She’s Still Kicking, Just Not As High.

On March 21, 2023March 21, 2023 By SuzIn As blogged by Suz35 Comments

Thank you all for your encouragement and well wishes on my post-op post. (say that three times fast) I had my catheter removed and HOLY MACKEREL, it’s awesome to pee unassisted.

Who knew?

Well, you probably all knew.

It’s Me, I’m The Problem

I know I was so excited and started doing housework (pure insanity!) when I first arrived home; in hindsight, I should have been beaten with a wet noodle.

Ahem….Not so surprising, a few days later in the week, I could hardly remove myself from the couch and I totally blame the housework so I’m vetoing all housework for whatever is left of my life.

The no housework statement, sadly is a big fat lie.

I’m taking it easy from here on out. The bare necessities and sadly, one of those is making dinner. Lord, don’t I deserve to be hand fed each day? Would it kill someone to peel my grapes?

Peanut and I have spent a lot of time outside since the weather has been so lovely, thanks to a cold front. Sure, you’re cold as heck but I’m living my best outside life.

I’ve not even had the gumption to read any blogs and I’m sorry about that.

I’ve been so low key, that my smart watch sent me a text stating that my activity level and caloric burn is down compared to normal times. YA THINK? Generally I strength train three days a week and do a HIIT class twice a week. Now, I’m not hitting anything but that proverbial wall.

Funny though, I’ve not been moving as much, eating the same amount, yet I’m losing LBS. Do you think my body is burning calories by internally healing? Or were my organs that heavy? These are the questions I need to ask my Dr. at my follow up appointment.

What does a busy body do when she is forced to rest?

HGTV. Bravo. Apple TV. Netflix, minus the chilling part.

PUZZLE: This was a Christmas gift from my youngest amazing child and I’m almost finished with it.

I GAVE BIRTH TO SHE-MEN.

I had some honey-do’s that were piling up, but my actually Honey has been the Busiest Bee. What I’ve been wanting done are swapping out the areas rugs in our bedroom, dining room and sitting area. I’d ordered them months ago; they’ve been living in my garage. (Callie ruined one of them, Lillie another)

Ya’ll it looked like I had a Rug Store in my garage. You Get A Rug! You Get A Rug!

Lolo wanted to come and visit since I’ve not seen her in a while and I figured her sister would love to come and visit too, while they did the heavy lifting/labor for me since I labored for them all those years ago. (I also fed them dinner, no peeled grapes.)

I honestly thought I’d need to hire a few men to move the heavy furniture, remove the old rugs (9×12 foot, wool, heavy rugs!) and replace with new and put the furniture back…but I gave birth to strong women, so that is what they did along with some help from their Dad.

Coach had the lovely job of taking apart our seventeen year old bed (headboard, side rails, foot board) as a new one will be arriving this coming week. Trying to remove the rug under our bed and replace it was a delicate and hefty movement by the three of them, while I, who can’t currently pick up anything just watched.

Not one complaint from my people, and they said it was actually a fun time. Are they ANGELS Or WHAT?

Anyone think resting was going to be easy? Who’s been forced to do it and did you find it underwhelming?

She’s Back And With Less Baggage. Or More Baggage? Well, At Least A New Purse.

On March 13, 2023March 12, 2023 By SuzIn As blogged by Suz47 Comments

I survived, and quite well if I might brag a little. I believe I’m very fortunate that my full hysterectomy went *mostly* smooth, with one little blip.

Our day started really early with an arrival time of 7:30 am and surgery slated for 9:30. The nurses and staff couldn’t have been lovelier; nurses are ANGELS. I’m sure you already knew that, but I had to say it.

My Dr. was wonderful. Did I tell you the Dr. doing my surgery isn’t my regular GYN, as my regular doesn’t do outside-of-the office stuff? So I chose another well known Dr. in the practice who just so happens to be the daughter of my Dentist, who took care of my teeth for close to 20 years. (he’s retired now) IT’S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL.

I had two IV’s because the robot required it. I had a billion questions asked of me by eleventy thousand people. Ok, maybe it was 5 people, but it was early.

There was much debate on whether I needed a pregnancy test before it was taken. I told the nurse that if I were pregnant, I’m naming the baby Jesus and handing it off to one of my girls. She then told me about a 55 year old woman who was in for a procedure, swore she couldn’t be pregnant and the test(s) came back positive. Talk about a nightmare!

I was roofied just before they wheeled me into the operating room, so I don’t remember anything after 9:30. Man, that stuff is GOOD.

If you care to know of some of the stuff that I found weird and unusual:

For this laparoscopic surgery, they put four holes in my belly and fill it with CO2; my Dr. said my belly was as big as if I were 9 months pregnant. (If I have stretch marks, I’m gonna be pissed!) They actually put a light in there so they can see what is happening. I’m starting to picture it all and I don’t like it!

