Hysterectomy Recovery: Day 12-14

Happy 2 Week Recovery Day!!! 🥳🥳

I want to start this blog with my wins... because let me tell you, it's been a rough few days.

• I am drying my own legs getting out of the shower now.

• I am not using the handles we installed on the toilet anymore OR the shower stool.

• I am done bleeding forever! (haven't been for maybe a week? but I forgot to mention it)

• I am pooping almost every day!

• I am mostly off the Norco (hydrocodone-acetaminophen) and just taking Tylenol (acetaminophen); I'm attempting to maybe only take a Norco before bed because sleeping with just Tylenol last night was pretty rough. My goal is to ultimately stay off it and only take the Tylenol when needed. But we'll see.

• I have the energy(ish) to shower every other day now.

• I finished a book for the first time since July 2022, according to my abandoned goodreads account!

• I have watched 32 movies since the day of my surgery.

• I am finally back on every single one of my meds and only have one more supplement to add back into my routine this week.

• My bloating/swelling is visibly down for the first time in my opinion, but maybe it just feels less swollen today? You be the judge. (see pics below). Edit: Mislabeled pic!! The picture below labeled 'Day 8' was ACTUALLY Day 11.

• I finally have 98% of the glue off of my incisions (pictured below). I think they're healing really nicely! They are all exactly the same locations as the May surgery except the belly button one is about triple the size.

Now for my losses(?).

It's hard this second time around in 2025 because my 2-week mark felt so much better last time. I was in a really good place. So while I'm very grateful for all my current wins, I want to take the time to jot down all the bad shit, too.

• I have sneezed A LOT in the last few days so I'm in more pain than I probably should be. Michigan's finally having Autumn weather so it's been in the 55-degree range during the day and 35-degree range when the sun goes down around 6:30pm. My sinus cavities are very upset by all this. And that in itself is making me feel worse than I need to, let alone the sneezes putting terrible pressure on my already sore incision areas.

• ^ And because of this weather, I've had headaches for the last 3 days as well. They aren't quite migraine level but if I don't take precautions, they would end up that way. You'd think the Tylenol would help but it's more sinus related than anything. Not much has helped it.

• I'm still uneasy enough about my abdominal pain to where I am not comfortable going downstairs yet. At this time in the last surgery, I spent the entire day downstairs, which means I went up and down multiple times to use the restroom. That isn't going to be in my future for another few days, easily.

• I want to do a Halloween Fortnite stream on Friday but I'm holding my breath. I actually haven't played since before surgery, and it's difficult to explain why it's hard to play in bed while recovering... but I'll try. If you haven't watched me play Fortnite, you may not know how loud I get. Well, when I get that loud, I naturally use the muscles I am trained to use as a singer, but those muscles are not available for me to comfortably use yet. So if I accidentally use them, I'll be in more pain than I need to be. But again, I am hopeful and I am holding my breath.

• My appetite is still strangely effected by the surgery (as it was last time, too). I was able to eat mostly regular meals within about a week of surgery last time. And now at two weeks, I am struggling with more complicated flavors still. The best way I can describe it is like when you're sick and all you want is soup and mashed potatoes. And maybe mac n cheese. I have only successfully eaten one kinda complex meal, and I still struggled. I'm super sick of the bland stuff and I really thought this part would be over by now. So as a result, I'm starving because I can't get my appropriate intake of meat protein. I'm living on chicken nuggets and tuna packets. Oh, we did have burgers one night. But I'm a hungry ghoul who eats a ton of meat protein regularly so this shit is getting old.

In any case, I'm not totally happy with where I am but seeing all my wins "on paper" really helps me mentally. And it's already paid off that I blogged so much after the last surgery. I hate to compare them as they were two different surgeries but I'm somehow still comforted by having something to look back on. And I hope that'll be true for someone (other than myself) in the future, too.

<3 E