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  • my myomectomy (8)

Fuck. This. Shit.

Categories: Life, my myomectomy
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Published on: April 25, 2012

It is truly my believe that there is a panda meme for every occasion. For this one, I believe this panda says it all:

If only I could run away like this wise panda is doing. What’s causing this? Have a seat.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I had a follow up visit for my myomectomy. At the time, the doc said everything looked good and if everything was ok, then he would send my results via snail mail.

Now, I have to mention that last week I was a bit concerned since I hadn’t received my all clear letter. The test that was a couple of months after my surgery arrived within days. It’s now been a few weeks. I assumed that it was on it’s way or that it got caught between some junk mail and I threw it away. They NEVER send bad news via the mail. Since I hadn’t gotten a call I thought nothing of it.

Today, I got a call from the office. 6 months post surgery and LEEP procedure and I have abnormal cells again.

It’s concerning because there is no HPV found, but the cancer doc says we will wait 4 months and retest. I need to call him tomorrow and let him know that I am spotting as well. I thought nothing of it and when I had my PAP I wasn’t spotting. However, the past couple of weeks I have been.

Shit! I am so fucking tired of this. I’m sick of doctors offices, huge medical bills, swollen abdomens from removing shitloads of tumors,  dumb bitches telling me to hurry up and have a baby because OMFG you might need a hysterectomy. I’m tired and just want to be well. If that means hysterectomy then so be it.

Sorry to be such a whiny brat, but yeah. Such is life. Doesn’t help that I’m moving closer to 40 than I want to on Saturday and have nothing to show for it. No house. No dream job. No hottie boyfriend. No cute dog. NOTHING. Just a bunch of abnormal fucking cells in my cervix and a shitload of hospital debt.

Happy birthday to me.

 

 

Quickie Update

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Published on: April 10, 2012

I’m working on part II of “On Being That Black Girl”. I didn’t know people would find that interesting, so I’m fleshing out the second part a little more. In the meantime, I want to give a quickie update on me. Why? Why not?

Last week, I tried a running streak. It lasted 3 days and then my knee started to hurt. I’m happy to report that I took a day or 2 off and now feel fine. I’m sure the knee didn’t start bothering me due to the 3 days. The knee started bothering me because I ran in the Brooks Ghost. I really like that shoe, but can only wear it sparingly right now. Same thing with any other light shoes that I wear. For the time being, I’m rotating between the Mizuno Waveriders (so glad they fit well again! Love this shoe!), Brooks Launch, Brooks Ghost, and Brooks Defyance. Can you tell which brands I prefer?

So, the running is there. It’s getting easier and I’m starting to feel like a runnerish type person. (Though, oddly, I should be running right now but am not.) I’m thinking of doing a 10k at the end of May and may do a 5k around the end of the month. I have to look around and see what is available because I am lazy and refuse to drive for longer than I’m going to run.

Last Thursday I had an appointment with my cancer doctor. It was just a follow up and so far he says everything looks good. I’m waiting on the results of the tests that were taken. If everything is all clear I see him again in August, then I can become a regular patient that only goes to the gyno once a year. I am so ready to close this chapter of my life. This chapter seems to have been going on forever and I’m emotionally and physically exhausted from it.

Yes. I’ll admit it. My life is a bit of a mess right now. I’m working through it though and know I will get back to happy or at least content at some point. I just wish it would hurry the fuck up.

The Right Kind of Sore

Categories: my myomectomy, running
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Published on: December 6, 2011

It took me a week after my last “workout” to attempt another one. The 20 minutes on the elliptical left my incision sore, my back hurting, and my tummy extremely swollen. It took around 4-5 days before I felt “normal” again. Upon further thought, the elliptical probably requires quite a few ab muscles and right now I don’t really have that many.

Yesterday I woke up feeling great and decided that I’d try some sort of light run/walk. I managed to squeeze out 10 x 1 minute run/w 1 minute recoveries. At the half way mark I walked for about 4 minutes or so because I couldn’t breathe. I got in a total of 36 minutes. (My watch is in the other room and I am really that lazy.)

The first 2 intervals were EXTREMELY awkward, but happily not painful or anything. If I noticed any pain I promised myself that I would bail. I don’t believe in working through the pain when it comes to this type of stuff. The last few intervals were a bit difficult because I’m EXTREMELY out of shape, but were doable.

I expected to have some sort of aching around my incision later in the day, but everything felt fine. Even better? I woke up this morning vaguely sore in the arms and legs. NO SORENESS in my tummy area.

WOOHOO!!!

