Tag: surgery

The Longest Short Month

Published by dee on March 2, 2011

Well, that was the longest short month ever. I’m so happy that we’ve finally made it to March. It seems like my birthday was ages ago, when really, it has only been 3 weeks. I feel like I’ve gone through most of it in a daze. I spent nearly a week sleeping after my surgery, then spent the next week in a mad rush to get things caught up at work. Now that I finally feel like I can breathe again at work, my house is a mess and the laundry is piling up. Oh, how I miss my mother-in-law!

I had my 2-week check up today with my doctor and everything is looking good. I was a little concerned about one of my incisions, but she seems to think it looks okay and told me to put some neosporin on it a couple times a day. She said I can go back to normal activity as I feel up to it, as long as I don’t overdo it. I didn’t tell her I’ve been pushing myself to that point for over a week now. She obviously does not know my kids or how much energy they require.

And now, in order to rescue this extremely insightful post, here are cute photos of my kids that I took last week.

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Back to Life, Back to Reality

Published by dee on February 23, 2011

Yesterday was one week post-op. Yesterday was also my first full day back at work. As much as I would like to lounge around the house and rest a few more days, I’m needed at the office. Sadly, the work just won’t do itself. It isn’t so bad being back, other than the fact that I have to sit up in a chair for eight hours straight and that isn’t very pleasant right now. I’m still pretty sore in the abdomen area and need to be able to lay flat every now and then to let that area rest. By the end of the day yesterday I was hurting quite a bit.

I woke up this morning feeling a little more energetic, despite tossing and turning most of the night. I’m hoping that I can keep my energy level up through the day as I still tend to tire pretty quickly. I’ve enjoyed the break, but I need to get back to my normal routines.

Hubby’s parents have been a tremendous help, as always. They came in and took over with the kids, the cooking, and laundry. They’ve been making the school/day care runs every day, helping with the kids’ baths, and even fixed a few things around the house that needed some work. I don’t know how we would have done it all without them. They pretty much took over all the “mom” duties and let me get the rest that I needed. I am so grateful to have in-laws that are willing and able to help us out from time-to-time. They are such a blessing. We’re going to be very sad to see them leave again.

One nice part of being forced to slow down is that I’ve done a lot of reading. Over the last week I’ve read one book and started another, which is a lot of reading for me. I really am loving reading books on my Nook Color. I love the instant access to whatever book I might want to read, plus I’ve figured out how to download and transfer books from my local library so I can read many of the books I want for free. The only downside to the library ebooks is that most of the books I want to read have a hold list and you only have three days to check them out when they become available. I’ve had to skip a couple that I knew I wouldn’t have time to read, but I can always put them on hold again and catch them the next time around.

As my energy and ability to move around come back, I’m looking forward to getting back to my photography. I’ve (barely) kept up with my 365 project, but I’ve let the Joy of Love class slip. I’m hoping to get caught up on that before the end of the month as I was really enjoying it. There’s also a sweet little five week old baby (and his momma) here visiting that I’d love to get in front of my lens before he heads back home to Chicago next week. There’s nothing I love shooting more than itty bitty babies!

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Minus One

Published by dee on February 16, 2011

Yesterday morning I got up and headed to the hospital for my surgery. Since my Doctor didn’t know exactly what was going on in there, she did a diagnostic laproscopic surgery. We talked about and agreed to the possibility that she may have to remove one ovary, which apparently was the right choice.

Not only did I have more cysts, she also found Endometriosis, and a cyst growing inside the ovary. So, my doc made the decision to remove the right ovary. She seems to think the other side will be ok for at least a couple more years, so I get to keep that one for now. I hope she’s right. I would prefer not to go through this again for a while.

I’m feeling pretty good, thanks to my friends, Percocet and Naproxen. I have three small cuts on my stomach that should heal up pretty quickly. As long as I don’t move, I don’t hurt. So far, trying to roll over in my bed has been the most painful.

I’m taking it easy today, catching up on some shows, and hopefully getting a little nap in this afternoon. It feels good to be able to just sit and not have to do anything for a change.

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33

Published by dee on February 11, 2011

So I had a birthday yesterday. As far as birthdays go, I have to say it was a pretty good one. It would have been nice if I could have taken the day off from work, but then I would have missed out on delicious cupcakes, lunch with the girls, and the gorgeous flowers that my mom had delivered for me.

When I got home, I received a sweet card from Hubby, along with a yummy-looking peanut butter/chocolate cake, and a Barnes and Noble gift card from the kids to go with the Nook I got a couple weeks ago. Then we rushed off to Chuck E. Cheese because Zach’s school was having a fundraiser night there. Gotta support the school, even if it is Mom’s birthday. By the time we got back I was too full/tired to eat the cake, but rest assured I plan to devour it tonight!

As you can tell from my lack of posting, life has been moving very fast again these last couple of weeks. It seems like every time I get a little break, things start piling up even more. Work is crazy busy right now. I’m rushing to get things done. Then, just when I think I’ve got something done, it changes and I have to go back and do it all over again. There is nothing that frustrates me more than having to do the same work twice. I have Monday to finish up a huge to-do list, and then I’m off for the rest of next week because of my surgery.

My surgery is scheduled for Tuesday morning. My doc plans to go in and look around, then most likely end up with the removal of one ovary. I’m anxious to get it over and done with. I’m tired of hurting and if she takes it out, I don’t have to worry about ginormous cysts growing on that side anymore. I can’t say I’m looking forward to the actual surgery, but I’ll just be glad when it’s all done. My in-laws are coming up to stay with us while I recover. I can’t thank them enough for all they do for us. It is so reassuring just knowing that they will be here to help out with the kids so that I can rest and recover the way I need to.

