THIS is how the first 4 weeks go...

[HumanMerelyBeing 287]

Hello all -

I know several of us are hitting our 1 month mark this week. Mine is today.

The body is an incredible thing, truly. It's a healing machine quite frankly.

At one and two weeks out:

-you wonder what you have done to yourself and you are pretty sure you will never feel quite normal again

-you can't imagine yourself ever sleeping anywhere but the living room recliner

-the thought of driving or going back to work seems like an unrealistic commitment you made Way Back Before Surgery

-you can get in so little Water and Protein that it dawns on you that THESE are the weeks that will cause Hair loss several months from now

-you learn what "sliming" is (ewwww)

-MyFitnessPal tells you repeatedly: "You are getting too few calories. If every day were like today, you would be DEAD in 5 weeks."

At three weeks out:

-you feel better but not really there yet

-you need extra naps on the weekend

-getting in your water and protein can be done with the effort of a full time job

-you have a strange painful stitch in your side that you've resigned yourself to bravely live with the rest of your life

-you accidentally sleep all night with the heating pad on your largest incision site on its highest setting

-you walk 20 minutes on the treadmill and then come onto this site and disbelievingly post, "WHEN did they say I should start exercising????"

-your body decides you must be on a grueling episode of Survivor and goes into starvation mode yielding the world's most devastating weight loss stall prompting you to decide that you are a failure and did this all for NOTHING

At four weeks out:

-you sleep in your own bed in whatever position you want

-the fire-hazardous heating pad gets put away

-you walk 2+ miles at lunch and think maybe you could have done more

-you have enough energy to really start cleaning the house again and get totally aggravated at hubby and kids for how little they managed to do for the past month

-you randomly feel happy, mad, silly, sad as hormones and emotions take their toll

-you have to pack up the first set of clothes which are now too big

-you feel healthy....dare I say...normal?

Yep, the first month is kind of amazing.

[Photo925 100]

That was a great read!! Thank you for posting!!

[Sherry S 103]

WOW what a creative and helpful post. Thanks for posting it.

[patsy1947 42]

how true

[Band2Sleever 78]

That is really helpful.

Thank you for posting.

[AuntFrida 8]

Thank you for sharing.

[rhfactor272 50]

Newbie for sure! Lol

Edited March 5, 2014 by rhfactor272

[FinallySandy 22]

Great read! Hit the nail on the head! (Except I've not been lucky enough to pack up my first set of clothes)

[Steph W-O 75]

I hope this doesn't discourage people. I had no pain at the incision sites after 1 week, I was walking daily after 1 day post op. I was back to work 5 days post op-while my energy wasn't at the level it was before surgery, I was ok working full-time. My surgeon told me to expect a 10 day recovery period and he was just about exactly right. 10 days after, I felt just fine and began exercising on a stationary bike, took extra stairs, and continued walking.

I know people recover differently and I know people like to read and share experiences, so I understand your post. I just hope people considering surgery don't think that they are necessarily going to be down for a month!

. Just my two cents....

[ImReadyforThis 14]

Hello all - I know several of us are hitting our 1 month mark this week. Mine is today. The body is an incredible thing, truly. It's a healing machine quite frankly. At one and two weeks out: -you wonder what you have done to yourself and you are pretty sure you will never feel quite normal again -you can't imagine yourself ever sleeping anywhere but the living room recliner -the thought of driving or going back to work seems like an unrealistic commitment you made Way Back Before Surgery -you can get in so little Water and Protein that it dawns on you that THESE are the weeks that will cause hair loss several months from now -you learn what "sliming" is (ewwww) -MyFitnessPal tells you repeatedly: "You are getting too few calories. If every day were like today, you would be DEAD in 5 weeks." At three weeks out: -you feel better but not really there yet -you need extra naps on the weekend -getting in your Water and Protein can be done with the effort of a full time job -you have a strange painful stitch in your side that you've resigned yourself to bravely live with the rest of your life -you accidentally sleep all night with the heating pad on your largest incision site on its highest setting -you walk 20 minutes on the treadmill and then come onto this site and disbelievingly post, "WHEN did they say I should start exercising????" -your body decides you must be on a grueling episode of Survivor and goes into starvation mode yielding the world's most devastating weight loss stall prompting you to decide that you are a failure and did this all for NOTHING At four weeks out: -you sleep in your own bed in whatever position you want -the fire-hazardous heating pad gets put away -you walk 2+ miles at lunch and think maybe you could have done more -you have enough energy to really start cleaning the house again and get totally aggravated at hubby and kids for how little they managed to do for the past month -you randomly feel happy, mad, silly, sad as hormones and emotions take their toll -you have to pack up the first set of clothes which are now too big -you feel healthy....dare I say...normal? Yep, the first month is kind of amazing.

HMB-

Thank you so much for posting this! I'm 11 days out and am sort of following in your footsteps. Seeing that I've had a really bad week, it's really

encouraging to see that even with all the pain and frustration that I'll hopefully feel really good in a few short weeks. Again, thanks so much!

[ImReadyforThis 14]

I hope this doesn't discourage people. I had no pain at the incision sites after 1 week, I was walking daily after 1 day post op. I was back to work 5 days post op-while my energy wasn't at the level it was before surgery, I was ok working full-time. My surgeon told me to expect a 10 day recovery period and he was just about exactly right. 10 days after, I felt just fine and began exercising on a stationary bike, took extra stairs, and continued walking. I know people recover differently and I know people like to read and share experiences, so I understand your post. I just hope people considering surgery don't think that they are necessarily going to be down for a month! . Just my two cents....

Steph - thanks for sharing your experience. It's my personal observation that many of the conversations on this site focus on the super positive/no complications recoveries such as yours.

As someone who was unprepared for the potentially tougher and slower recovery, I very much appreciate HMB's post reflecting a reality that at least some patients experience post-op.

I'm not trying to put you down or anything, I just appreciate finding other people who haven't had as smooth of a recovery.

[kk6903 3]

Thanks that was helpful. Rock on!!

[Lulah 18]

Great post and true for sure! I hit my one month mark on Monday and am still struggling with your week three stuff but I know I will get there!

[lapnicky 39]

Hit the nail on the head!! Thanks for the post. It made me feel better. I'm at week three and looking forward to week four. This has been the most wild crazy ride my body has ever been on. Good thing I didn't know what to expect.

[purplegerber 29]

Thank you so very much. I am at 3 weeks today.. and you have completely nailed my experience. Each day I grow a bit stronger, but boy oh boy this has not been easy!