Thanksgiving-Hubs and I stayed home and had a nice, quiet Thanksgiving together at home. While I probably could have done the road trip, it would have been uncomfortable and tiring, and frankly, I just didn't feel like it. My family had a hard time accepting this and gave me a pretty good guilt trip, but I held firm and did what I needed to do to take care of myself.
Healing-It's going well. Friday was the first day that I felt pretty good, and today I felt even better. After more than a week of living in sweats or leggings, I tried out jeans today. In a word, I can describe that experience as "ouch"! I'm hoping that by tomorrow I'll be ok enough to wear real pants, because I'm not sure what I'll do otherwise. While our temperatures are unseasonably warm, it's still not skirt weather in western Pennsylvania. Otherwise, I still get really tired really quickly, something else I didn't anticipate.
What I've learned about myself-I learned that I don't have as high of a pain tolerance as I thought I did. Or at least that my resilience isn't as strong as I thought it was when it comes to recovering from something like this. I honestly thought I'd be back to normal in 2-3 days. At this point, I'm thinking that 2-3 weeks may be more realistic.
Follow up-My follow up appointment is on 6 December. I'm looking forward to talking with the doctor about her findings and seeing if there is a new treatment plan going forward (I don't think there will be).
Watching-College Football! I was born in the Midwest where college football, specifically B1G football, is like a religion. The week of Thanksgiving is what's known as "rivalry week" where each school plays their biggest rival. Essentially 100,000 plus people pack themselves in a stadium and cheer for their favorite team. Loyalty runs deep. My favorite (and in my opinion, the best in the country) rivalry game is Ohio State v. Michigan. I'm not an alum of either school (though I am an alum of another B1G school), but I grew up close to Ohio State, and love for the scarlet and grey was instilled in me from a young age. There was a lot of back and forth and at a few points of the game I thought I might have a heart attack, but my Bucks pulled it out in two overtimes.
Reading-I'm catching up on blogs. Slowly. I have been reading on my iPad, but commenting is a pain in the butt on that device.
Doing-Holiday cards! Another task I'd hoped to have done by now..... I will have them mailed this week, however, because a few of them are going to different countries, and I want to make sure they aren't late.
Need to do-I need to schedule an eye appointment and get new glasses. Which probably means I'll get around to it in March after complaining for months about headaches.
it is lovely to read what you've been up to.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you stayed at home for Thanksgiving and took care of you.
Thanks, Klara. It really was the best choice, even if they didn't really like it.
DeleteI'm glad you didn't travel. After any surgery, especially one involving your abdominal region, I really don't think it's a good idea. Shame on your family for the guilt trip. You can tell them I said so.
ReplyDeleteI'm very glad you're feeling better. It is amazing how long it takes for the body to heal, but given the nature of your surgery (it really was invasive, even though the incisions were small), I'm not surprised that it's taken you awhile to recover. If anything, you are healing fast. Definitely still take it easy.
May holiday cards be a hit (already got a preview, so I'm sure they will be) and may family drama be minimal over the next month.
It really is amazing how long healing takes. Plus, the body plays tricks, because the parts I can see are healing fast, but what I can't see is taking much longer.
DeleteGlad to hear you're taking care of yourself!! I traveled one holiday season while in the middle of IVF and I regretted it. This year I'm staying home just because I feel like it. I was told that it's hard for my cousins to travel with small children and I just kept my thought to myself: it's also hard always catering to the parents in the family. Anyway, I digress... ;)
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work with the self care. I hope real pants work out for you tomorrow so that you are not uncomfortable all day!
Don't even get me started on the whole "it's harder to travel with kids" narrative. First, no shit, Sherlock. Second, the road runs in two directions and just because you don't have kids doesn't mean that traveling isn't a challenge too. :)
DeleteIt's good to read that you stayed at home for Thanksgiving and are starting to feel better. I'm proud of you for holding firm in spite of the guilt inflicted to you.
ReplyDeleteIf you have problems with normal jeans (I hope not, but just in case): I discovered stretch jeans after I had surgery. And long, wide shirts which could hide when I was not able to close that top button...
May you continue to feel better every day! I agree with Cristy and Infertile Phoenix: please take good care of yourself for the next few weeks. It does take time for the body to recover. My very best wishes to you!
After the real pants incident, I quickly realized that my regular work trousers were going to be out of the question, at least for a few days, so I went on an emergency shopping trip to get a few pairs of leggings. It's not my preferred style, but they're going to have to work for the next few days. Thanks for the suggestion!
DeleteAlso, how long until you could wear real pants again?
I started answering that question, but then it got longer and longer. Will write you an email now... ;-)
DeleteI'm glad you're feeling better! It's so hard to put your healing and comfort first at a holiday, but I'm so glad you did. Your body probably thanks you! I feel like a laparoscopy is described as a simple surgery but in reality it's anything but. My recovery was way longer than I expected it to be. It takes time. Good luck with the holiday cards and glasses shopping!
ReplyDeleteIt really did seem like no big deal! It actually makes me feel a lot better to hear that it took others longer than they expected too.
DeleteSounds like you were right to trust your instincts & stay home. I'm just sorry your family couldn't cut you some slack on this. Hope you continue to heal and feel better as the days go by!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Loribeth! Family, gotta love them...
DeleteAfter my laparoscopy I didn't wear jeans for about a month because of the waistline digging into the 'hole' that I had. I was healed pretty well after two weeks but I find jeans uncomfortable at best of times. I was gingerly cycling my bike to work again seven days after the lap, but it's all flat roads. Sounds crazy though, when I think back to doing that.
ReplyDeleteI'm honestly beginning to think that we're all a little bit crazy when it comes to pushing our bodies.
DeleteThe incisions really aren't bothering me at all, my uncomfortableness is still because it's almost like the jeans create too much pressure when I sit down and squeezes my uterus or something. Oddly enough, they feel fine when standing.
I miss one post and I’m three days behind??? Darn time zones!
ReplyDeleteI’m sad your family made such a big deal of laying on the guilt about you not going. Partnership and marriage can bring the opportunity for a new set of traditions and customs to be created, sometimes at the expense of other family traditions. You and hubs are the centre of your family now, glad to hear you held your ground on this occasion.
Ha, recovery times…. I think in our heads we still think we are 20 years old and can bounce back in no time. I think keyhole surgery might give us a false sense of it being minor surgery but is only the outer half of what they did internally.
Time zones are weird, right? LOL.
DeleteYeah, I definitely grossly underestimated my ability to bounce back from this. Feeling my age for sure.
I'm glad you are taking time to recover in piece and quiet without any travel/dealing with family. Hope you feel better every day!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Obie!
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