The Present Moment…

They saying goes, that if we want to be happy and feel good, we need to remain inthe present moment.  Just this very moment, nothing else.  No Past or Future, no tomorrow or next hour, etc.  That is the secret in DBT, dialectical behavior therapy, which I did for 3 years straight.  The reason we don’t remember things, is because we do not pay attention to each present moment and what we are doing at that time.  It requires you to completely and only focus on right now…

Say you are sitting in a chair, you would describe to yourself exactly what you are doing right then.  “I am sitting in my chair, my legs are bent, I can hear birds chirping, I hear a car driving by, and so on!  The actual present moment.  The same applies to every thing we do. Washing dishes, focus on only that!  The problem is, I keep forgetting to be in the present moment…

We can only do the best we can.  I seem to have to constantly remind myself to just be in today, this hour, this minute.  Do not worry about anything else.  What will be, will be.  Go with the flow and flow with what may come.  It is a daily struggle for me.  Why does it have to be this difficult?  

For me, I have found my mental well being is effected by clutter and messiness.  So, every single day that my body allows me to, I do basic chores.  I feel like I can breathe better too.  I have to complete what I want done in a 2-3 hour window, after that my body won’t allow anything else to be done.  I have found I struggle every single day, in the evening, with depression.  When I have to sit with all the pillows and I try to focus on a TV show or movie.  If only my body would let me do more, to occupy my mind.  I feel down and ever so alone in the evening…

I do the best when I can keep my mind busy.  Living with Panic & Anxiety Disorders, I have become a hermit.  In order to keep my levels down, I avoid people and places when ever possible.  It took me years to figure out many of my triggers and years to stop paying attention to time.  Now I am stuck home even if I wanted to go somewhere, my vehicle died back in 2015, I have no way to fix it.  I also, am unable to eat healthy (which can help), since I have to eat an entire month and get what the household needs on $200!  Oh crap, this is what happens, the stress…forgetting the present moment…focusing on the chaos of my so called life…

It would be nice to have a friend just to even talk to once a week.  Someone to do something with even.  My so called boyfriend, that lives in WI, barely even talks to me anymore.  He lost his job and is dealing with depression, which I understand.  I don’t understand barely talking to me when he is the one that came after me, insisted we were the same and made promises he is not keeping.  Why do men do this crap?  Can anyone be a man of their word?  I am open and talk about everything, he insisted he was too, then why not talk to me about things?  So, he got my hopes up and then ripped the rug out from under me…………

Filling Your Karma Account with Positive Credits…

We all have Karma.  What we put out, is what we get back.  So, each positive thought or affirmation is like a positive credit in your Karma account.  The goal being to have more positive than negative.  Like a buffer for any negative thing that occurs.

For example, let’s say you start each day with positive affirmations.  Those affirmations are each a credit in your account.  So, we say 5 positive affirmations and we deposit five positive credits.  Through out the day when a negative thought comes in your mind, then that takes away a positive credit, but if you immediately change that negative thought into a positive one and say it out loud, you can stop the withdrawal of a positive credit.  It balances out.  If you have a bad day and cannot help the negative thoughts, you could easily go into the negative in your karma account, so you want to build up as many positive credits as possible on the days you are feeling good.  Each thought and each action that is positive, is a positive credit.  When we help others or do good/nice things for them, we feel better and we deposit much more positive credits.  The more we do this, the better we feel!

Try to make each day start with positive credits into you karma account.  Affirmations and good intentions followed up with doing nice things for others.  Make an achievable goal that you can make each day, like 10 credits per day and work towards that goal every single day.  Remember, everyone has bad days, so do not get yourself down when this happens to you.    

Being still, silent and just relaxing is a daily practice we all need to have.  Our intuition and gut tells us so many things.  Yet, you must be quiet in order to hear it.  Nothing is more important than your happiness and well being.  Make the time, if even just a few minutes a day, to give yourself that silence and connection to your own spirit………….

  

Being in the Here & Now…

One thing we must learn is how to be in the present moment.  This takes practice!  For a while, the mind will keep bringing up thoughts of the past or even the future.  The past is over and cannot be changed.  The future has not happened.  

Each day, take what ever time you possibly can to practice being mindful.  In the present moment.  Start by doing three deep and slow cleansing breaths.  Relax your body!  Then, just pay attention to what is going on right now!  Involving your five senses.  What do you hear?  What do you see?  What do you smell?  What do you taste?  What do you feel?  

