Hey Romans8! Glad you felt well enough to go walking, but sorry you are paying for it now.
Super glad to see your earlier post where you said you were confident the monster on the right is beaten! You sound like you've turned a corner. Yay!
Answers to your questions:
1. Yes! At first I poked at it constantly, wondering if it was some remnant of something that didn't get totally removed and trying to figure out what it might be connected to. I can't feel it anymore, though. It's funny you mention it, because it was only last week that I realized it's totally gone.
2. I did not have that - which may be, as you mentioned, because I only had the cervical rib & scalenes removed and not the first rib.
3. I slept in a bed right away because I just can't sleep in my recliner - it's faux leather and made me too hot, but I did have a huge number of pillows - body pillows, king size pillows, tiny pillows, you name it - that helped prop me up and cradle the neck and shoulder. At first, in the morning, I had to roll onto my non-surgery side (still on the pillows) and swing my legs off the side of the bed, using the momentum from that and my arms to get upright without straining my neck. It got easier to get up and down about the same time I was able to start sleeping on my side again.
4. Keep using the breathing thing several times a day until it's beyond easy to do it every time. If it's still difficult or painful, it's too soon to quit. You can use it as often as every hour but that's usually not necessary after the first week. I got into the habit of using it every time I took drugs (and every time I was really bored) to ensure I kept doing it regularly. By the time I quit using it, I was actually doing a much deeper (by 750-1000 ml) inhale than I was prior to surgery.
This week I've experienced some soreness as I try to get back to normal life, and tightness in the right side of the neck, but it's been manageable. Starting to find the balance between "enough" and "too much," I think.
Linear Mode
