Hey Teaton,
Glad to hear you’re in post-op. Everything should improve a little everyday from now on.
Bowel movement questions aren’t weird at all after having surgery. Our intestines mostly shut down from the anesthesia, and then the painkillers prevent them from waking up correctly. Here’s a few things you can do…
1. Drink lots of fluids, especially water.
2. Take some docusate. It’s a very gentle stool softener.
3. If that’s not enough, try Miralax. It’s also fairly gentle, but definitely moves things along better.
4. If those don’t work, and things get uncomfortable, take some milk of magnesia.
The numbness is probably from the position in surgery, and should slowly go away over time. You should mention it to your doctor though, just in case a nerve is still pinched.
Keep us updated on how you’re doing, this site is so helpful because of all of the people that contribute to it.
Clayton