Every time a thought of past or future pops into your mind, acknowledge that thought, then tell yourself that is the past or has not happened yet and return to being in the present moment.  At first, your mind will bring up thoughts a lot!  Be persistent, you can over come those thoughts.  After all, your are the one in control of yourself.  

You can do ANYTHING you put your mind to and with practice.  We are beautiful creatures of the light/love.  After I almost died and had to have a very large surgery to save my life, I had no balance or muscle left in my body.  I took it one day at a time and I would spend a few minutes just trying to stand on one foot.  At first, I had to hold on to a chair, but after a while I was able to let go of the chair and finally, I could stand on one foot for a long time.  This is true for anything you want to obtain.  Start small and give it your best each and every day!  There is nothing you cannot do!

Here is an exercise for when you feel down, that I have found to be helpful.  Look in the mirror, smile at yourself!  Smiling actually releases chemicals in the brain that help us feel better and looking at yourself as you force a smile on your face is pretty funny!  The next thing you know, you are smiling without even trying to smile.  

Starting your day on a positive loving note is the best way to begin.  Be sure you get enough sleep!  Take in at least three deep and slow breaths to cleanse your body.  Think of things you are grateful for and say them out loud!  Still feeling down?  Go to the mirror and smile at yourself!  Exercise is also a great way to release feel good chemicals in the body.  If you have never exercised before, then just do some slow stretches or even basic yoga poses.  Taking a walk is one of the best ways to get exercise into your life.  I think walking is the number one form of exercise.  Try to take in those three deep slow breaths several times a day.  Be sure to practice being in the present moment!  You will not be disappointedly!  It is amazing what happens after you practice this on a daily basis and you get past the thoughts from popping up in your mind.  Nature is an amazing and beautiful place…………

  

Finding our Light/Love…

We all come here with the same purpose, to find our light within and help it grow.  Our light is our soul.  Light is Love and all thing positive are of Love.  Everything else is not of love and therefore negative.  Each and everyone of us is of the light.  We are born to this world that is full of all kinds of negativity.  We only learn from negative things.  So, life is filled with trials, tribulations and learning.  Children are very connected to the light.  The younger they are, the more they are connected.  Society plays a huge roll in masking their light.  We basically come here with amnesia of who we are and where we come from, with the common goal of remembering.  Children do not have the stress of bills and making ends meet and they are free to go with the flow of their light.

Every single thing we do is a choice.  When we wake up, what clothes we wear, what we eat, where we go, how we react to things, etc.   We either choose from the light/love or from the negative/not love.  

Nothing in this life can make you happy, only you have that ability.  No object or person can make this happen.  An object or person may feel like happiness temporarily, but that happiness is fleating and does not last.  We are the only ones with the power to create happiness for ourselves.  We only have control over ourselves.  We control the choices we make and cannot control what someone else chooses to do.  This is why so many rich people are not happy, because you cannot buy happiness.  You cannot buy anything that is of the light and love!  Money can make life easier, with less stress of paying bills and obtaining the basic needs of life.  We truly only do need food, clothing and shelter.

So, you focus on your very own light/love.  You grow your light until it fills you completely and then you can help others find and grow there own light.  This is why it feels so good to help someone else, because that comes from love and only love can lift us up!  

How does one do this?  Know that life here on earth is not real.  The only thing that is real is love/light.  You take time every single day, if even just ten minutes, and you breathe slowly, deeply and relax your physical body.  The more you do this, the easier it becomes to relax.  Guided meditations are very good for beginners.  They walk you through the steps of breathing and relaxing your body.  There are many out there, just find the one that seems to click for you.  

Being in the present moment… This is very important.  Even if you only find the time to do this during a meal or during a break, do it!  You focus only on what is going on right now!  Notice your breath, what do you hear?  What do you smell?  What do you taste?  What does something feel like?  Using your five senses you explore the here and now.  Not the past or the future, just what is going on right now.  When you have thoughts enter your mind of the past or the future, anything that is not right now, acknowledge them and return to the present moment!  This will happen, often, at first.  You are teaching yourself how to be in this very moment without worries or concerns of what has happened or what might happen.  Because reality is ONLY what is going on right NOW!  

