HEALING

Look who’s back!! How long has it been? 4 weeks? 6 weeks? Did you miss me? Returning at this time especially after my previous post is perfect because this is exactly the amount of time you need to heal after surgery (so let’s just say it was intentional and not because I have been lazy and demotivated). Sure it sounds like a long time but trust me, your body will thank you! There is no need to rush (cue, “Don’t you rush take your time, if you rush, you will crush”…lol) Let’s look at what we can while away this 4-6week period.

Let’s begin with baby steps. Literally baby steps because you will have to start slow; one step at a time. This is the first thing you do after surgery – walk. I started (forced to) walking a day or two after surgery. I would just stroll along the corridors of my ward for about 2-3minutes. After I was discharged, I started walking for longer. For instance, I would walk for about 30 minutes a day. I used the opportunity to explore my neighbourhood. I visited the local park where I would sit and rest while watching pretty ducks on the lake.

At about week 2 and a half, I transitioned from slow walking to moderately brisk walking. I started to venture out unto busy streets where I had to walk faster to cross the street. At this point, I had had my first post-surgery (post-op) check-up where my stitches were taken out and the outer wound had been declared healed. So vigorous activities could not pop it open. Nonetheless, I had to avoid carrying heavy loads and wearing extremely tight clothes—just anything to avoid putting a strain on where I had my incision.

Aside walking, the next thing I did was to work out! As someone who rarely did any exercise prior to surgery, workouts were not top priority for me. However, I was interested in reducing the size of my belly since you still have a little bulge after surgery. So, I focused my attention on that. I didn’t do anything rigorous though. I followed this 10 minutes home workout plan I found on YouTube university. It entailed very simple and slow sit-ups and stretches. I did that every morning for about a month until I missed one day and another and another, you know how it goes. LMAO! The belly went down by itself so frankly, I shouldn’t have bothered. Don’t stress your life at all. Give your body time!

On the subject of giving your body time, it is necessary to stress the importance of rest and sleep! The body was already stressed from being cut so I was always tired and this meant sleep came easily for me and boy did I not grab this opportunity! I got my daily 8 hours of sleep and some. I threw in daily post lunch naps and 5pm naps. Sleep was me and I was sleep. What I found was that, the more sleep I had, the faster my body healed. If for some reason, you have trouble sleeping after your surgery, contact your physician because it is the one thing you cannot eliminate!

These were the main things I did during my 4-6week recovery period. I have heard of people who do extra things like wearing a waist trainer, returning to the gym, and even running. All of these are cool, but for me, in this period, doing less was more. I had no intention of rushing the recovery process because surviving a myomectomy is no mean feat. It is not the time to play superwoman and have your body snap back after a couple of weeks! I allowed my body to heal the best way it knew how – naturally, with just a little help from my walks, sleep, and healthy eating (which is our next big topic)!