One thing I am really looking forward to after my surgery is sleeping. I haven’t been getting much sleep lately and it is starting to show. I’m tired, cranky, and forgetful on top of it all which really isn’t a good combination. I know I’m trying to do too much, but I can’t seem to stop. I think I have too many hobbies, but I can’t give any of them up. I also can’t seem to put my Nook down, which is definitely cutting down on my sleep time. In the meantime, my house is a disaster, I’m way behind on laundry, and I’m going a little nutty with all the things I’m not finding the time to do. I just realized last week that I still have some Christmas decorations sitting out that I forgot to put away. The days just fly by too fast and by the time I finally get kids to bed and can stop for the night, I’m too exhausted to think or do any more.

So yes, I’m looking forward to getting some good (drug-assisted) sleep after my surgery. I’m looking forward to not being in pain after I recover. Most of all, I’m just looking forward to having a little break and having someone else take care of me for once.

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Back On Schedule

Published by dee on September 27, 2009

Tomorrow morning I have to drag myself out of bed at 6:30 a.m. again. I have to do the morning rush again. I have to drag the kids out of bed, get them dressed, fed, and out the door. I have to drop Zach off at preschool, Evie at day care, and get myself to work for the first time since my surgery a week and a half ago. I have to rejoin the real world and I’m not looking forward to it one bit.

My body is healing and I’m definitely feeling much better, though I’m not too sure how it’s going to feel to sit up at a desk all day tomorrow. My energy is back to a pretty normal level finally, though that is with getting to sleep in nearly every day. My incisions are still a bit sore, but that I can handle.

I have pushed myself just a little harder than I probably should have, but there were a couple things I didn’t want to miss out on, like watching the Red Sox beat the Royals at the newly renovated Kauffman stadium. I wasn’t about to let one little surgery keep me from catching the Sox this year!

We celebrated Hubby’s 33rd birthday on Thursday with a delicious dinner my mother-in-law made. The kids helped Daddy blow out the candles on his cake and for once I didn’t have a camera in my hands. Oops.

Then on Saturday we took Granny and Papa to Deanna Rose Farmstead. The kids always love going there and it was a beautiful day. Plus, I wanted to play with my new camera lenses a bit. Zach was brave enough for the pony ride this time without getting scared.

All in all it was a really nice week. If it wouldn’t have been for that whole surgery thing, the last week would have been a really nice vacation!

I can’t thank my in-laws enough for all the help they’ve given us in the last couple of weeks. They’ve read books, changed diapers, given baths, fixed meals, kept up with the laundry, and even helped take the dogs out. I know my recovery would have been a lot harder without them here and I’m a little sad to see them head back home in the morning.

But, back to the grind it is. It all starts in about 8 1/2 hours.

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Coming Out of the Fog

Published by dee on September 22, 2009

So the surgery on Thursday went well. They had me good and doped up so that I didn’t really even feel much of anything until the next day. The cyst was removed with no surprises, exactly as we had hoped. I slept for most of the day, only getting up for a small dinner and to see the kids for a bit in the evening.

Friday I felt great. I was surprised that I wasn’t hurting too much and decided that I felt good enough to go with Hubby to take Evie to her 18 month check-up at the doctor’s office. After that we stopped at Wal-Mart for a few things, picked Zach up from preschool, and decided to go ahead and eat dinner out. I was doing just fine until just about the end of dinner when Zach had to go to the restroom. As I waited for him I started getting a little dizzy feeling. Fortunately, Granny came in to check on us and I was able to go sit back down right away. I had definitely overdone it.

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were pretty much a fog. I slept off and on. I’d get up for a while, only to find I needed to go back to bed. Between feeling dizzy and having a queasy stomach, I really couldn’t sit up for very long at a time. By Monday evening I was feeling a bit better, but with a lingering headache (probably due from a combination of too much sleeping and forgetting to take my Zyrtec).

Today, I’m finally feeling a little better. I got up, showered, and even fixed my hair this morning. I was feeling pretty weak afterwards, but was glad that I made the effort to do my hair. I had some breakfast, hoping that it would give me a little energy back, then went to Wal-Mart with my in-laws to pick up some groceries and a few other things. Again, I was pretty worn out after Wal-Mart but I needed to go.

This afternoon I’ve been trying to do a few little things but resting in between. I managed to put away a basket of Zach’s clothes and now I’m resting again. Everything I do seems to take a whole lot of effort, but I am trying to take it slow.

My pain is pretty well controlled and only bothers me when I do a lot of walking around. I stopped taking the Percocet on Monday and have only taken Naproxen since then. My incisions are healing, though they are now starting to itch like crazy and I have some really pretty purple and yellow bruises. This is the first surgery I’ve ever had where they have used glue to close everything back up instead of stitches. That is a little weird, but at least I’ll have less scarring on the stomach that no one will likely ever see again.

The kids seem to be handling everything really well, though that is probably because they have the attention of Granny and Papa to distract them. Evie keeps wanting to come up in my lap and every time she does she has to look at my “owies”. She has also been searching for owies on everyone else’s stomachs as well and doesn’t understand why they don’t have any.

I am so thankful to have my in-laws here to help out. They have been taking care of everything including getting to kids to and from school and day care so that I can rest. I don’t know how I would have done it without them.

The fog is definitely lifting today and I’m so glad to feel a little more like myself. Hopefully in another day or two I’ll be able to go into work for a little bit. But do you want to know what I’m really looking forward to? Being able to put on a pair of jeans again!

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