The key is to train your body to relax and focus on the here and now only.  Once you do this, you can begin to find out who your really are.  Not what someone else wants you to be.  What is fun for you?  For me, I actually enjoy cleaning and doing crafts.  Learn about yourself as you would a new friend.  You are your own best friend and you are never alone!  Build a loving relationship with yourself!  This is how you find happiness.  It has always been within you!  Trust, honor and cherish yourself, as you would do with a best friend.  Choose always from your light/LOVE and you create a beautiful future for yourself and anyone around you………….
  
ME…

After My Vacation…

The three weeks I spent in the perfect Peace at my parents house was very nice.  I did not once have a horrible splitting headache and my pain levels where much better for the most part.  I know, for a fact, that stress contributes a lot towards the level of my pain.  I felt care free and I had zero stress while I was there, except for when my son informed me of the things my daughter was doing.  I also, meditated every single day.  I did not worry about how I was going to obtain things I needed or if my kids were going to take care of something.  I also went to the gym with my mom once a week while I was there.  I saw how much going to the gym helped me physically and mentally.  Even though I could not do a whole lot, it still benefited me in many ways.

I was home for three days before the stress and worry had its grips on me again.  Last night I had one of the worst headaches I have ever had in my life.  It ruined my time out with a great person.  I have NO life here.  My life is this…. Get up, wait to feel good enough to function, do my chores, watch my grandson and go to bed.  Just trying to fit in dating seems near impossible, because I have to watch my grandson while my daughter works and she has to use my vehicle.  She thinks the entire world revolves around her.  I told her I do not have a life and she said, “Yes you do!”  I raised my kids, this is supposed to be my time, to actually have a life I want, not dng for everyone else.  I woke in a great mood the last two days and my daughter single handedly ruined them.  When she wakes up, she starts yelling and cussing.  Sounds horrible.  The stress instantly rips through my entire being.  She says crap that is just not right!  I also have not had the time to meditate.  I have to change this!

I joined the gym near here.  I MUST make sure I get to the gym and meditate.  The gym offers massage and tanning so I can sneak in meditation there too.  The only draw back is that my ex goes to that gym, so I am hoping I go when he doesn’t.  I don’t care if he is there, but he has to have a fit about stupid things.  My plan is to go three times a week.  Work out, do the massage and then lay in the tanning bed.  I want my entire body tan and it is just not safe to lay out here naked…lol!

I have met a couple of Guys and went on a few dates.  One of them I do like and will see more of.  It is funny how when Spring hits there are a lot of guys interested.  I just want a decent boyfriend to do things with and know I have another half.  I do not want him to live with me!  I really wish my friend from high school lived here, he is perfect for me!  I guess I need to just focus on me… Meaning, I need to go to the gym and meditate and not worry about having a boyfriend or anything else.  I really don’t have the time for it.

I need to build my own life.  I also need to delegate chores to the others in this house.  It is time for spring cleaning.  I should not be the only one doing everything!  I know when I was away from here, I felt at peace.  Now I spend too much time wanting to leave and find my peace again………….  

      

Life Continues On…

I survived Christmas. I have to say, my grandson is really the only reason I even put up a tree. He has so many emotional issues, yet he does have spells everyday where he is kind and sweet. He tends to destroy things though. It seems to take him a very long time to learn or understand things. He is in speech therapy, but I still have trouble understanding some things he says.

My son thinks that my wanting to go to my parents for two weeks to relax is just me running away from things. I cannot seem to get him to understand that I really need the peace and quiet and I am still recovering from the surgeries and all the emotional crap I have gone through. He refuses to watch my grandson while my daughter is at work so I can go to my parents. I was just going to leave anyway, but I don’t want my daughter to end up loosing her job because of my son again.

I cannot wait to take down all the Christmas stuff and put it back up in the attic. This year never once felt like Christmas and I did not even bake cookies. I am more than ready for the New Year, because it has to be better than this one!

I have decided to stop looking for any man. They always bring disappointment. I like being just me. I only miss having a man when I am horny or wanting to cuddle…LoL! Besides, everyone I have talked to or met is the same, they lie and pretend to be what you are looking for yet they are not! They say you should take a year after a break up to be comfortable with just you and that is what I am doing. I am comfortable with just me. I don’t have to worry about what someone else is thinking or try to look my very best for them. Everything I do now is completely for me!!! I want to get out and do things and I miss having friends near me too. I do have my family that I can do things with. When I finally heal enough not to be so darn tired every day, I can get back to playing games with the kids as well.

