Going into my surgery, I was feeling overwhelmed. It was the first time in months that I had nothing distracting me and I was focusing on just me. I never questioned myself or my surgery, but everything I have been feeling for the past few months from school, work and life hit me – hard. Like Sarah Kay said – “in the face. wait for you to get back up so it can kick you in the stomach. But getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.”
I was scheduled for an hour and a half – that’s bringing me from my room to the OR to post-op. The surgery itself was about 60 minutes.
The only real issue we had were getting a line for my IV. The first nurse was still new and was still learning. She blew the vein and since I was already overwhelmed and crying (of course) they had a different nurse do the line in my other hand. I have a small bruise on my both hands, but they’re already fading.
When I woke up, I did what I always do with anesthesia – I cried, but was complete coherent and then apologized for crying. Anesthesia has this effect on a lot of people, so I don’t feel bad about it, but this paired with some funny questions made for good laughs for all of us. And yes, I asked about sex. Recovery and healing – I was told a few days and again, listen to my body. This is a big difference from tubal ligation where recovery healing take weeks and sterilization may not be guaranteed immediately.
In the days since my surgery, I’ve made sure to be mobile and drink enough water. For me, I was told recovery is about 24-48 hours, but you need to listen to your body. I’ve gotten in a lot of walks and chores, with a nap on Friday. I lifted about 40 pounds on Friday afternoon – just moving something in the guest room, but otherwise I haven’t lifted in the gym, but definitely will this week. I also took the down time to get all my homework down for the week and get ahead with the semester winding down.
I have a post-op appointment at the beginning of April between some travel.
I woke up happy from surgery and on Friday I woke up even happier.
I finally feel like I’m living life on my terms – school, work, who I choose to have as family. I’m so excited to be here and I’m lucky that I get to live this life.
