Life's Path

Monday, September 25, 2017

Hyster Sister Club

So life is going good.  No major health issues have come up.  YEAH.  About time!  But there are a few loose ends that I want tied up.

As you may remember from reading, I have suffered from Endometriosis and Fibroids since I was 17 years old.  It has not been an easy journey.  23 years I suffered with this.  In and out of the ER.  Too many drug therapies which I wish now I had never done.  Too many laparoscopy surgeries to try help me along and clean things up.  My womanly parts have been through so much in 23 years.  And I was not going to be using them to have children.

A few years back, when I had my last laparoscopy surgery, my gynecologist said that there was nothing more they could do with surgery and there would be no more laparoscopy.  He said that we would either have to control this with medication or I would have to think about a hysterectomy.

As you know, I don't like giving up on my health.  But this was one area that I was tired of fighting with.  Every month was hard on me.  I wasn't going to do any more medications.  I had done enough and nothing had helped and I wasn't putting my body through that toxic mess anymore.  I had to make the choice.  So, when I turned 40, I told myself that it was time and I signed the papers to consent to surgery and wait for the call.

I got the first call in January of 2016.  I declined surgery at that time as I had just started a new job 3 months earlier.  I didn't want to take all that time off so soon after starting my job.  I told them to put me back on the list and to call me later in the year.

The call came late August 2016.  Surgery had been booked for September 12.  I had an immediate flood of emotions.  This was going to finally happen!  BUT, it was the day of my husband's birthday!  NO!  Talk about bad timing!  But I kept the appointment and then called my husband to tell him that I have ruined his birthday for this year.  He of course laughed at me and said he didn't care and what was most important was that I was finally getting this surgery done and we could move on with this stage of our lives.  So so thankful for the most kind and supportive husband EVER!

I only had a few weeks to prepare for this surgery.  And I went into go mode.  I did a cellular cleanse to help get my body in tip top shape before going under and having all that trauma done to my body.  I was cooking up and storing bone broth for the healing process after. I upped my essential oil routine to help make sure I didn't get sick and to ward off any germs in the hospital. I was making sure my body was prepared before hand and after the fact.  The body is amazing and takes care of you and will do so all the more if you help it out.  I was more than ready physically.  I also readied myself mentally and emotionally for this.  I had a great support group of some women who had been through this surgery recently.  I was able to pick their brains about what to expect and what to be ready for after.  Preparation is so key!

A great website that I was directed to was HysterSisters.  What a great resource!  http://www.hystersisters.com/  If you are going to have this surgery, I highly recommend you check this website out.  So helpful and resourceful.  And you become a Hyster Sister!  😃😊

The morning of September 12, 2016, I was the most calm and prepared as I have ever been for a surgery.  I knew this was the right step for me.  I didn't even get nervous when they gave me the IV (I hate getting IV's!).  Before I went into the OR, I placed my hand on my abdomen and said a goodbye to all the parts that were about to be leaving me.  I was so ready for this.

The surgery went well and I was so thankful that my health care benefits allowed me to have a private room.  THIS was KEY to recovery.  Having my own space was golden.  Just me and my husband able to hang out and do and say as we needed without interrupting anyone else or being interrupted by anyone.  Well, besides the nurses coming and going at all hours of the day and night but hey, they are just doing their job!  If you can get a private room after surgery, do it!  You will not regret it one bit.

There were some firsts for me with this surgery.  I have never had a catheter before.  Thankfully they put it in when I was asleep.  The only annoying part was the nurse coming in early in the morning (around 1 AM) and waking me to say that they could take the catheter out now as it had been 12 hours or they could wait until after 6 AM to take it out.  I thought this was the most bizzare question to ask me at that time of day!  Please, leave it in!  This means I don't have to try and get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, I can just lay here and sleep and rest and heal!  Please nurses, you should maybe ask this question earlier in the evening so that the plan can be made before interrupting what little sleep one actually gets in the hospital.  Again I know they are just doing their job but seriously!!