I did pretty good yesterday. I baked the cake my daughter in law wanted for her birthday, which actually took two days to make. A red velvet cake stuffed in the middle with a cheesecake. It was heavenly to say the least! I always bake what ever they want for their birthdays. I did not have the exhaustion hit me until 6pm, which is better than the few days prior where it was hitting me by 3pm. On the days I don’t have to watch my grandson I lay down and take a nap. Which usually lasts for two hours. Then I still go to bed by 10 or 11pm.

I have a new phone number so none of the unwanted messages from my ex or others will be bothering me. I have a phone I really like too. It is like a small portable IPad. I have all the APPs on there that I use on the iPad. I need to take the time to try and recover my crashed computer. My daughter doesn’t read things and just clicks ok and always ends up causing the computer to crash. Hopefully, I will be able to fix it and not have to send it to my father again.

I am doing my very best to recite affirmations daily and I have noticed that it does help. I am trying to notice when I have negative thoughts and replace them with something positive. When all else fails, I look in the mirror and smile, that always helps. You should try it! I am hoping to put some of my homemade natural recipes on here soon for everyone. I am wishing you all a very peaceful and happy new year………….

I project love to everyone I meet
I attract loving people and relationships into my life
I know my wisdom guides me to the right decision
I am a radiant being filled with light and love
I am open to receiving love
I breathe in universal love
I radiate love to all persons, places and things
As I give love, I am instantly supplied with more
I express love freely
I compare myself only to my highest self
I trust myself
I creat my reality
I give and receive love easily and joyfully
Love radiates from me at all times
I love myself completely
I bathe in unconditional love
I express love to all those I meet
People are just waiting to love me and I allow them
I am radiating love

UPDATE: catheter is finally out…

On Friday I went in for a test to check my bladder, ureter and kidney. They hooked up a bottle of contrast to my catheter and it was supposed flow down into my bladder, but it would not go in. They spent over a half hour trying to get the contrast to go into my bladder and it wouldn’t. It was like something was blocking the catheter line, even though I had no problems with it prior. They ended up having to manually inject the contrast into me with a syringe into the catheter line. Which tells me something must of been in the way and the force of the syringe allowed the contrast to get past it. My bladder became full quickly and they started taking pictures with the fluoroscopy machine. I had to roll to each side and get pictures. They were checking to make sure there were no leaks or reflux. Then the fluoroscopy machine stopped working. They ended up having to restart the entire system. I was thinking, “Geeze, why is it everything that can happen seems to happen to me?” The machine got back up and working and they finished taking pictures. Everything looked great! They hooked me back up to my catheter bag and told me they could not take it out. I was pissed and asked them to call the doctor so I could get it out. Meanwhile, the contrast is not coming out of me into the catheter bag. I sat, then stood, then walked and even sat on the toilet and used force and nothing! There had to be something in there blocking it! Finally, the doctor called back and said yes, they could remove the catheter. As soon as it came out of me, I went to the toilet and peed like crazy. What a relief to finally have that out of me after 25 days!

I had feared not being able to pee or having pain, like many people posted after a catheter was in for an extended period of time, but I had no problems at all. No pain either and I no longer had the stabbing pain the catheter caused me. The only issue I have had was the first two nights I was up every single hour to pee, then last night I was up every two hours to pee. My bladder had to stretch again. I made sure I tried to hold my urine when I felt I had to pee for a little bit to help my bladder get back to normal.

I was at my parents house from August 21 until September 2 and it was so peaceful and nice. My parents waited on me so I didn’t do things that I was restricted from. I had no worries really at all while I was there. I want so badly to be back there now!

I haven’t even been home a week and my adult kids have already been at it again. Getting drunk and fighting. I finally said no alcohol is allowed in this house and if you break the rule, your out. I can pack up and move in with my parents and then they will all be homeless when the house is taken away. I don’t even want to be here, but it is the only way they all have a roof over their heads. I don’t even have enough money after bills to buy things I need. Yet, they go out and get what ever they want. Just kills me. They all need a dose of reality. My grandson is the only reason I am here! He is in Pre-K now and in speech therapy.