It felt great to be on my normal running route. I got the thumbs up from my favorite gay walking couple, and said hi to 2 of my favorite morning dog-walkers. I also gave someone directions in Spanish because I am that awesome. It was a great morning.

The plan for the next few weeks is to slowly build up to normal runs. I’ll mostly play it by ear. Hopefully, for 2012 I’ll be back to normal and 2011 can just be forgotten.

 

Gotta Start Somewhere

Categories: C.R.E.A.M., Life, my myomectomy
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Published on: November 27, 2011

Though I’ve been cleared to get my run/bike/swim/whatever the hell I want on, today marks the first day I actually went to the gym. I did try an ill-fated walk/run a week or so ago. I was out for about 15 minutes and it really did not feel so great. I decided that I would give myself a bit more time to heal and try to just go with what feels ok.

For some reason, this morning felt like the right day to head to the gym. I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do or how I was going to feel.

I thought that the elliptical trainer would be the least stressful exercise that I could stand.  The first few minutes were a bit rough and I was winded within 3 minutes. There was a slight ache around my surgery area (internally) and a bit of discomfort around my incision, but that slowly started to fade as I got further into my “workout”.

Overall, I wound up with 20 minutes on the elliptical at the lowest setting and then a 10 minute walk. Total of 30 minutes “cardio”.

This little workout has left me pretty tired. I’m relaxing for the rest of the day.

I’d be lying if I said I’m not disappointed or frustrated with how long it’s taking me to get back to running or just working out in general. On the other hand, I respect the fact that my body has been through a pretty serious surgery and I need to give it the time it needs to heal. I suppose I just need a little patience.

I don’t think I’ve been this out of shape in years. Not even after my embolism in ’08. I’m also at the heaviest I’ve ever been and it’s getting frustrating and making me feel a bit down. Especially not being able to wear pants. I’m sick of sweatpants and dresses. (I suppose I could go buy some cute dresses. Oh yeah. I owe the hospital shitloads of cash for my surgery.)

Well, I don’t want to get myself and everyone else down. I suppose I’ll just keep moving forward. What else can I do?

Cleared for Take Off!!!

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Published on: November 18, 2011

Sorry for the absence. There really wasn’t much going on the past week and half. My days really went like this:

Get up late. Go to work. Come home. Take fun pain meds. Lay on couch watching Psych/random movie on Netflix. Go to bed around 11. Repeat ad nauseum. Not exactly what I would call interesting blog material. Hell, it’s my life and I’m bored with it. Why inflict that pain on others? You deserve better than that.

I wanted to start working out last week, but somehow I took a turn for the worse. I started having stomach issues and early this week, I was so sore that I could barely walk. My stomach felt like I had done a million crunches for some reason. It might be because I worked at the running store over the weekend. (It was REALLY slow. I didn’t even fit anyone for shoes, but I did have to stand for a bit and maybe that was just too much.) It could also be because I tweaked an internal stitch or suture.  Yeah…that freaks me out to think about, too. Or – most likely – I turned the wrong way doing something super mundane and pulled an abdominal muscle.

Just to be sure everything was ok I went to see my surgeon. It was almost time for my routine visit anyway. He checked everything out and said that I’m healing perfectly. All tests point to everything that was yanked out of me as being NON CANCEROUS. And…here’s the awesome thing:  I CAN START RUNNING, BIKING, AND SWIMMING AGAIN.  

The only restrictions that I have for now are no crunches/sit-ups/intense abdominal exercises and he said no heavy weights. Light weights are fine. (He indicated under 10 lbs. I asked if 5 lbs were ok and he said that’s preferred.)

I also can eat greens again since I am no longer on blood thinners. Woot! Woot! I’m thrilled with this development because I’ve had to take laxatives since the surgery. (Surgery in general leaves you plugged for a while. Not sure why.) A green smoothie a day keeps the laxatives away. At least until I get back to normal. I see some nice big salads in my future as well.

As stated in my earlier post, I’m still going to take things easy. If it hurts or is uncomfortable, I’m not going to do it. For now, I can see doing the elliptical, biking, lite weights, and swimming. Maybe some lite running. Things just feel so…odd. It might be that I do a light jog and feel fine. Who knows? I’ll play this one by ear.

Tomorrow morning, I’m hitting the pool. I hope  to get in 400 yards, but will take less if that’s all I can do. I’m just happy to hit the water and get back in shape. I feel like the blob right now.

