Week 4/Day 23 (Sunday) - Take It Easy!

I'm to the point where my body feels normal much of the time. This both good (great, even) and bad.

The great side is obvious: It's nice to feel like my old self. I've even started to view some of my previous posts about discomfort/pain as whiny, even though I know they are 100% legit; so that shows how removed from surgery I'm beginning to feel.

The bad side is that even though I feel back to normal, my body still has another couple of weeks to go before it is.

I physically have the strength and mobility back to do active things, like walk briskly or carry heavier groceries, but doing these things strains the parts of me that are still healing. And because I feel better and want to be active again, it's hard to remember (and accept) that I'm only halfway through my recovery and still need to take it easy.

Good thing my body has natural reminders built in!

The steps I jogged down this morning.

Reminder 1: On Friday, feeling really good and energetic, I dropped my car keys under the driver's seat and had to dig them out. Not very active, but a lot of bending and twisting. I was completely winded after the 45 seconds it took to get them out.

Still not OK to make awkward movements.

Reminder 2: I quickly hopped down our front steps today when I went out to get the paper. Didn't think twice about it because I, again, felt so good, and my pre-surgery pace up or down our steps was a jog. After I went inside, I started to feel cramp-y in my uterine area, and almost a little queasy.

Still not OK to bounce.

Both good reminders for my first day back in the office tomorrow. I'd better get some sleep before the big day.

Sayonara.

Day 20 (Thursday) - Milestones

Several updates and milestones to report on, this morning! Today marks the end of my third week post surgery.

• Milestone #1: I slept on my stomach last night for the first time since my surgery. This is a major 'normal' activity for me that's been impossible because of both how it stretches my core (similar to standing up straight) and the pressure it puts on my incisions. It's especially exciting/surprising that this happened last night because I slept horribly the previous night; my incision spots were really acting up and I could not get comfortable. Now, it's really just my belly button and lower right incisions now that still hurt at times when pressure is applied.


• Milestone #2: On a similar note, I can officially stand up beyond upright (shoulders completely back, back arched), and for more than just a minute. I have been moving pretty well, anyway—no more waddling, I can twist—but this is going to make such a difference in my daily activities in terms of fatigue because of the stress it takes off of my back.


• Update: And speaking of movement, I have continued with my 1.25 mile walk at least every other day, and my pace has picked up tremendously. I've gone from a 35-minute-mile to about a 22-minute-mile, which is only 5 minutes off my personal normal. Still very winded from it, but all the more reason for me to be doing it often and picking up speed as best I can.
  
  I am officially a human animal again:

I'm passed the zombie stage, but thought this was appropriate post-Halloween.

I was saying to Richard just last night that it's been really bugging me out to feel winded after such low-key movements, like walking or sitting upright for long periods of time. So I'm really pleased to be able to report on these milestones.

Off for my walk and coffee, and then work.

Day 17 (Monday) - Road & Recovery

I expect my posts will become less frequent from here forward.

It's nice knowing that I am over the physically hardest part of my recovery, and that I'll be back to work tomorrow (if only from home). But I will continue to blog about important milestones and thoughts up until week 6, at by which point I should be completely back to my personal normal.

Yesterday was a pretty low key day. The biggest event was making a Costco run with Richard for things we've been needing given today's storm warning for Hurricane Sandy.

I drove for the first time since pre-op days, which felt OK and was better than bracing myself while Richard drove, wonderful as he is. However, for as good as I've been feeling, I learned the hard way that there is a movement I am not yet ready to do: The Twist.

Without thinking twice I did a super full turn and stretch at my waist to see while backing out of our parking space at Costco (a mad house)—you know the posture, one arm around the back of the passenger seat. Owww.

Any incision tenderness left was revived to the fullest.  But hey, the days have been more boring lately without as much pain to fill the time, so it added a little excitement. ;-)

"After a fall such as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling downstairs!"

- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll

Day 15 (Saturday)

Being so in tune to my core these past couple of weeks has been quite an eye-opening experience.

It is amazing how much energy and muscle goes into even the simplest actions, like sitting. I'm not going to say I took these things for granted—my abs and back are the body parts I take best care of when I'm healthy because I know a lot depends on a strong core. But I definitely didn't appreciate this to the fullest.

Case in point: Richard and I went out to dinner tonight for the first time since my operation, which was wonderful. But after an hour or so of being in our booth I had to turn to him and say, "I need to leave, I can't sit here anymore." I just couldn't maintain the posture.

Definitely the right decision to wait another week before going back into the office.

Sayonara.