Chapter 14: Don't be a hero

It’s been about a month and a half since my surgery (October 4th) and I have learned a lot since then. I wanted to share the biggest lesson I’ve learned in hopes that you don’t make the mistake that I did. DO NOT OVERDO IT.

When my surgeon said that I’d feel better after about 2 weeks, I assumed that I’d be completely back to normal. That was a dumb assumption to make. He meant that I wouldn’t be in pain anymore, not that my body would bounce completely back in 2 weeks. Looking back, I now realize how stupid that assumption was.

Three weeks post op I decided it would be a good idea to start a new second job, start preparing for Christmas, start deep cleaning the house, help my dad winterize his lake house and plan a trip to Disney World. I’m sleeping 10-12 hours a night with a nap most days and I’m still exhausted. I cannot overstate how tired I am most of the time. I never nap. Most days I could definitely use one, even if I don’t have time to actually have one. Yesterday, I slept for 11 hours overnight and had a 2 hour nap.

Also, I tried to hike 5 miles in the wooded hills last week and like an hour in my left ovary was on fire. Again, very, very dumb.

I think the issue is that I feel normal when taking it easy that I forget that I still need to take it easy. My doctor said I won’t be back to normal until the New Year. I am working on being patient with myself and my healing but it’s so hard. I want to make sure that I make a nice Christmas for my friends and family and I’ve been doing job applications like crazy. I need to be more patient. Please keep this in mind if you decide to get any surgery... but especially this one. People tend to minimize its severity and it is a surgery. It requires rest and taking it easy.