For about 4 years, I began suffering from peri-menopausal symptoms. Hot flashes, like ('Crazy Flop Sweats' whenever I would take a sip of coffee or wine), Night sweats, like (I had run a 100K marathon in my dreams), and mood swings, like (Everything in my life was really great, but for no reason at all, I felt like I was going to cry like the world was ending all the time) It was so awful living this way.
I was not sleeping most nights and that wore me down even more. I went to my doctor and had my hormones tested. Sure enough, I was slowly beginning the change of life and my body was taking it's sweet ass pimp time going into menopause, but my ovaries were healthy and still producing eggs, which meant this torture could continue for years.
In the last year, my menstrual cycle was crazy irregular and when it arrived, it was extremely painful and heavy so much, there were times I thought I was dying. I was spending most of my time in bed abusing Motrin to try and function. The blood loss was so extreme, I was becoming faint and almost passed out more than twice. I still had to work at my full time intense start-up day job while this was all going on. I took a break from jazz singing and managing the band. I longed to perform beautiful music, but couldn't because of my suffering. My life was a living hell.
I had to fight to get the help I needed. I saw several doctors and finally found one who could help me. They did several ultra sounds and saw that I had developed a 3 centimeter sized tumor in my uterine wall near my cervix. I had never been pregnant, so my uterus was small. I had read horror stories of woman who had fibroid's the size of grapefruits, but how could I be suffering so badly? I had this little dark thing that didn't look like a fibroid in there. They did a biopsy and is was benign, but this thing had to come out.
I had tried every natural remedy to help, with no relief. We tried all kinds of birth control pills and medications to try and help the symptoms. Those side effects were worse than the original problems. My last resort was surgery. I love kids and wished I would have had some, but I am a young hearted 53 year old lady who is past my prime for that.
I did a lot of research to make this decision. I have no cancer in my family tree, so keeping my ovaries would be easiest on my body. I would wear an HRT patch to help manage the estrogen loss as I transition with the peri-menopausal symptoms. I would continue to go into menopause, keep producing all of the hormones needed to keep me happy and keep my libido in place. They would need to take everything else out, like (Permanent birth control with no more period EVER!)
So I did it! I had a full laparoscopic robotic hysterectomy with a high uterosacral suspension, on Monday, September 12, 2016. I went into the hospital at 10:00am, and was home the same day around 8:30pm. They removed my uterus, tubes and cervix and anchored my vagina to keep it secure and in place. I went under full general anesthesia and had no complications. It took 5 days off from work to recover. I was on major pain medications that I took every 4 hours. I certainly needed them.
I slept a lot and watched all 5 seasons of Arrow. (I think Stephen Amell - 'Oliver Queen' is delicious. A great distraction while healing.) The most pain I was having was gas pain from the CO2 they filled me with during surgery that was trying to escape my body. You have pains all over, it's really weird. I ate soup and little sammiches. I did not do keto and did eat sugar & fruit and flour, I ate some chocolate. But kept my calories around 1500 per day. I did drink lots of water. I was very sore and swollen. I could walk but not do stairs for the first week very well.
I was able to work from home the second week. This is when the other problem began. The side effects from the pain meds caused bad constipation. Imagine that. Your whole area down there is full of staples and stitches inside and you can't poo. You can't push or you would pop the staples. It became really awful. I was in agony. They had given me stool softener to help, but it didn't help at all. I tried almost everything, but what ended up working was drinking a bottle of Cherry flavored Roto Rooter ~ Magnesium Citrate Dulcolax. That got everything moving and working normal again. I stopped taking the heavy pain meds and started on Motrin. The day after this, I felt like a miracle had happened.
I feel like the dark cloud that had been over my spirit for so long, has been blasted away and has freed me. I feel amazing! I sort of feel like a 12 year old girl again. I will never have a period again, that is celebration enough, but I seriously feel clear headed and balanced again. I had brain fog and memory issues due to all of the pain meds I had been taking for so many years. The patch is seriously helping the other symptoms too.
