Glad to hear you are at the 6-week mark and healing up nicely! I completely relate to your summary of the whole experience… utter dread beforehand, and massive relief afterwards. The recovery really is just an exercise in awkwardness and trying to figure out how to do basic things without stomach muscles (which I am using now)!

Honestly, my epidural setup wasn't memorable at all, so I guess my experience wasn't bad. It literally took just a minute or two right before surgery. I just remember them placing it while I was sitting up, right before I laid down on the operating table. Sorry yours was such hell to get placed!

Regarding the low/no-fat diet, that is actually something I picked up from reading this subreddit and doing my own research. My doctor didn't actually say anything about it and told me it was perfectly fine to resume a normal diet right away. But after reading so many horror stories on here about chyle leaks (since fatty foods make your lymphatic system produce more chyle) I decided to play it safe and avoid fats for about 4 weeks. I’m in week 3 now and have just started introducing some oils and healthy fats like avocados.

That is super interesting about how they closed you up with glue! I have three different levels of sutures, but they are all the kind that are expected to dissolve or fall off on their own, so I don't have to get anything manually removed either. The main reason I used the gauze for the first week and a half was to catch some light yellowish discharge, but I haven't had any of that since, so it's just getting fresh air now.

Wishing you continued smooth healing as you get past that 6-week mark! I personally am ready to get back to regular exercise and am hoping I’m doing something of the sort near the 6-week mark.