Up, then down, now up again...

I have been told, and have also read, that the road to recovery is a slow one with ups & downs - but I was starting to feel that I was immune to the downs as my recovery has been going so amazingly smoothly. Until yesterday. Yesterday I was aching, sore, tired, bloated, had lost my sense of humour, was grumpy and just felt generally miserable. I slept until late because I didn't want to get out of bed, and when I did get out of bed I didn't even bother getting dressed for the day.

For the past 2 and a half weeks I have been feeling really well - recovering smoothly and feeling better than I have in years. So I was rather alarmed and a tad depressed when, come Day 17, I was feeling like sh*t. I phoned my gyno to check a few things out with him, and was asured that all was normal and that I probably had over-done things thepast few days. Relieved, I sat and mindlessly played bingo on Facebook all afternoon because I needed a brainless distraction from being such a grump.

Of course, I had over-done things a tad... But today - wow! I feel fantastic! I have zero pain, tons of energy and a brain that is willing to function beyond mindless bingo. We drove out to Maldon, along some bumpy dirt roads, and it didn't bother me in the slightest. Needless to say, I'm happy & cheerful once again and am taking it a bit easier than I have been. I have to remember it has only been 18 days of a recommended 6-8 week recovery!

The weird, weird world of shoes...

When you get bored, you get web surfing... And being "grounded" for the past 3 weeks has definitely had its boring moments. I have found a really cool website - weheartit.com - that has thousands of photos of pretty much anything you can imagine! I was looking around the other day and stumbled across this photo -

And I was intrigued, so I started looking specifically for "interesting" shoes - from the pretty to the bizzare! Here are a few that have earned a notable mention as quite bizarre -

for the romantic?

for the black-tie event

why aren't these heels breaking???

if you are feeling particularly short...

hmmm... very girlie...

ouch!

yeah... ummm... interesting...

bling to the extreme!

And, finally, my personal favorite pair...

full-on Gaga!

Thunder & Lightning, Very Very... Cool!

I'm sitting in my parents lounge room - a huge bay window with views across Castlemaine - watching an absolutely spectacular thunder storm accompanied by torrential rain. I absolutely *love* thunder storms!!

16 days post-op and I'm feeling better than ever!

2 weeks today!

Two weeks post-op today and feeling great! No regrets - best thing I've ever done!!

And that is exactly what I'm going to do!!

Recovery Day 10

This is *so* true. I've had a fair bit of time to watch movies recently (obviously...) and I really need to take up my old rule of, "If you loved/liked the book then don't see the movie!" A couple of exceptions to the rule being Mel Gibson in "Hamlet" and Leonardo di Caprio in "Romeo+Juliet" and they did do a pretty good job on the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Aside from these few examples, I am yet to see a movie of a book, after reading the book, and not been disappointed. Oh - just thought of "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier - the film (original B&W starring Laurence Olivier) is definitely better (and pretty close to) the book, as is "Jamaica Inn" - but then I've neverbeen much of a fan of du Maurier's writing!

You just can't capture, IMHO, what some authors can write on the silver screen.

I've been doing a fair bit of reading too - nothing too heavy as the brain is still a bit foggy - just complete trash novels that I am too embarrassed to post titles of here! LOL! I currently have about 30 titles on my iPhone to read and, wait for it, 1096 books on my Kindle! Of course, a lot of the Kindle content is Indie stuff, so mileage is definitely going to vary!

This is my little recovery partner - Epsi. She's mum's dog but seeing I'm here more than mum is, I'm claiming her for my recovery period! She's not that much of a companion for me though - every time she sits next to me she gives up and goes back to her chair (as pictured) because I fidget too much!

As far as recovery is going - it is going really well. I have to be careful not to over-do things and I'm starting to "count calories" so I don't eat too much while I'm pretty sedentary and end up massive! I'm also loking through mum's stash of recipe books to make my own collection of "healthy recipes" so I can cook properly when I get home. Hubby will be shocked! LOL!

Mum got most of her birthday presents (even though her birthday isn't until November!) yesterday - artwork for the garden. She got three huge pieces made from metal - a lily, a strelitzia (sp?) and the best  of all - "Equus" (pictured above) who, I must say, is the most fabulous piece of artwork I have seen in a very long time! He's 3D so looks like he's galloping out of his metalic canvas toward you. He's just FABULOUS!!! And the last of mum's presents, who we have dubbed "Wilbur" is also fabulous, but in a totally different way... Pics when he arrives!

1 Week Post-Op!

Today marks 1 week since my hysterectomy! I am feeling so good - in far less pain than before the op, and I have been glimpsing the abundant energy I am going to have when I fully recover! It really is amazing the difference the hyster has made - definitely no regrets and no looking back!

The above quote rings so true to me - my hysterectomy really marks the start of a new chapter of my life. Pain-free, energetic, good moods. All of these, plus more bonuses I'm sure to discover, all of the time. I can't wait to get started!

But that will have to wait a little while longer as I am absolutely and utterly exhausted! But for good reason - today was my first outing since the op. This morning I went to the GP for my 1-week checkup and to get my stitches out. Getting the stitches out was brilliant - no more incredibly itchy stiches!!! There are still some itchy bits here & there, but nothing I can't handle. Dr was really happy with how well (and fast) I am recovering but warned I still need to take it easy for the 6 weeks.

This afternoon mum & I went for a walk into town (a whole 3 blocks!) and ended up wandering around (slowly - I'm walking at snail's pace atm!) for about 45mins. The body didn't have a problem - no increase in pain or anything - but when I got home and sat down I realised how tiring the walk was and that my body, although thoroughly enjoyed being out & about, was not going to move off the couch anytime soon... But it was well worth it!

I'm really looking forward to my walk tomorrow!

Post-Op Day 6

I was feeling pretty good yesterday and so made an extra effort to do some things for myself and staying up & about because Hubby came for a visit. I surrendered to an afternoon nap because I was getting really tired, and after dinner I had to return to bed - light headed, dizzy, tingling... All the signs of overdoing it. I over did it, didn't keep my fluids up and probably a touch of low blood pressure to boot seeing I had low blood pressure immediately post-op in the hossie. A lesson learnt!

I have my 1-week checkup & stitches out tomorrow with a nurse (and a Dr popping his head in apparently) at my parent's GP here in Castlemaine. My gyno said it was a stupid idea to drive down to his offices in Melbourne and back (4 hour round trip!) just for a 5min appointment. The stitches are driving me nuts - so itchy! But they are still dressed and if I try and scratch them it either hurts (der!) or it's somewhere my tummy is numb and so I can't feel myself scratching - weird!

Tomorrow will be my first trip out since I left hossie, and even though it is only about two blocks to the GP (we'll be driving because I can't walk that far yet) I wonder how I'll do. I've read a lot of personal stories of other hyster patients being absolutely exhausted and spending the rest of the day in bed after their first 10min outing. Good "test run" I guess to gague where I'm at! And a chance to check on those dizzy, lightheaded, tingling symptoms I had yesterday.