my sinuses were draining and causing me to gag. It did not last long, and it did not occur every night, but it was a little disconcerting.

I was fortunate, I had stopped smoking years ago and as a result do not have a chronic cough. I did run into some coughing spells that made me hold my tummy because it pulled and there was light pain. I think if I had a chronic cough, for the first four weeks I would keep a pillow nearby to use as a brace against your stomach when you cough. I have no idea if you could injure yourself, but it just feels better if you have support on you abdomen when you cough.

One of the things to watch for is constipation. At first your diet is usually so bland and soft that having a bowel movement is no big deal. However, as you gain more confidence in your appetite and more foods start to appeal to you you may notice as I have that I feel like I have to go, but cannot. While the stool looked well formed, it also looks hard. It is. Constipation and straining too hard to have a bowel movement can cause several things. First, you muscles in you lower abdomen become sore. Second, you could potentially cause a hernia to occur in the lower intestine, I have to be very careful because my incision is quite low in my body. Creating a hernia in the incision area could mean more surgery. High fiber is important, and if you can supplement high fiber in your food with over the counter medicine. I did not pay too much attention early on in my recovery and hope like heck I did no damage, but I am paying attention now and it does seem to be paying off.

Good luck and swift recovery.