Hey… it’s Anna. 🖤
I know.
I’ve been a little quiet.
I realized I haven’t properly checked in for a while, so here I am.
And somehow, it has already been four weeks since my surgery.
Four weeks.
I honestly don’t know where the time went.
Although, to be fair, when your daily schedule consists of resting, walking around a little bit, taking medication, going to appointments, and trying to figure out which position your body will tolerate in bed, the days have a funny way of blending together.
But overall?
I’m doing pretty good.
There have definitely been a few bumps along the recovery road, but when I compare how I feel now to those first few days after surgery?
Huge difference.
So let’s catch up.
My Incision Is Doing Really Well
First, the good news.
My incision feels pretty good.
There’s really not much pain there anymore, which I’m very grateful for.
I remember those first few days when sitting upright for too long would cause that burning feeling and my stomach would basically tell me:
“Ma’am. That’s enough.”
Now I can move around much more comfortably.
There is still a tiny area at the bottom of my abdomen that hasn’t completely closed yet.
At my appointment, they put some medical tape over that area to help bring the skin together so it can finish healing.
So we’re keeping an eye on it.
But compared to where I started?
I’ll take it.
My stomach has been through enough.
Eight hours of surgery.
A giant incision.
A uterus eviction.
Seventeen-plus fibroids causing absolute chaos.
She’s allowed to take her sweet time healing.
I’m Slowly Going Back To Work
I’ve also started transitioning back into some light work.
And when I say light, I mean light.
No superhero nonsense.
I’m still not supposed to be lifting anything heavy, and I’m definitely not ready to go back to my usual routine of hauling unpredictable garbage bags around.
Because garbage bags are sneaky.
One bag weighs five pounds.
The next one feels like somebody threw a small refrigerator inside.
Absolutely not.
Not today.
I’m trying to listen to my body and remember that feeling better doesn’t mean I’m completely healed.
That’s the dangerous part of recovery.
You start feeling more normal and suddenly your brain says:
“Oh, we can do everything again!”
No.
We cannot.
Sit down.
THE GAS IS FINALLY GONE
Can we please have a moment of silence?
Actually, no.
A round of applause.
The gas pain is finally gone.
THANK HEAVENS.
If you’ve been following my recovery updates, you already know that gas pain became a recurring character on this blog.
I talked about it so much that I’m surprised I didn’t give it a name.
But listen…
It deserved every complaint.
That gas pain after surgery was disrespectful.
It moved around whenever it felt like it.
It showed up uninvited.
It ruined perfectly good naps.
And somehow it hurt more than my actual abdominal incision.
But it has finally packed its bags and left.
Goodbye.
Safe travels.
Please don’t visit again.
Meanwhile, My Bowels Are Thriving
Now here’s something I wasn’t expecting.
Since surgery, I’ve been doing number two about two or three times a day.
Apparently my digestive system has decided that we’re going to be extremely regular now.
Which is good.
I’m happy everything is functioning.
Very proud of you, intestines.
Excellent work.
But also…
Three times?
Every day?
I am tired.
There’s only so many times a woman wants to wipe her behind in a 24-hour period.
I’m just saying.
Recovery really has removed any remaining dignity I thought I had.
At this point we’re family.
My Left Arm Is Still The Biggest Problem
Now we get to the reason I’ve been so quiet.
My left arm.
Lord.
This arm.
If you’ve been following along, you’ll remember that after my eight-hour surgery I woke up and initially couldn’t feel my left arm properly.
I was told it was probably related to the way I had been positioned during such a long surgery.
The feeling gradually started returning.
The movement started returning.
But then the pain came.
And stayed.
My arm started really hurting about two days after I got home from the hospital, and it hasn’t stopped since.
That’s honestly been the most frustrating part of my recovery lately.
Something Just Doesn’t Feel Right
I had an appointment last week about the arm.
They had me do different movements and exercises to see what I could and couldn’t do.
They think there may be some nerve irritation or inflammation happening.
I was prescribed medication for nerve pain.
And let me tell you what that medication has successfully accomplished so far.
Sleep.
That’s it.
It makes me sleepy.
The pain?
Still here.
Thank you for your participation.
For me, the discomfort sometimes feels more muscular, almost like something is constantly tightening or contracting.
I’m not a doctor, obviously, so I’m not diagnosing myself.
But that’s the best way I can describe what I’m feeling.
I have another follow-up appointment today, so I’m going to bring it up again and explain exactly what I’ve been experiencing.
Hopefully we can figure out what’s going on and what will actually help.
Typing Has Been A Struggle
This arm situation is also why I haven’t been writing as much.
Typing hurts.
And yes, I know…
Voice typing exists.
Unfortunately, voice typing and my Jamaican accent occasionally have creative differences.
I say one thing.
My phone confidently types something completely different.
Then I look at the screen like:
“When did I say THAT?”
So sometimes correcting the voice typing becomes more work than just typing the thing myself.
Which hurts my arm.
And around we go.
Technology is wonderful.
Until it isn’t.
But Overall? I’m Getting Better
I don’t want the arm issue to overshadow everything else, because when I look at the bigger picture, I’m actually doing really well.
My incision is healing.
I’m moving around more.
I’m slowly returning to light work.
The gas pain is finally gone.
My digestive system is apparently an overachiever.
And most importantly…
I’m four weeks into this new chapter.
Four weeks without the uterus that caused me so much trouble.
No more planning my entire life around extremely heavy periods.
No more wondering whether I have enough pads with me.
No more worrying about bleeding through my clothes or my bed.
No more uterus carrying around a small fruit market of fibroids.
That part still feels strange.
In the best possible way.
One Day At A Time, Lovelies
So that’s my four-week update.
I’m healing.
Not perfectly.
Not quickly.
But I’m healing.
The left arm is currently the loudest member of the complaints department, and hopefully today’s appointment will give me a little more direction on what we can do about that.
For now, I’m continuing to take things slowly.
I’m doing what I can.
Resting when I need to.
Working lightly when my body allows it.
And trying very hard not to rush myself just because I’m feeling better.
I mainly wanted to check in because I realized it had been a while.
And I wanted to check on you too.
I hope you’re doing okay.
I hope this week has been kind to you.
And if it hasn’t?
There’s always tomorrow.
And if tomorrow has an attitude too?
Well…
There’s always next week.
Chin up, lovelies.
I’ll let you know how the appointment goes.
Until next time…
Anna out. 🖤💋
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