All in the Zadnitsa -- or -- The Exclamation Point (Part 8)

I've been thinking quite a bit about my zadnitsa over the past day.  As time goes on, I am thinking about it more and more.  Why?  Because it aches, that's why!  All my Russian speaking friends are already smiling, but for those unenlightened in the poetic language of Pushkin, zadnitsa is a reasonably polite form of the word for rear end.

I hereby affirm what I have heard from others.  The most difficult part of recovering from GCS/SRS is the tedium and enforced bed rest.  How many DVDs can one watch?  How much reading can one do when one is squirming around in bed trying to find a comfortable position?  OD, lucky girl, is able to lie on her stomach, but since I had breast augmentation in addition to GCS, I'm limited to 180 degrees of rotation. I'm pretty much flat on my back with my freedom of motion limited to rolling onto one side or the other.  Even that I need to do carefully, as the process of rolling tends to tug painfully at the stitches under my breasts.  Thus I spend most of my time on my back, causing my zadnitsa to exclaim, "Good grief, woman, when are you going to get out of this bed?"

Fortunately, this afternoon I will be permitted to take my first short walk.  OD, one day ahead of me on this schedule, had hers yesterday.  Once I am on my feet, I plan to stay on them as long as the nursing staff will permit me to do so.  I don't think I will go as far as a friend who, in similar circumstances, walked right past all the nurses and crossed the street to do some shopping, but the thought is rather tempting.

Despite the pain in the zadnitsa, I am in good humor.  I am off the IV pain medication and at this point don't experience any post-GCS pain at all.  The pain around the breasts has also almost completely disappeared, only manifesting itself when I role too quickly from one side to the other.  Overall, the pain has been much less than I expected . . . except of course in the zadnitsa.

A humorous aspect of being restricted to bed rest is our complete dependence on the nursing staff.  As I've mentioned earlier, the junior staff -- i.e., those whom we see most -- have only a theoretical knowledge of English.  I've suggested to OD that she organize English classes for them, as I think she knows English better than they do.  For some inexplicable linguistic reason, they have the greatest problem with two words:  juice and tea.  It seems that with every meal we order, the kitchen staff fails to bring either the juice or tea or both.  We then have to wait another hour for them to return to the kitchen to search out these exotic beverages.

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My zadnitsa rejoices. I had just written the previous paragraph when the nursing staff told me it was time to get up and walk.  I took them fully at their word, walking slowly up and down the corridor for an hour, asking the nurses to pose with me for a photo.  Despite the linguistic problems, they work hard for our comfort

I'm back in bed again, but now that I have license, I will get up every few hours for a short walk.  OD is about to go back to the operating room to have her vaginal packing removed and replaced.  Once again, I will follow in her footsteps tomorrow.

That's the news up to the moment.  If the greatest pain I have experienced has been in the zadnitsa, that says something about the quality of the surgery and after-care.  Now that my zadnitsa is smiling, so are my lips and eyes.

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Follow these links for more of The Exclamation Point:: 

Previous entry -- Like a Natural Woman
Following entry -- Simple Gifts