I Kind of Fail

So, for the first time since I started participating, I really failed at ICLW this month. I thought that, since I'd be recovering from surgery, I'd have plenty of time to browse blogs and comment. I promise to visit the blogs of those (very few) that commented.

In reality, I've been in more pain than I expected. I can't sit in one position for terribly long, so I haven't been on my computer as much as I thought. I also haven't been feeling much of a support system, outside of my husband and family, so in general I've kind of been avoiding people. Several of my so called "friends" haven't been hesitating to come to me with their own self-generated drama, without bothering to ask how I'm feeling. I only had six incisions and my digestive system rearranged, but please, feel free to unload your drama on me.

As a result, I've been seriously considering taking this big change as an opportunity to make some more big changes. I think I need to recognize relationships that stress me out more than they are beneficial to me. I need to recognize them, and then I need to start putting some distance between myself and those people. Life is too short to keep people close that take advantage, in one way or another.

There's a Phlebotomy class this fall that I want to take. It's two evenings a week (after work), for like three months. I know that a lot of people wouldn't be excited over the prospect of learning to stab people with needles and collect blood, but I've always have an interest in it. I'm hoping that it would lead to some lab work, which used to be what I really wanted to do with my life. I need to get away from a job that's an hour away. I'm tired of being away from home for nearly 12 hours a day. The class will temporarily increase that time, but I'm hoping that the end result will be worth it. There's an orientation in a few weeks, and I'm hoping to find out more about it, including what kind of job placement they might have.

As far as post-surgery news, I'm 9 days out, and still relatively sore. Most of my incisions are painless, but the one over my stomach has been a problem from the start. Owwie. My diet consists mostly of a scrambled egg mixed with a light spreadable cheese (I can finish about 2/3), or a combination of baby food vegetables, cottage cheese, and refried beans. As I need to get 60 grams of protein a day, I also throw in protein powder drinks. I've got a sample pack of Syntrax Nectar powders, and so far I've only liked about half of them. There's a pre-mixed and bottle brand that I like pretty well, Isopure. So far my biggest struggle has been getting 64 oz of fluid a day. I can't take a bigger drink than a sip, so it's really hard to get down as much as I need. There have been other struggles, but I'm not quite open enough to share them with the internet!

Monday is my first post-op appointment with my surgeon. I have a few things to cover with him, but I'm expecting it to go pretty well. I will update again afterward.

For those of you still actually paying attention, thank you!

I Made It!

I went in to surgery just about 26 hours ago. Yesterday was a little rough. I napped on and off through the day, and I'm on a "push the button" pain medicine delivery. Everything went perfectly. I've got 6 incisions that are small enough to be covered by a bandaid. The worst thing so far is the bouts of hiccups, which are agony on a girl that has just undergone surgery in her abdomen.

Today I'm feeling much better. I went down for my upper GI x-ray a couple of hours ago, and they said that everything looks great. I'll be in the hospital tonight and go home tomorrow.

For those stopping by from ICLW, welcome! Past ICLW posts should be pretty easy to find, and give you a run down of my journey to date.

I'm sorry that this is such a short post, but I'm not quite all here!

Hurdles

I feel like lately my life has been a row of giant hurdles. I can only see the one immediately in front of me, and I have a heck of a time getting to each one. In the middle is stress and long stretches of time.

Yesterday was the Sheriff's auction for the building that houses our shop. We'd known about it for a month or so. We did everything in our power to beg and borrow for funds to help us gather some money to make a bid. We spoke with the contractor that is owed the money (the cause for the sale). We were told that he had no interest in owning it, and would not be bidding. We held a yard sale for 4 days over the holiday weekend. We sold some of our (very few) valuable possessions on ebay. We borrowed money from friends. Our families were mostly unwilling to help.

Without getting in to it any deeper, we get there, nervous and scared out of our minds, with the measly amount of money we were able to scrounge, and a glimmer of hope that we would have no competition. The contractor bid high of the bat, and we didn't even get a chance to bid. He lied to us. We were/are devastated. We think that he is going to let us continue to rent for the time being, and do the necessary repairs to the building. Our overly optimistic hope is that he'll turn around and sell it to us for a reasonable amount, in the not to distant future, but I really have no idea. I didn't want to talk to him at the time.

I haven't been thinking about my surgery much. I've been continuing to diet and exercise, mostly. I hadn't made any of the purchases I needed to make, because we wanted to save every tiny scrap of money that we could. Now it's one day shy of 2 weeks away, and I don't have the energy to be nervous or excited. I suppose that's not a bad thing.

We did indulge in a little bit of retail therapy last night. I'm going to need a lot of liquid or chew-able supplements and medicines for a few weeks, so we got those. I bought a couple of cute nightgowns for the hospital stay. We also bought bicycles, and rode them the 2 miles home from WalMart. I hadn't been on a bicycle in at least 13 years, so it was a bit rough at first. I'm sore in interesting places, but its not too bad. I really enjoyed the ride, and am looking forward to taking more rides, and having a little bit of variety to my exercise options.

I guess that's all I've got right now. I'm sorry that this post is so fragmented. It's an accurate reflection of the state of my brain. <3