Week 7/Day 49 - I made it!

The end of today will be 7 weeks post-surgery, and I'm feeling fully recovered.

Last Saturday (end of week 6) was my clinical clearance to resume all normal activities, including exercise. Right in time with that, I felt completely back to my personal normal on both Sunday and Monday. Tuesday/Wednesday there was an ever-so-slight 'presence' in my uterine area, but come Thursday I was great again.

This morning, I took my first post-surgery run. Just 2 miles to see how it went.

• Post-surgery-wise, it went great: no pain, discomfort or weird feelings in the surgery region. 
• Exercise-wise, I definitely have some work ahead of me: My lungs aren't as strong, from 7 weeks of no cardio. And while my legs felt good because of the lunges I've been doing, I could feel in the first 5 minutes how much weaker my abs and waist area are from no attention all this time.  

Still, it's a start. It felt great to release the energy, and I have no excuse to get back into a routine; not even the holiday season. My body's good to go.

How strange, physically, to feel like I never had surgery (except the feeling of my scar lumps when I run my fingers over them). I've gone through such a range of stages in my personal health in this short period of time. 

I would have preferred not to have needed surgery, but in some ways I'm grateful for the experience. And I'm so glad I kept this blog, as much of it seems so distant, now....

It really is amazing how our bodies are able to go through such trauma, and heal. I can truly say that this recovery journey has come to an end. Thanks to all who stopped by from time to time to share it with me.

A final sayonara. :)

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 17 (Monday) - Part 2: Scarring

One of my scabs came off today while I was pulling up my pants (yes, I can button my pants again!), the one over my smallest incision.

Looks pretty good, but as expected, there's a small, visible scar.

Upper left, scab still over healing incision;
Lower right, scar left from incision.

I have other scars, but from external injuries, not full incisions, so they are much less dense and barely noticeable to the touch. They're also on firmer parts of the body (leg, hand, etc.).

It's strange to run my fingers over this one and feel such a hard, tiny lump in the middle of such a soft area of the body.

I assume the one in my belly button won't be visible, but no doubt I'll be unveiling three more of these surgery reminders in the days to come....perhaps by Halloween!

Day 14 (Friday) - Part 2: Post-Op

Looks like I am going to spend one more week at home.

I will still be working, but remotely. My mind is ready, but Doc says my insides need a little extra strengthening time before exposing my core to the daily office posture. I'm inclined to agree after my commute trial run.

I was completely winded after the 1/2 milk walk and subway ride into Boston. I wasn't expecting this since I've walked over a mile on each of the past three days. I was wiped by the time I got home.

Still, I am healing well. My incisions look great (her words not mine), though she cleaned two of them out with peroxide which was uncomfortable (both of them) and made me really squeamish (belly button one).

Blurry (i.e. less gross) photo of my healing incisions

Got some info on some of my questions:

• First, not that they weren't anticipating it, but my fibroid/tumor was confirmed to be benign. It was also 10cm (4 inch) ball all around; now I have dimensions. 
• Because of placement, they didn't have to cut all the way through my uterus to remove it--very good *, but unusual for a fibroid at this stage. They did still have to cut away at layers to get to and detach the fibroid: it was growing off the outside my uterus, but smooth muscle had grown all around it, sandwiching it in. The backside of my uterus is in the process of strengthening and re-growing smooth muscle.
• Forgot to ask about weight gain, but that was just curiosity. 
• A lot of the gas pains I'm still having (not to mention hypersensitivity to my bladder) is because there's suddenly extra room in there. My pieces are all slowly moving back into place as they re-learn where they belong. In the meantime, any trapped gas has to find a creative path out. 
• Finally, the small pains I've been having in my lower sides are likely some of the ligaments that hold my uterus in place; they, too, are healing.

So many working parts!

Bodies sure can be gross, but they're also amazing.

Sayonara.

* Because they did not have to cut open and stitch back together any part of the uterus, if I were ever pregnant I could likely labor no problem, vs. automatic cesarean.