I am feeling so good, I went back to work on week 3 and had to take it slow. I am not supposed to lift anything heavy or overdo it. I was exhausted the first day, but every day afterward, I felt a little stronger. Then I made a huge mistake. I lifted something that apparently WAS too heavy for me and injured my staples inside. It was only maybe ten pounds, but maybe it was how I lifted it. This was yesterday. I had these big plans, and now have to back step and start over. I am back in bed healing. For those that know me, this is the hardest part. I am a fireball and it's hard to stay in place when I feel so good.
I am laying low and trying not to over do anything, which is really hard for me with all the fun stuff that is going on in my life right now. My favorite Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is happening this weekend, and I will not be going. I am watching it on the live webcast. Next weekend is my big Artcar Fest 20th Anniversary weekend. My Leopard Lair Ultra Lounge VW Bus engine just got rebuilt and the guys are breaking in the new engine. It won't make it in time for the show, so I am doing something fun and silly to my Honda Passport for next weekend.
I learned from my experience with the Squirly Whirly Art Car, the Gnomes would not last one night in public without being vandalized and abducted. These Gnomes are naughty and awesome. Fuckers would be taking them off and stealing them, straight away. I have a plan to keep them safe and won't keep them on my car after the big weekend. Sad to say but true. I'll get my original art car back soon and continue the restoration project. My Honda just has one Gnome keeping an eye out for me, (Louis was only vandalized once so far) but it's more mundane as my daily driver.
Lookout Louis
Meanwhile, I am taking it slow and being careful not to do too much, which is Really Hard for me because I feel so awesome in every other way. I do a little more everyday. I weighed myself and the scale said 229 pounds. I somehow gained 14 pounds this month. Shocking! I asked my doctor if this is normal. He said that surgery is a trauma to the your body and my body's natural reaction is to accumulate lots of extra water while it recovers from the shock. I won't even measure myself yet. The swelling is still there, so I don't think it would be accurate.
So it's back onto a Ketogenic diet lifestyle and Intermittent Fasting protocols. This really works for me, but it takes shopping, planning, prepping, and cooking. I had been alone doing best I could to care for myself all month, making easy stuff, eating out and doing take-out delivery. I need to get back on track and get to my goal. Once I am healed completely, I plan to get back in the gym and get toned and strong again.
A Giant step was made, some steps backward, but Huge Steps Forward for the better!
I was not sleeping most nights and that wore me down even more. I went to my doctor and had my hormones tested. Sure enough, I was slowly beginning the change of life and my body was taking it's sweet ass pimp time going into menopause, but my ovaries were healthy and still producing eggs, which meant this torture could continue for years.
In the last year, my menstrual cycle was crazy irregular and when it arrived, it was extremely painful and heavy so much, there were times I thought I was dying. I was spending most of my time in bed abusing Motrin to try and function. The blood loss was so extreme, I was becoming faint and almost passed out more than twice. I still had to work at my full time intense start-up day job while this was all going on. I took a break from jazz singing and managing the band. I longed to perform beautiful music, but couldn't because of my suffering. My life was a living hell.
I had to fight to get the help I needed. I saw several doctors and finally found one who could help me. They did several ultra sounds and saw that I had developed a 3 centimeter sized tumor in my uterine wall near my cervix. I had never been pregnant, so my uterus was small. I had read horror stories of woman who had fibroid's the size of grapefruits, but how could I be suffering so badly? I had this little dark thing that didn't look like a fibroid in there. They did a biopsy and is was benign, but this thing had to come out.
I had tried every natural remedy to help, with no relief. We tried all kinds of birth control pills and medications to try and help the symptoms. Those side effects were worse than the original problems. My last resort was surgery. I love kids and wished I would have had some, but I am a young hearted 53 year old lady who is past my prime for that.