Things went really well in my first 12 hours of recovery so I was able to go home the next day.  There is no place like home! Recovery is not joke, you need a lot of help.  You are not able to lift more than a loaf of bread.  You can't open doors etc as that is too much strain on the abdomen.  You need to take this seriously for a proper and successful recovery.  I couldn't drive until at least the 6 week mark of recovery.  And even then, that was really hard.  You don't realize how much pushing pedals works those ab muscles!  You literally have to rest, have people help you out and not do a thing for at least 6 weeks.  This is crucial!

I was very lucky to have lots of people come and help me out during the days and I got plenty of rest in my recovery.  Huge shout out to my amazing husband as he was so key in taking care of EVERYTHING and making sure I got the proper recovery.  Well, almost...that is for the next entry!  Stay tuned.  Life is always throwing curve balls. 








Thursday, September 21, 2017

It's been awhile and much has happened...

I can't believe it has been so long since I last wrote.  That can be a good thing.  Things are going well?  Nothing to really report or say??  I guess so, but when I think about it, there is much to still say and report to you.  Health is a constantly changing and evolving thing.  You never know what can happen, good or bad.  So where do I begin...

Once we got the Lupus under control, it has gone pretty well!  I have not had a flare up and it never did go systemic to this date.  I am so beyond thankful for this!  I still have to be careful in the sun, still have to manage stress levels and always keep up with nutrition and supplements.  So far, 3 years later, all good!

But then little blimps come up here or there that we don't see coming and sideline us once again.  Yup, it happened.  Life was going good.  Having fun with friends and family.  Working with my brother and back at my old roots of Teen Time of Edmonton.  One of my best friends was getting married in just over a month.  I had the honor of helping to plan and coordinate her wedding.  It was lots of fun and the weekend was coming up and we had the bachlorette party coming up!  It was a Friday evening in June, I was running around doing last minute errands for the party the next day.  I had one last stop and then was going home to be with my husband to relax and watch a movie.  But, that did not happen.

I had just finished calling my husband to say that I was running a bit late but don't worry, I had one last stop and then would finally be home and we could have supper.  I then pulled up to my last stop across the street and parked the car.  I got out and ran across the street and went to jump up on the curb of the sidewalk.  I didn't make it.  My feet did not clear the curb and I went head first into the cement sidewalk.  The next thing I knew, I had people around me helping me up and asking me if I was okay.  I had the worst headache.  Blood was coming down the side of my face.  I wasn't okay.  At least I had the sense to tell someone to get the phone out of my purse and call my husband.  It was also a good thing that I had my crash right outside a restaurant so that there were people around to help and the staff saw what happened and were able to get me some ice and a chair to sit on.  My husband made it to me and so did the bride to be (I don't remember how she found out but was glad she could make it as well). 

After initial assessments were made, we decided that I probably had a concussion and would go home to rest.  My husband is a former professional athlete and has suffered his fair share of concussions so he knew how to take care of me.  That night the head pounding was intense.  The next day was better but I missed half the bachlorette party as we didn't think it would be wise to spend the whole time there.  The Sunday, I felt pretty good!  I had a good bruise but I was pretty much headache free and thought all would be well. 

And then we go to work on Monday.  Yeah, that's when the reality hit in.  As soon as I began to work on the computer, the headache came flooding back and I could not stand to look at the screen.  I tried to do as much work off the computer.  The next day, I tried to go to work again and it only got worse.  I knew that this was not good and I needed to see my doctor.  Doctor confirmed my concussion and so began a long 5 month journey.  I was not able to work for 5 months.  I suffered many debilitating headaches.  I couldn't remember things.  Light was bothersome.  I would be driving to an appointment and I wouldn't know why I was on a certain road or where I was going.  I would have to pull over and look and my calendar to see where I was to be going to remember anything. 

As long as it was, I was thankful for the time.  I did many massage therapy sessions.  I tried Cranial Sacral treatments as well which were very beneficial.  I did a float tank which was super cool. No sensory and floating in Epsom salts was super beneficial.  It was a lot of down time and very limited screen time during these months.  I wasn't even cleared for exercise until about 4 months in.  But all of that was so necessary to heal my brain.

I learned a lot in this time.  I was able to sympathize better with my husband and his post concussion syndrome.  I learned that time is the greatest healer and we owe our bodies that time.

The brain is an extremely precious tool.  We need to take care of it.