Healing

Some of you may know, I had a hysterectomy this past week, so now I’m home for six weeks, recuperating. My mom has come to visit for a week to take care of me. It’s funny, no matter how old you get, you’re always someone’s baby or kid.

I had the hysterectomy because I have a problem common to many women, known as fibroids. They’re basically growths, or tumors, and as long as you are able to have a monthly cycle, well, they can keep coming back over and over again. I had a myomectomy 9 years ago to remove the ones I had then. Much as I wanted to think that was the end of them, nope, it wasn’t. And when I saw the assisting doc at the hospital the day after my surgery, he said my fibroids were HUGE. I write huge in capital letters because that’s how big his eyes got. So now I will just wait until my follow up to find out how huge they really were!   I’m feeling ok right now – some pain and discomfort is expected, but they also gave me percocet and some big ibuprofen pills, and I’m not afraid to take them, so they are definitely helping.

It’s also helping to have my animals all home with me. As usual, Osito is on my right hand side, and Max is on my left. Yesterday, I laid down for a couple of naps and each time I did, I had about 3 or 4 animals on the bed with me. Made me feel loved. They are some of the best medicine I could ask for.

I have a lot of books with me to read over the next several weeks, many about animals. I want to be as knowledgeable about the behavior patterns of animals as I can. And I plan on showing my mom the movie Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home to get her thoughts about animals and see if it changes her mind about what she eats.

I’m grateful for this time off for a few reasons. One, my insurance will pay a good portion of it. Second, I have lots of sick time so I figured I might as well use it. So yes, I am getting paid at full pay for this time that I am out. Third, I get to spend a lot of time with my animals and my family. And it will give me some time to finish up my schoolwork for the semester, which includes a short paper on how to set up a farm animal sanctuary in NC. And finally, it gives me time to look into the job market situation down there too and see if I can line something up. Also, since I”m not doing much, I’m saving a bunch of money and it helps that May is a three paycheck month. So, it’s all good when you get right down to it. There are much worse times of year to be out of work than May in Boston. Right now, it’s still a bit chilly for my liking but I am hoping it warms up pretty soon. At least the sun is shining. Can’t complain about that.

I hope you will all have a great weekend. Just wanted to let you know what I’m up to, which, physically, isn’t much. I also wanted to thank all of you who are friends with me on facebook and who sent me so much support and love and friendly, good vibes on the day of my surgery. It really helped my mental outlook, and continues to do so today. So, thank you very much.

And congratulations to my friend Jill of Jill Will Run for finishing the Boston Marathon this past Monday on what had to be such miserable cold weather! (Rain and lots of it, in the 40s. Your pretty basic raw day where you just want to stay inside and have a cup of tea while looking out at the weather.)