I did a lot of research to make this decision. I have no cancer in my family tree, so keeping my ovaries would be easiest on my body. I would wear an HRT patch to help manage the estrogen loss as I transition with the peri-menopausal symptoms. I would continue to go into menopause, keep producing all of the hormones needed to keep me happy and keep my libido in place. They would need to take everything else out, like (Permanent birth control with no more period EVER!)
So I did it! I had a full laparoscopic robotic hysterectomy with a high uterosacral suspension, on Monday, September 12, 2016. I went into the hospital at 10:00am, and was home the same day around 8:30pm. They removed my uterus, tubes and cervix and anchored my vagina to keep it secure and in place. I went under full general anesthesia and had no complications. It took 5 days off from work to recover. I was on major pain medications that I took every 4 hours. I certainly needed them.
I slept a lot and watched all 5 seasons of Arrow. (I think Stephen Amell - 'Oliver Queen' is delicious. A great distraction while healing.) The most pain I was having was gas pain from the CO2 they filled me with during surgery that was trying to escape my body. You have pains all over, it's really weird. I ate soup and little sammiches. I did not do keto and did eat sugar & fruit and flour, I ate some chocolate. But kept my calories around 1500 per day. I did drink lots of water. I was very sore and swollen. I could walk but not do stairs for the first week very well.
I was able to work from home the second week. This is when the other problem began. The side effects from the pain meds caused bad constipation. Imagine that. Your whole area down there is full of staples and stitches inside and you can't poo. You can't push or you would pop the staples. It became really awful. I was in agony. They had given me stool softener to help, but it didn't help at all. I tried almost everything, but what ended up working was drinking a bottle of Cherry flavored Roto Rooter ~ Magnesium Citrate Dulcolax. That got everything moving and working normal again. I stopped taking the heavy pain meds and started on Motrin. The day after this, I felt like a miracle had happened.
I AM OUT OF PAIN - FOR REALS!
I feel like the dark cloud that had been over my spirit for so long, has been blasted away and has freed me. I feel amazing! I sort of feel like a 12 year old girl again. I will never have a period again, that is celebration enough, but I seriously feel clear headed and balanced again. I had brain fog and memory issues due to all of the pain meds I had been taking for so many years. The patch is seriously helping the other symptoms too.
I am feeling so good, I went back to work on week 3 and had to take it slow. I am not supposed to lift anything heavy or overdo it. I was exhausted the first day, but every day afterward, I felt a little stronger. Then I made a huge mistake. I lifted something that apparently WAS too heavy for me and injured my staples inside. It was only maybe ten pounds, but maybe it was how I lifted it. This was yesterday. I had these big plans, and now have to back step and start over. I am back in bed healing. For those that know me, this is the hardest part. I am a fireball and it's hard to stay in place when I feel so good.
I am laying low and trying not to over do anything, which is really hard for me with all the fun stuff that is going on in my life right now. My favorite Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is happening this weekend, and I will not be going. I am watching it on the live webcast. Next weekend is my big Artcar Fest 20th Anniversary weekend. My Leopard Lair Ultra Lounge VW Bus engine just got rebuilt and the guys are breaking in the new engine. It won't make it in time for the show, so I am doing something fun and silly to my Honda Passport for next weekend.
I have had a secret Gnome fetish for years.
 |
| The New Naughty Gnome Art Car will be there. |
Lookout Louis
 |
| My hood ornament on my Honda Passport 4 wheel drive. |
So it's back onto a Ketogenic diet lifestyle and Intermittent Fasting protocols. This really works for me, but it takes shopping, planning, prepping, and cooking. I had been alone doing best I could to care for myself all month, making easy stuff, eating out and doing take-out delivery. I need to get back on track and get to my goal. Once I am healed completely, I plan to get back in the gym and get toned and strong again.
A Giant step was made, some steps backward, but Huge Steps Forward for the better!