Oh, yeah. I asked the doctor how long my stomach is going to look like I’m 5 months pregnant and he said around 90 days. WTF?!?!?! I’m so sick of wearing stretchy pants. NO ONE LOOKS CUTE IN STRETCHY PANTS THAT THEY FOUND IN THE BACK OF THEIR CLOSET. Seriously. I’ve even started wearing makeup to compensate. Hoping that will distract people from my stretchy pants. I contemplated buying maternity pants, but they still fell across my incision which wasn’t comfortable. The softer the pant the better. My mom thinks I should go get some cute yoga pants. I’m considering it.

Anyway, that’s what’s going on around here. What’s up with you guys? 

It Only Hurts When I Laugh…

Categories: Life, my myomectomy, running
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Comments: 1 Comment
Published on: November 5, 2011

…or cough. Or sneeze. Dear Lord, I hope I never have to sneeze again. It brought a tear to my eye and made me double over.

I’m at the 2.5 week mark since my surgery and I’m feeling pretty darn good. I still can’t sleep on my stomach and need to move carefully. Sometimes I’ll turn the wrong way, or stretch to far and it hurts a bit. Nothing major, though.

My first day at work was a bit painful. My back hurt and I was exhausted by the end of the day. I fell asleep around 8 each night after work. Lame, but whatever. I still need lots of rest.

Overall, I’m feeling fine. So, the next big question is…when can I start running? My doctor says that I can do whatever I want as long as it doesn’t hurt. Period. (Though I need to check with him on the pool. I think that might be a bit longer due to the incision.)

In all honesty, I don’t feel like I could run at this point. Things still feel…weird inside. I can’t imagine doing anything with that much impact yet.  Over the next couple of days I want to get out for a walk or 2. Nothing long. Just 10-15 minutes with Gio so I have lots of rest. (He pees a lot and stops to smell the flowers along the way.) I’m also going to head to the gym and see how the elliptical feels. My mom thinks that it might engage my abs. If that’s the case, then I can’t do that. I’ll also hit the exercise bike for a bit, too. None of this will be overly fast or anything. I’m thinking a really casual 20 minutes or so. (Less if I find myself tired.)

I promised my mom and dad that I would not over exert myself. I also promised that I would do everything according to doctor’s orders. I’ve had a pretty serious amount of surgery and in no way want to delay my healing. With that said, my doctor is very liberal when it comes to recovery. He’s basically lifted all restrictions except for heavy lifting.

I’m super impatient and ready to run/bike/swim since I’m upset that I’m possibly going to miss our nice weather, but I need to let myself heal. I keep finding myself cruising race calendars, but I will not let myself register for anything. I don’t want any pressure on myself to get training. I really have a bone to pick with the marathon, but I’m not rushing anything. (Trust me, it will be a LONG time before I run a marathon. I want a solid base and 12-18 weeks of FOCUSED training. Why? Because I think I have a sub 4:00 somewhere in me. Maybe I’m delusional, but whatever.)

For the time being, I just want to be healthy. Hit the gym, do some light running when I feel up to it and build from there. NO INJURIES. I’d like to take off about 10-15 lbs, too. Though, that weight could very well be swelling. My tummy is still rather bloated and it’s still swollen around my incision. The doctor says that could take months to go down. So, I’m not sweating it too much.

Here’s a random picture of  Zombie Gio hanging out. He stuck pretty close to me in my first few days of recovery. He was a good little zombie guard dog (look at his eyes!):

Question:  Have you ever had to recover from anything? An injury, illness, giving birth? How long did it take you and how did you handle taking it slowly?  

In all honestly, I feel like the last 3 years have been a recovery for me. It’s been one illness after another. Hopefully that means I’ll now be nice and healthy going forward. I would love to see what I can do in the marathon (and half – I really like the half) if I could train consistently.

Good luck to all of the NYC Marathon runners. I’m SUPER jealous!

 

I’m Baaaccckkkkk!!!

Categories: my myomectomy
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Published on: October 24, 2011

Did you miss me? I just want to do a quick post to let you guys know how I’m doing.

First of all, my surgery was a success. Everything went smoothly and I’m hoping for a “speedy” recovery. The doctor removed 7 uterine fibroids, 1 ovarian cyst, 1 cyst on my fallopian tubes, and some precancerous lesions on my cervix. (He said cancerous, but I was really drugged up and need to question him this week on that.) He said that I am cancer free and all the cysts and tumors were benign.

I spent the first night in the hospital then headed over to my Dad’s house. I slept there for a couple of days and then headed home because Gio was being a tiny terror. The past few days have consisted of my watching ridiuclous tv (Golden Girls), snoozing, and reading books. More snoozing than anything.

