‘Back In The Saddle?’
As you may have read in one of my previous posts, I was in the hospital for major surgery on my intestines. I won’t go into the details, except to say that I was in from May 10 - 24. And suffice it to say that I’ve never been knocked on my ass like that before - and I hope never to be again.
You’ve got to start small…
And this baby is just my speed!
After my discharge from the hospital, I was home up until this Monday, June 7 - this added another 14 days to my recuperation - enough time I thought to have me all brand spanking new, raring to go. That is not the case, my friends. I am not out of the woods yet. I get tired surprisingly quick, although I do my best to power through and perhaps most surprisingly of all is that I’ve misplaced my spark for creativity and fun things in general. I find myself at home from school, I have at least a couple of hours ahead of me before I start making dinner and I stare at my computer screen uninspired, I see a variety of chores that need to be done around the house - I am uninspired… WHAT’S GOING ON???
Well, I might have some answers coming from my doctors and the blood work they have recently done. Apparently, my iron levels are very low and believe it or not, low iron causes fatigue and in some cases depression. Along with that, my vitamin D levels are low and one of the symptoms of a vitamin D deficiency is muscle weakness, fatigue and depression! So, along with the blessings of my GP and my nephrologist, I am now taking Iron and vitamin D supplements. Oh, and not to heap on, but there is such a thing as post surgery depression - so it really seems like I have the cards stacked against me. That being said, the fact that I recognize what’s going on and am taking the steps to help my mental and physical health along bodes well in my opinion.
And lastly, I need to be patient with myself and my body. One of my colleagues at school told me it takes six weeks to fully recuperate from major surgery; I’m only on week 4, so I’ve got to remind myself that as long as I get better day to day, which I am, then things should work out just fine, thank you!
Those of you reading this, please share your thoughts and experiences with having a prolonged hospital stay, with or without surgery. I’m curious to hear how things went for y’all.
Cheers!