“B” and I just live like roommates. He doesn’t do anything with me or even spend time with me when I am laid up. I have gotten to the point I just don’t care anymore. That sucks, because once you get here, there is no going back. I have never been to a concert and he won tickets, but I am in recovery and couldn’t go, he went! He leaves Thursday to go up to see his family by himself. He insisted he was going by himself. Can’t even take a vacation with me. He says he loves me, but there is no way that can be true! It sucks! Just have to learn to love to be with me, myself and I. Oh, and my two kitties!

If I lived with my mom she would have someone to do things with. I would get to do things, instead of being stuck here alone and having to listen to my daughter scream and yell.

Recovering at My Parents…

I saw the doctor on Wednesday and my mom went with me. They took out the many staples, which did not hurt one bit and then they took out the drain, which felt like a horrible burning pain for a solid minute, then eased off. My mom told my doctor how recovering at my home was not a good place to be and he listened to her. He moved things around and made it so I could go home with her for two weeks, the come back and have a test done to make sure my urinary tract is working right and if so, I will finally get the catheter out on the 10th of September. I am concerned about peeing on my own after so long with a catheter, but I did read about some bladder strengthening exercises you can do to help before it is removed, so I need to look into that! I really hate having this catheter. It is uncomfortable and often hurts. I started passing clots and some blood two days ago, I called the doctor but no one has called back yet so I don’t know if it is normal or not. I don’t like the leg bag as it will not stay up on my leg because I have toothpick legs. I only use it if I have to go out somewhere like the doctor, etc. I just use the big bag and carry it around in a tote bag. It is uncomfortable to sit anywhere, but it need to sit on several pillows. I think one of those donut pillows would help so nothing is pushing on the catheter.

My incision line is very long. It is still weeping some from the staples being removed, but looks good and healed well. I have times through the day where it stings and burns, but for the most part it’s not an issue at all. Which is surprising to me with how big it is. It hurt like holy hell the first couple of days though, even with an epidural. Though I could still feel my legs so I don’t think the epidural was placed right. At least it took some of the pain away.

I finally had a bowel movement today. It seems to take four days of drinking miralax to have one. It took 11 days from surgery, but they did give me something to drink the third day in the hospital that gave me horrible cramps and then I exploded with green diarrhea….. TMI! The colace and miralax make it soft and easy to come out, but a pain to get cleaned off. Ok, enough TMI for now!

Over all, I have decent pain control with some issues in the evenings. I sleep about two hours then wake to leg and foot cramps that keep my up for two hours and then I sleep about two more hours and I am up for the day. I take a nap usually in the afternoon. Not much sleep, but I don’t feel horrible either. I try to walk around a it when ever possible.

I came home with my mother to recover for two weeks in peace. My house is full of negativity and drama. Here it is quiet and peaceful so I will recover much better here, not being stressed out every single day! “B” was pissed I was coming here. He just can’t think of anyone before himself. I came here to spend a couple weeks with my parents back in February and ever since “B” has said he was taking his vacation this year by himself, I guess to punish me, even though I don’t care! And he is taking his vacation by himself next month for a week up by his mother. I don’t understand why he gets so mad about me going to my parents. It is a retirement community and I don’t do anything. Not to mention I can’t even do anything now since I am on rest and recovery for 6-8 weeks. When I am home I am in my room alone, he doesn’t even come in there and talk to me. He sits I front of the TV or computer, but never spends a single minute with me. So, why does it matter if I am there or not. It is like he is happy as long as he knows I am in the house. The only draw back to being here is it is pretty hot, but my father has lowered the A/C for me this time, so I am pretty comfortable as long as I stay where the fan is. It truly amazes me how horrible negative and stressful my house is, just being in it. My mom was warn out just from being there for so long. Heck, one day wears you out. You can feel it in the air. I want everyone to be happy. I have been extremely sick and I need desperately to recover well this time. I would not do things that would upset “B” but I had to think of me first this time. It was a sudden choice I made too, at the doctors office when he and my mom wanted me to have a calm recovery period. So I came home and pretty much dumped it on him. He was instantly pissed, you could see it and feel it and the way he acted. I don’t do that to him when he goes places. When he said he was going to s moms alone I was ok with it, I was a bit upset that he chose to do it during my recovery period when I needed help though. I quickly got over that when I realized he doesn’t really do much to help me anyway.