I was EXTREMELY sore Saturday and Sunday, but feel a bit better today. I’m going to lay low so that I don’t irritate my tummy. It hurts to stand up and sit down though it’s getting better and I’m able to work around it a bit more.

I’ve had no appetite, but I’m forcing myself to eat normal meals today because I know I need the calories and protein, etc. I’ve lost 4 pounds so far.

My tummy is so bloated I look like I am 5 months pregnant. It looks weird. The upper part of my tummy protrudes and then the are around my bikini line does as well. The doctor says that it should be flat, but could take about a month or more.

My incision was about 4-5 inches long, which is far smaller than I thought. It doesn’t really bother me to much. Most pain comes from the inside.

Doc will clear me to drive in a couple of days, and I’ll be able to return to work in another week and a half. From there I need to play it by ear. For instance, right now I can’t sit in an office chair for more than an hour. It hurts too much. That might change rapidly though. We’ll have to see.

Other than that, I’ve got nothing except to thank all of you for your support. I really needed it because I did NOT want to do this surgery. Now that I’ve done it, I’m happy. I should be in less pain all the way around, and we took care of those atypical cells in my cervix.

Hopefully, I’ll have a fun post up next. For now, I need to go lay on the couch. I’ve been in this chair too long.

 

Almost Go Time!

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Published on: October 17, 2011

First of all, a Gio update. He is responding very well to his new heart medicine. He’s up and terrorizing me per usual. I understand that this is just temporary, but as long as he appears to still be happy and comfortable I’ll keep him around. Even if he is a little zombie at this point. (I think I heard him say, “Braaaiiiinnnssss…” the other day.) I took some pictures of him, but can’t find the cord to my camera. Once I find it, I’ll upload some Gio porn.

My surgery is on Wednesday. I’m not going to lie, I’m terrified. The past week or so has been really hard for me. I’ve tried to cancel my surgery more times than I can count. I have tried every excuse possible to get out of it, but my family and friends keep insisting I get it done. There’s been a couple of things making me anxious.

I first thought that my surgery was going to be done through laparoscopy.  This would have had me FULLY recovered no later than two weeks. I’d most likely be up and around in a couple of days. It turns out that I’m getting laparotomy. This is a full incision at the bikini line and requires a much longer recovery. I will not be cleared to drive for at least a week and there is no way I’m working for at least two weeks. The doctor might clear me to do some work from home that second week, but it’s really dependent on how I’m feeling.

In addition to all this, my boss has not been overly cooperative with my taking time off. He first thought when I told him I needed surgery that I would be out for 3-4 days. Really? Uhm, no. He’s had something urgent come up  and needs to get out of town quickly, so he is rushing me back to work. I told him at least 2 weeks, and if necessary I’ll work from home. Honestly, I’m stressed that I’m not going to recover quick enough. On the other hand, I will NOT rush my recovery for him. I want to be fully healed before I return to work.

Oddly, all the items I read online don’t line up with what my doc has told me. He said that my incision will only be about 5 cm and that I will only need 2-3 weeks for recovery. Everything online says 5-6 INCHES and at least 6 weeks recovery. That’s where some of my anxiety is coming from. I really should trust my surgeon and just go with it.

Another thing that has upped the anxiety is that the biopsy of my cervix came back abnormal. So, in addition to removing the fibroids and cysts the oncologist will also be performing a LEEP procedure on me. It doesn’t sound too horrible, but the fact that I’ve got precancerous lesions in my cervix scares the hell out of me.

I’m going to take some pics of my body before surgery and after. I fully understand that a bit of the chunk I’ve put on is due to not running and drinking too much gin. However, I’m at the heaviest I’ve ever been and it will be interesting to document my recovery and progress. Particularly since I didn’t find too many bloggers discussing their myomectomy/cystomectomies.

I’m ready to get this over with, but scared out of my mind if that makes any sense. The sooner the surgery is done, the closer I am to getting back to normal.   I’m trying so hard not to put any sort of expectations on myself. I would love to say that I’m going to run x race on y date , or that I’m going to lose x amount of lbs by ??? date. I’m not going to do that. I’ve had enough failure this year. I’m going to let my body dictate when it’s recovered and ready to go back to work, running, etc.

OTOH, I do have some races planned for next year. Nothing big. All under 10k which I think is obtainable.

I feel like I deserve a pair of cowboy boots and a mini-vacation to somewhere fabulous after all this. Is that self indulgent? Silly? I’d love to spend a week or so in some zen spiritual retreat. What say you? 

With that, I’ll see all of y’all on the flip side.

 

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GeekGirl
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