Recovery Lifesavers!

Recovery is not a pleasant process, but there are somethings that I found (either through others blogs or trial & error) that made it a little easier.  These are my life savers.

1.  Mastectomy Camisoles - If I had a double, I would have LIVED in these.  These camisoles came with breast forms you can slide in built in pockets and had pockets you could velcro in to hold your drains.  I never wore these out of the house, since I still needed some support on the left side, but these were wonderful to sleep in.  They kept my drains safe and comfy while I slept.  My insurance covered two of these, but I was totally willing to pay for them if needed.

2.  Pregnancy Pillow - Sounds silly I'm sure.  With my first 3 surgeries, sleeping was an issue. I am naturally a side/stomach sleeper.  We tried all sorts of configurations with pillows and it just never worked out.  So, we decided to try a pregnancy pillow.  I got the one from the Boppy, and configured it so it was basically a boppy for an adult.  This made such a difference in sleeping for me.  It was supportive and made it virtually impossible for me to even attempt to sleep on my side.

3. Cup with a lid & straw - Keeping up with your water consumption is so important, but doing this while laying down isn't always the easiest to accomplish without wearing half of your cup.  The Bubba cup I made for our Curacao trip came in SUPER handy with all of my surgeries.  The lid and bendy straw made drinking easy no matter what position I was in. 

4.  Dry Shampoo & Baby Wipes - Full on showers are somewhat limited during this time.  Some Dr. don't want you to fully shower until the drains are out (thank God mine didn't follow this!) and sometimes you just don't feel like exerting all of the effort that comes along with a shower. Because of this, dry shampoo and baby wipes become your BFF. 

Other notable mentions - 5. throat drops - my throat was really sore for a couple of days after surgery.  6. Netflix, Hulu, etc - there is a decent amount of downtime between naps, why not fill it with random TV shows?!