When we force ourselves to connect against our heart’s
desires, we create false, resentful relationships; when
we disconnect from the people who deplete us, we set
them free to find their tribes while we find ours.

~ Logging Off: The Power of Disconnection

8 days Post-Op of 2nd Surgery…

Today is day 8 of my post-op for the large abdominal surgery to fix all the complications from my radical hysterectomy. Yesterday was a bad pain day, but today I am doing pretty good. The pain changes like the wave of the tide. You can feel pretty good and then, wham, your hurting like nobodies business!

Yesterday I took a shower. After a major surgery, taking a shower wipes you out completely and increases pain levels. This seems to go on for weeks. You have to only plan on taking a shower and then a nap.

Today, my pain has been much better. I don’t have my incision screaming at me like it did yesterday. The catheter is still a huge problem. My entire abdominal muscles wrench up tight through out the day. Sometime while I urinate and sometimes I don’t urinate. The doctor called in a medication that is supposed to help that and turns your pee orange. Actually it’s an orange red color. The problem is, I am still wrenching up. Not as often, but it is still happening. I did, however, get seven hours of sleep last night, so the medication must be helping out some. My catheter bag was filled to the top when I woke at 7:30. I among supposed to lift anything and when that bag is full it is super heavy. Luckily, my mom was right there to carry it into the bathroom for me and dump it. It hurts up in my pee hole all the time. I think my body wrenches up because it is trying to get the damn thing out of me.

The Drain is still painful and I still get stabbing pains deep inside me where it is. It should come out tomorrow at my doctors visit though so that will all stop then. They are also removing my staples. I am going to beg for the catheter to be removed. Tomorrow is 9 days and that is plenty of time for allowing my bladder to rest from the surgery where they had to fix the hole in the ureter and reattach it to my bladder. The longer a catheter is in, the harder it is for you to pee on your own. He said I had to keep it in 1-2 weeks. My incision is very large, it goes a good 4-5″ past my belly button, but it looks very good. So far anyone who sees it is shocked at how big it is. No one has seen an incision this big. My doctor said he needed a lot of room to work and repair everything. They had to manipulate my intestines and clean out all the infection in my abdomen. That scares me, because that is what had to be done to my son when his appendix ruptured and he ended up with scarring on his intestines that would periodically cause blockages and he would be in a ton of pain, go to the ER and end up with an NG tube. I now understand why he hated that tube so much and said he was never having it again. It royally sucks!

I have had major swelling my in my legs and feet. I sleep with my legs propped up and I still have a ton of swelling. The doctor called in two doses of lasix to help expel all the fluid. I took one dose today. I take the other dose tomorrow. Hopefully the swelling will go down. It started on Saturday. They said I have the swelling because they had to pump a ton of fluids in me in the OR to bring my levels up. I was right at needing a blood transfusion. Then they also put a lot of fluid in me cleaning out the infection. Never in my life have I bruised easy or bled a lot, but ever since the hysterectomy surgery I have been anemic and bruise easy and bleed a lot. The doctor keeps saying I had to of been this way before, but is never was. I have some nasty looking bruises on my arms from I don’t know what. I just want to heal and be back to normal! Since I woke today my left hand has been numb and tingly.

I am 7 weeks post-op now from my first surgery. I should be pretty much back to normal, but nothing was right after the hysterectomy. I bled a lot out of my vagina and you normally just spot. This last surgery they closed the hole in my vaginally cuff and I am just spotting like I should of done to begin with. I am on HysterSisters site and everyone who had a hysterectomy in the same time frame as me posts under the same area. Everyone is back to mostly normal. One person had a few UTI’s during recovery and I am the only one who had all kinds of problems. It took my doctor way to long to find all the issues I had going on too. I basically had to tell him that I felt like I was peeing out of my vagina for him to find that I had a hole in my ureter, which most likely happened during my surgery and cause all the other problems, because it was not caught and treated quickly. Ugh… Makes me so mad, but I am trying not to keep dwelling all that negative crap.

