Surgery Journal 67 -Day 27 (‘surgery is a walk in the park’)

Day TWENTY SEVEN – Thursday 10th November 2016

I ended up getting to sleep around 1:30am, and I only woke up three times during the night, that was actually a little victory for me, normally I would wake up about ten times, which would normally feel like twenty.

I woke up at 9:30am, got up straight away and I got myself showered and ready. I wouldn’t lay in bed too long, it’s not because I thought I was being lazy, it was the total opposite – the longer I stayed in bed the more my mind would race with negative thoughts, which I didn’t need, by getting up and staying productive, I would distract myself by focusing on my physical recovery.

I had had some breakfast – this would involve lining up my drinks on my table, I had a protein shake, vitamin water, and a ginger and honey tea (cooled down). I was getting used to this. I was actually in some pain this morning, so I took 10ml of liquid Ibuprofen.

Me and my mum bought lots of different ingredients from Tesco the day before, so I decided today that I wanted to get in the kitchen and made some soup. Cooking is something I really enjoy, and I had been pretty lucky that I had had batches of soup made up for me, to keep me going. I cooked two types of soups with my mum and I was super happy with how they turned out, it was definitely one to save for the recipe journal.

I made Chicken, Mushroom and Rice soup and Pea, Edamame and Mint soup.

For lunch I had, Heinz Vegetable Soup and a couple of tea spoons of soft cheese – I highly recommend soft cheese, it melts in the mouth really quickly, it’s tasty and it’s good if you are not getting enough calories inside you. To drink I had Pumpkin Juice.

In the afternoon, I went outside, my mum had a doctors so we went with her, and then we decided to drive to a local park to go for a nice Autumn walk – we ended up walking around for half hour or so. I remember feeling absolutely FREEZING. It was an odd sensation and somewhat painful, my face was absolutely freezing, but it was like 90% numb at the same time!

Today I also started reading a book called The Turning Point by Freya North. I bought this book to read during recovery in order to keep my mind active. I started reading this in the car when my dad was driving us around.

When we got home, I ate a Petit Filous yoghurt and a small glass of Cherry Juice and read some more of my book.

For dinner I had bowl of the Chicken, Mushroom and Rice soup that I made this morning, which turned out really lovely. After dinner I had 10 ml of Ibuprofen and brushed my teeth and changed my bands.

My friend text me asking me if I wanted to talk to her on the phone, this made me a little nervous, because I still felt very uncomfortable talking, at this point my speech still felt strained and awkward to me. I talked to her anyway, and no matter how hard it was, it definitely cheered me up, it was nice to just feel normal for half hour. I also laughed a few times during the conversation which gave my jaw a natural work out!

After my phone conversation, I had some dessert – a Chocolate Mousse, and a small cup of Pumpkin Juice, and Turmeric Tea (Turmeric, Pepper, Ginger, Cinnamon, Honey and Water) – combine all of this and heat up in a sauce pan. Turmeric has a number of health benefits: one of them being anti-inflammatory properties, an antioxidant and it’s good for digestion.

After a full on day (well, it was jam-packed for me anyway!) I made my way upstairs, got read for bed. I took some painkillers to numb the aches and pains and to help me to drift off to sleep, which was around 12am.

Thanks for reading this blog post.

All my love,
N x

Here are some recovery pictures below:

I think my swelling increased today, I felt more swollen and puffy around my cheeks.