The doctor decided to change the plan. I had been totally open with him about my goals, my breastfeeding plans, my research, and my "acceptable medication list." Apparently, the hospital has a policy that all medication prescriptions must be approved by the hospital pharmacist (ever heard of such a thing??!!) and they kept no-going everything. They were not looking at the lactation recommendations and instead were going by pregnancy recommendations which are completely different. My situation is very different as well because I can schedule my pumps around my doses and my baby is over a year old so she drinks much less milk than an infant and I have a freezer stash to cut the milk 50/50. Her pediatrician, my PCP, the LLL, the infantrisk Center, and Dr. Hale's research all backed me up.
My surgeon then backed his resident who was completely inappropriate to me and even fired me as a patient. I'll have to see a different thoracic surgeon for my post-op. My parents ended up having to come to the hospital to advocate for me and convince them that I'm not some crazy person nor am I a drug seeker. I just needed some relief and respect. That worked well for the medical staff on that shift, but everything went back downhill once the shift changed. I was refused a muscle relaxant for a long time and when they did bring it up, it was such a ridiculously small dose it was literally laughable. They gave me half a pill of the smallest dose available. When the staff from the original shift were back this morning, they upped my dosage and decided to discharge me as my fluid output levels from my chest tube were low and they recognized I'd get better care at home and would heal better if I wasn't so stressed and I could actually sleep.
So here I am, I was given 2 days worth of narcotic pain relief and 10 days worth of muscle spasm medication. I've reduced how much I'm taking to make it last and I think my PCP will be helpful if I need him especially with the muscle relaxant. I have a high pain tolerance, so I'm doing okay. I'm down to 10mg of Baclofen every 8 hours and 2mg of Dilaudid every 4ish hours. Also, 2 tylenol every 4 hours.
Some numbness has returned to my arms. My forearms are almost completely numb as well as my right pinky. I'm also getting some numbness of my lower face, shoulders and upper arms. I'm hoping that it's just part of the healing process and that these sorts of symptoms will come and go during the first weeks.
My left pec minor is very sore and aches down into my arm. My incision site feels great and isn't bothering me at all unless I poke at it. My left scapula is quite a bit sore too and my entire neck is VERY stiff. If I'm still though, I'm quite comfortable.
I don't have a lot of stamina, but I have been able to successfully shower, dress myself, and got some grocery shopping done (in a scooter of course). I can raise both arms above my head and up behind my back. I'm obviously able to type with little difficulty- much less than before my surgery.

Does anyone who's had bilateral 1st rib resections done know if you have that weird "caved in" look under your collar bone forever? I don't know if I'm just swollen or if it really is caved in. It looks...sickly... and I'm hoping that it goes away.

Thank you all for being here for me. I've really valued your listening ears.