Hysterectomy Recovery: Day 21-24 (Week 3)

We're midway through week 3 and I'm starting to feel more hopeful! The weekend was rough for pain due to overdoing it on Friday/Halloween but it was totally it. I will say I'm still quite a bit behind where I was last time but seeing comparison pics like the one above really helps me see how baby steps add up. These are only 3 days apart and there's a noticeable difference in abdominal swelling/bloating. My incisions still physically hurt, especially the bigger belly-button one. It's almost like the nerves surrounding the incisions are coming back to life and now they hurt more to the touch. Even my softest lounge pants physically hurt to have on my skin sometimes. I've also been off all pain meds since Monday so that could definitely be effecting how I perceive the pain now.

I have exactly one week until I'm supposed to leave the house for the first time to get my hair cut. I'm hoping that'll be a good test of if I can handle being in a car for 30 mins at a time. Last time, one of the things that caught me off guard was how weird being in a car felt. I was warned by a few others in similar positions as myself but I'd never experienced it until then. It's a bizarre feeling... like all your organs are getting scrambled while the vehicle is in motion and it leaves you feeling really sore. So I'm really hopeful that the car ride will go smoothly in the very least.

Since Monday, I've been making a point to go downstairs for one meal a day and then stay down there for a few hours (basically just until I have to come upstairs to use the bathroom. I'm struggling to stay downstairs much as our couch is quite worn out and the support of the cushions is actually putting too much stress on my pelvic floor. I end up in pain after a few hours and that's not really something you can take a pain medication to solve. My recovering muscles are just far more comfy in bed where I can sit properly.

My appetite and taste is FINALLY coming back. I have been able to eat more normal foods since around Sunday when we ordered Mediterranean food. I got a lamb kafta dinner that sounded really good and thankfully my body finally agreed! I've also been able to eat pork loin and burger since then as well. I'm so grateful for that... you can only live on chicken nuggets and mac 'n' cheese for so long!

I'm still resting and recovering constantly with only a few streams from bed here and there. I'm going to attempt to sit upright in the stream room for a few hours tonight to run the band stream and that'll be an interesting test. But at least I'm in the comfort of my own home and can communicate with everybody if I'm feeling unwell at any point.

Overall, I'm feeling still a little behind where I should be but I know that's not logical. I'm trying to stay in good spirits and like I said, I'm feeling hopeful finally! It's been a rough 3 weeks. I'm so looking forward to having all this behind me.

<3 E