Journal: Where Did the Last 2 Months Go?

My writing nest…

I am sitting on the bathroom floor of the Grand Hyatt Seattle in a little nest of sorts I made for myself, so I can write while my hubby sleeps. He stayed out until almost 3am enjoying PAX festivities. I went to bed “early” at 9pm. I woke up just two hours after he got in and now I have a few hours to kill. It’s the perfect time to finally share with you everything that’s happened since my last journal post. So where did the last 2 months go?

First, my thyroid surgery

On my way to surgery

The good news in short form: I had a surprisingly fast recovery and no cancer.

After I wrote last, I spent about a week getting ready for my surgery. Instead of stressing out about my business and pushing to get as much work done as possible beforehand like I normally do, I spent the days leading up to my surgery visiting with friends, going shopping, and relaxing at home. This was a mindshift for me. I believe going into my surgery in a good mood and feeling less stressed helped in my quick recovery.

Prepped for surgery

The surgery itself went well. I mostly just wanted to get it done and over with so I could eat some food! What impressed me the most was that every person involved in my surgery introduced themselves and some even chatted and joked with me a bit. It made me feel so much more comfortable. One guy talked to me the whole time as I walked into the room, climbed onto the table, got poked for my IV, and fell asleep. His distraction tactic was super helpful, and I feel bad that I do not remember his name or role in my surgery. The next thing I knew, I vaguely heard a woman calling my name and telling me to breathe. I climbed my way out of the anesthesia and finally got to break my fast with some juice. Yay! My hubby and more-than-mother-in-law came in, I got to eat more food, and then I was on my way home.

My incision

My ice pack beard

Two days after my surgery, my more-than-mother-in-law and I went out for pedicures and dinner. Wait, what?!? Yup, two days! My incision was a little sore and my neck was stiff, but otherwise I felt just as good as I do on my best days. Not a normal day. A really, really good day. Crazy! I took the full week off as instructed by my surgeon, but I basically felt fully recovered in two days.

We got pedicures!

The only thing I can really contribute it to is the stress dose of cortisol I was prescribed. My fibro doctor discovered several years ago that my body makes very little cortisol on it’s own, so I supplement it with two prescriptions. The extra cortisol was prescribed to make sure that my body had enough to handle the shock of the surgery. I took a dose the day before, day of, and day after. The fact that I came out of the surgery like nothing had happened and also had two great days after, makes me wonder if my current cortisol supplement is a little low. My last cortisol test showed my numbers are in range, but it really makes me wonder. If I took that much cortisol all the time (not that I should), I feel like my average capability would about double. It’s something I’m definitely going to explore with my fibro doctor at my next appointment.

Going out for dinner!

So, if I was only out for two weeks with my surgery, where did the rest of the time go?

Second, I got the flu

Or maybe it was food poisoning. Either way, the same result. Living off of fluids, purees, and baby food means zero energy or capability to do anything. I had no strength and no brain power, so writing wasn’t gonna happen. I had finally moved on to soft solids and was starting to feel a little normal again after a week or so (yay!) when…

Joxer cuddles are the best medicine.

Third, I caught a cold

It was a regular, old cold. Sneezing, stuffy nose, etc. It turned me into a brain dead, zero energy zombie for about a week. Writing was still not gonna happen, and I wasn’t getting any work done either.

Fourth, IBS complications

When I caught the flu my regular diet routine was thrown off. It wasn’t until I became seriously constipated that I realized I had forgotten to take my Miralax the last two weeks! Miralax is the only thing that helps my IBS with constipation. Without it everything eventually stops moving. It’s an almost tasteless powder that I mix into my glass of water at dinner, and it totally got forgotten when my regular meal routine was interrupted by the flu.

Warning: The following paragraph is super honest and gross, but it has a happy ending!

I was stuck on the toilet for hours feeling completely horrible. If you’ve never experienced it, you’re lucky. My legs hurt from the hard toilet seat, I felt sick to my stomach, I had chills…so not fun and it was my own fault. I eventually remembered having picked up an over-the-counter product a doctor suggested the last time I was constipated, not needing to use it, and deciding to keep it just in case. I dug through our medicine drawer and found it, a box of Fleet glycerin suppositories. Now I remembered why I hadn’t used it before. The idea of using a suppository was gross and intimidating, but this time I was desperate. I followed the instructions expecting to have to wait the 15 mins to 2 hours (ugh!) for it to work, but BAM! it did it’s job immediately. Instant relief! Why hadn’t I done it sooner?! I felt like I’d found my new best friend. The next time I’m mega constipated I’ll be using it right away.

Fifth, recovery

All of this really took a toll on my body, and I’ve spent the rest of the time recovering from it. I’ve gradually gotten more energy back and been able to do a little work. I lost most of my physical capability the last several weeks spending so much time recovering on the couch. It’s a slow process building it up again, but I’m making progress.

I’ve even seen progress in the last couple days here at PAX. Each of the first two days I walked for an hour straight while checking out the new video games in the expo halls. I spent the rest of the time in our hotel room, though, because it completely wore me out. It was more walking than I’ve been able to do in a long time. Yesterday, I was out of the hotel room for most of the day. I went out for food and played board games with friends, so the walking was interspersed with periods of sitting. Today, I am finally writing. 🙂

That’s basically where the last 2 months went. It feels good to be writing again, but this bathroom floor is hard and cold, my legs are stiff and numb, and I’ve been writing for four hours. It’s time to finish this up with pictures and links, and then get started on my last day of PAX. Body willing, I’ll be writing again on Wednesday. Here’s hoping!