I get up around 7am everyday and sit, take my meds and then occupy my mind with email and games for a while, usually two hours. Then I walk around the house slowly and then I have to lay back down with my legs propped up. Every few hours I walk around the house slowly and the lay back down. Often I fall asleep for an hour when I lay down. After major surgery the first 1-2 weeks you sleep a lot. This is my life right now. For 6-8 weeks I cannot do a single thing. Only walk out to the dinner table to eat, lay in bed or sit for a bit. I don’t know what I am going to do when my mom goes home. She is taking me to the doctor tomorrow and I imagine she will not stay here past this coming weekend. She has been here since last Wednesday. She takes care of everything for me. She even makes sure my catheter bag does back up with all the fluid coming out of me from swelling. No one else here would do that. No one even checks on me here. I want to go home with her, but I have a scan next week and another scan the following week and back to the doctor the day after that. I know she is bored out of her mind sitting around here all the time. Normally she golfs and does all kinds of stuff at home. My parents live in a huge and very nice retirement community in Florida called the Villages.

I need to go lay back down in bed, though I really don’t want too, but my feet are blown up like balloons. Guess I will take a nap took………….

Waiting…

I am still waiting for them to call with my surgery date. I am going to call them this afternoon if they have not called me yet. I just want to have it scheduled so I can plan appropriately. I need to make sure I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables the week prior to surgery and fiber so I do not have to strain to use the bathroom, because I do believe that will be painful.

My little kitten is full of it. He has spastic attacks throughout the day. He is a bit crazy I think. I made him some toys with feathers on them and he takes the feather in his mouth then he growls and spits. When he gets tired he is very sweet and loving. I usually name my animals after Greek mythology and I named him Prometheus.

We have been having pop up thunderstorms each day in the evening. That is normal for here. The humidity has been super high and usually is throughout the entire summer. It is instant sweat here as soon as you walk out the door. We did get the pool up and running, now it just needs to warm up enough for me to get into it. That is the one place I can walk and stretch without adding more pain to my plate. I need to get in it before my surgery, since it won’t be able to get into it for at least a month after the surgery, if not longer. I want a smooth surgery and recovery so I am researching all I need to do in order to make sure all goes well for me. I will go into immediate menopause since everything is coming out. I am going to request to be started on estrogen immediately and I do hope my insurance will cover it. I researched it and it seems the progesterone is the one that tends to cause breast cancer, so I am avoiding that all together. I have a large family history of breast cancer after hormone replacement therapy. My doctor wants to just do the estrogen and I agree with that. I want to prevent having hot flashes and night sweats if at all possible. I cleaned the window A/C unit yesterday, so it could be put in my bedroom window just in case it need extra cooling in my room.

Things have calmed down some here. Not a bunch of fighting going on and that is a huge plus for me. I pulled out my inversion table the other day and did a slight incline on it to see if it would help with my pain at all. I felt stretched out after but I still have the pain. I am going to try to use it daily for a bit and see if it helps at all. Before all this pain, I would have back problems and the inversion table helped a great deal with that. I have shrunk 2″ in the last couple of years. My spine is compressing, so the table will help with that and it gets oxygen into the spine. I do deep breathing while I lay on it. I do not go completely upside down because that may cause me more pain. I used to be able to do that before all of the problems I have now and it was nice. I don’t have much room, so I have it folded up and crammed in my closet, then I drag it out and set it up. You cannot walk around it while it is up, just not enough room here.

It has been taking me three hours now, every morning, after I wake up to get moving enough to come out of my room. I have been feeling hungry all the time and I have gained around 8 pounds over this month. That happens when you lay around and are bored. Last year when I lost over 50 pounds without trying, I was never hungry and often forget to eat at all. I eat more the more I have to lay around due to the pain. Keeping the mind busy is very important. I get bored and irritable. It is hard to find things I can do that do not cause me even more pain. Yesterday I found some relief after resting and taking my muscle relaxer with my anxiety medication. I then was able to sit in a chair and clean the window A/C unit. I will see if that helps again today. I have a lot to actually do, but most of it causes me more pain. I need to dust my bedroom. I am allergic to dust, mold and mildew. I can dust half the room from a sitting position. It is the other half that causes me problems. The half you need to dust first. Going with gravity by starting at the ceiling and working your way down to the floor. I want to get the entire house cleaned before my surgery, but it doesn’t look like I will be able to get that done. I still need to make a list for everyone here of the things they need to make sure are done daily while I am recovering.

So, my plan is to go sit in a chair out back and try to scrub the pool ladder. It’s pretty hot and humid out there so I am not sure how far I will get. I am praying they call me today with my surgery date………….

This is my precious cat Athena with the kitten Prometheus…