First off... What do a large mango, a small cantaloupe and Cyril have in common?... Umm yes all about the same size. Turned out, in case I didn't mention, that the cyst was quite large by the time the doc got to it... I have to say that as soon as I woke up I could feel the difference, which may sound a little gross and a bit weird. I mean I was in pain but vacant pain if you will....
Anyway....
Finally finally finally I am feeling like I'm beginning to return to normal. I'm even able to walk a couple of kilometres now although I do find that rather tiring! Recovery has gone something like this.....
Week 1:
Spent most of this in a bloated (think pot bellied pig.... I kid you not I was surprised by skin could stretch that far), drugged up state. They say that moving (ie walking or in this case shuffling) is a good thing. So I set myself the task of progressing from shuffle reps of the living room (tiring!) and by the end of the week a shuffle around the block (about 400m). I also managed to get myself off the cocodomal relatively quickly and just in the NSAIDs and Paracetomol. The other major achievement of week 1 was progressing through levels 3 to 5 of Star Wars Lego on the Wii... I could pretty much do this from being horizontal on the sofa and my brain was not really up to thinking, in fact I could barely remember what had happened the hour before, let alone previous day. Oh and I caught a cold.... Sneezing was interesting, blowing my nose somewhat impossible.... Nice!
Week 2:
My tummy was still huge... Despite what they say! But I seem to have some sort of break through one night... Had a nightmare which woke me up gasping and it was like my whole diaphragm moved and my tum rather then being a taught pot bellied mass seemed to be slightly less puffed up.... Indeed I got a couple of bouts of the sharp chest pain I had in week one, which should only be around in week 1 (so you are told) as the gasses move about front where they inflate you! Anyway, a more comfy tum, still large but not feeling to tight and stretched. Successes of week 2 was increasing my walk from just the little loop and moved it up to the little corner shop and back, a staggering 1.2k journey! Took me a while and did have a couple of days of two steps forward one step back..Getting both tired and sore.....had one day where I felt really sick and was kind of worried (ok paranoid) that something was not going right... But think I just had a tummy bug as it didn't last more then a day.... Another success was completing the Wii Lego Star Wars.... Well I say complete.... I blew up the death star and everything and got told I had complete 40%... As as yet I am not a "true Jedi" on every level and haven't collected all the bricks and stuff.... By the end of week 2 was off the NSAIDs ad lowering my Paracetomol dose.
The big challenge for week 3 was to be "fit" enough to see if I could get up to London as we had tickets for some Olympic events (Volleyball and Hockey).... I will go into how that went in another blog..... Was still concerned over the sheer size of my tummy and the puffiness of it at the start of this week but can finally say that 3 weeks later that whilst it is still on tubby side it is not really painfully bloated so much. Which is a relief... i think the remaining tub is more likely down to lack of exercise and excess calorific intake the last 6+ weeks!!!! Had another day of being off my food and yucky (the 2 steps forward one back thing) but still think that is unrelated to the operation as the cold I caught seems to be lingering in my ears and sinus' so am thinking that is the culprit. Last night I went out for a walk in the forest behind our house and happened upon the noise of grazing cattle.....
they were having a nice little munch on the lush looking grass... So inspired by the feeling of being out on a sunny evening I decided this morning, 3 weeks post surgery. as I woke up early and as it was a beautiful morning to head out for a slightly longer walk! I managed 2.5k and almost a normal easy pace. It was lovely to be out and smelling freshly cut grass... I came across squirrels, the same cows, ducks on the lake and the smallest frog I have ever seen!!
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| The local lake in the morning mist |
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| The smallest frog I have ever seen - about the size of my thumb nail! |
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| Cows in the morning! |
It is going to be some weeks before I can lift anything properly (at least that is my excuse for not putting on the kettle or hoovering at all!) .... I tried driving today as I head back to work next week and that was a little awkward - both the seat belt and the stretching of my left leg for the clutch (the cyst was on my left side and I am getting the feeling of pulling in the abdomen - but that could be as much pyschosymmatic). In terms of any sort of training well I am being sensible. I put a date in my diary to "think" about it 6 weeks post surgery to give the internal wounds time to heal properly. At this point I can't see it being any sooner (other then I will continue the walking).... I think I will most likely start back with some swimming and cycling, it will be a bit longer I think before my tummy muscles can support running. I willl start some gentle stretching and lower ab work (just tensing them up mind - definitely no sit ups!) in the coming weeks as I think that sort of prehab/ rehab will also help.
As for returning to work next week....
I am fairly nervous about how sitting at a desk all day is going to make my tummy feel but my boss is quite understanding so I am hoping for next week at least I can work at some of the time - just so I can have a lie down or stand and stretch should I need to. My brain is still somewhat scrambled although given I can be a bit of an air head I'm not sure my work collegues are going to notice!!
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Glad to hear that you are progressing nicely! Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery!!
ReplyDeleteSo, did you put Cyril into a jar, and if so, do you have any pics? :-D