Friday, September 22, 2006
It itches while it's healing. To tone down the itching a bit, I've been putting some gel on it. There are a couple of kinds of gel that do a good job of muting the itching: antihistamine gel, such as CalaGel, and sunburn gel, such as Solarcaine with Aloe Vera, which has the topical anesthetic lidocaine in it. If you don't want that many ingredients, plain aloe vera gel is better than nothing, but a gel with a topical anesthetic works better. The gel, any gel, also serves as sufficient goo to get a 4"x4" gauze pad to stay in place, which keeps bra straps and other clothes from irritating the incision site. I am finding that my skin is so sensitive there that even a cotton sheet resting on the skin at night is annoying if I stir at all.
Speaking of sleeping, I prefer sleeping on my side. The new device is more or less in the top surface of my right breast, and if I try to sleep on my left side, the weight of it pulls down; probably not great for having the leads settle in properly, never mind it makes it ache somewhat. So I have been using stuffed animals to prop up the breast. Yes, I have a large collection of plush toy animals, or should I say, we have, because they're not all mine; some are my husband's. We are an egalitarian family: silly stuffed toys for all ages and genders. Our collection includes a ring-tailed lemur, a giant south american anteater (not life sized!), a manatee, several penguins, a platypus, a couple of manta rays, and quite a bit else. What I am finding the right size to sit propped under my breast while I lie on my side is a larger-than-life-size stuffed guinea pig - about twice as tall and twice as long as a real guinea pig. The manatee would probably work as well. If you don't have stuffed animals, then a small roll pillow (cylinder-shaped) would probably also work.
Speaking of sleeping, I prefer sleeping on my side. The new device is more or less in the top surface of my right breast, and if I try to sleep on my left side, the weight of it pulls down; probably not great for having the leads settle in properly, never mind it makes it ache somewhat. So I have been using stuffed animals to prop up the breast. Yes, I have a large collection of plush toy animals, or should I say, we have, because they're not all mine; some are my husband's. We are an egalitarian family: silly stuffed toys for all ages and genders. Our collection includes a ring-tailed lemur, a giant south american anteater (not life sized!), a manatee, several penguins, a platypus, a couple of manta rays, and quite a bit else. What I am finding the right size to sit propped under my breast while I lie on my side is a larger-than-life-size stuffed guinea pig - about twice as tall and twice as long as a real guinea pig. The manatee would probably work as well. If you don't have stuffed animals, then a small roll pillow (cylinder-shaped) would probably also work.
