The doctor said I’d be able to shower the next day, because they closed all the holes with surgical glue, and it would dry up and flake off over time. When I took off the binder, there were some obvious blood stains where the big hole in the center had apparently leaked. So I’m going to just wait another day and shower tomorrow. I mean, it’s not like I’m going to see anyone anyway.

I showed a picture of the binder they put on me. This morning I just took a picture without the binder. Not only can you see most of the holes they used for the robotics, but you can see the scar from January’s surgery, as well as the two ‘smiley’ scars down below near the top of my pajama pants where my 2nd inguinal hernia repairs were done. The first inguinal hernia repairs were done with robotics and the patches came undone before I even left the hospital, so they did the old cut-and-sew method a month later. The inguinal hernia smiley scars have pretty much faded, but they’re still visible.

The big long scar is plenty visible still, especially since they shaved most of that area. One thing I don’t understand is at the top of that big long scar there appear to be some bruising or something between my pecs, but when I look in the mirror I don’t see any bruising or even any discoloration. The purple marks around my belly are where the surgeon marked to help locate the hernias he needed to fix.

I was weighed before surgery — fully dressed I was 167#, and it appears much of that is around my middle. Right now, though, I suspect a lot of that is swelling from the surgery. My navel may never migrate back to center where it belongs, but I hope the rest of my belly can find some reduction in size, since most of it appears to be above the belt-line. I’m not going to be too judgy about it for now. I mean 167 pounds isn’t all that horrible. I just wish it weren’t all collected at my middle. This is something I can work on over time, with increased exercise and better food choices.

Anyway, into the day I go.