So, one of the biggest pains I’ve had is the gas that they put in me and it’s not in my belly, it’s spread out over my body and I felt most of the pain in my right shoulder and right rib cage. Super weird and uncomfortable. But it started to go away the next day. Occasionally, I’ll feel it creep in for a minute then hide away again.

Another discomfort I’ve had is my neck. It feels like I strained my neck muscles, so I’m guessing that had something to do with the breathing tube they ~~shoved~~ put down my throat.

Of course, my belly was bloated for the first few days; when I normally could pass for 6-8 wks pregnant, I was looking like someone should start planning the shower.

WHOOPSIE & Look How Easy Going I’ve Become.

So, the blip that we had is my Uterus and my bladder became really good friends and they were so attached to each other that my Dr. had to make a small cut into my bladder.

I knew this was something that happened after all my preliminary research and after signing my waivers. When I woke up and Coach told me, I honestly wasn’t surprised or upset. Also, I was on drugs, so look at me all Mello Yellow.

When I had my pre-op with My Dentist’s daughter, she said occasionally other things can get cut while I’m IN there, but whatever it is, I can fix it. I had confidence in her; she stitched up my bladder easily.

She said all my parts looked great. I said: You mean aside from the fibroids and cysts? I suppose she meant NO CANCER.

Instead of getting home around 1 pm as we’d thought we would, we got home at 8pm. Lindsay came by for a few hours to visit and lucky her: she was able to dress her mom from head to toe and walk me around to make sure I had my bearings before checking out of the hospital; practice for my golden years.

I do have to wear a catheter until my bladder heals and I get that out on Tuesday morning. It’s not attractive or comfortable, but it’s doable and I’m rolling with my Little Pee Bag (surely, there’s a real name for it) all over the house and yard.

*I’m actually doing it while typing this, so hows that for efficiency?*

NOT TRYING TO BE A HERO

It’s Saturday as I write this, my surgery was on Thursday. I’m feeling pretty darn good. My Dr. told me to listen to my body and rest when I should. This morning, my body said: Vacuum up all the dog hair in the living/kitchen/dining room. So I did. I woke up at 5:15 today, so I imagine after my shower that I’ll put myself down for a nap.

*Updated to add on Sunday afternoon, I never did take a nap yesterday and I’m still not overly tired. I have a feeling it will come at some point though.

How about a pic of dogs instead of my Urine Purse? Still not right…

*Peanut and my MIL’s dog Kelsie; they’ve been a’ playing.*

Just wanted everyone to know I’m alive and well. Thank you all for your well wishes, prayers, positive vibes and good mojo; your care and concern means more to me than you can imagine.

XOXO

If You Have To Say It Out Loud, It’s Probably Not True.

On January 23, 2023January 22, 2023 By SuzIn As blogged by Suz36 Comments

When my girls were in Middle school I carpooled with a Mom who lived around the corner; her kids (twins) were one or two grades above Linds and one year below Lolo. As much as I loved their mom, the twins were a bit obnoxious. They loved to brag about the size of their home, how much it could sell for, their new clothes, new phones etc…I just can’t with braggers, even if they’ve barely hit puberty, but being the mature adult, I bit my tongue a lot.

I recall one day when picking them up from school, the daughter was scrolling her texts said to me: “You probably don’t know this, but I’m really popular.”

The words spilled out of my mouth before I could stop myself:

Well, if you have to say it out Loud, it’s probably not true.

Obviously, I’d had enough with her sassy ass. I could hear Lindsay in the backseat giggling at my remark, and since then, that’s been a One Liner with Linds and I.

Recently, the Coach and I attended an event/dinner/awards at our local university. In attendance, and sitting at our table was a former athlete who is only two years older than our Lolo. Anyhoo, this young lady is beautiful, smart, very sweet, appeared very accomplished and personable.

But as much as I admired her for those things, and she did seem interested in the other people around her, I also knew in the first 21 minutes of introduction that she (and her husband, who is my age) have several Chiropractic practices, a Ferrari, a large house, plenty of travel opportunities that require much luggage and her Chanel purse needs its own chair.

Woah Sister, save some stuff for later!

The Coach and I discussed it on the way home and had a good snicker. Not the candy bar, a giggle, although I could use a snicker bar because I’m not myself when I’m hungry.

Anyhoo. It made me wonder, if I had all those ‘things’ at 32, would I feel the need to boast about them? No. I would not. And today, at the ripe old age of what I am, I’m kind of the opposite. I prefer to play down the ‘stuff’ and focus on what really matters: My Stellar Personality.

Not to brag, but I’m damn popular. In this house. Most of the time. Really, mostly at dinner time, but you know.

Anyone run into a not.so.humble bragger lately? Were you as unimpressed as I?

XOXO

A Not So Good Surprise And Wanting To Shank Those Who Share Your DNA

On January 10, 2023January 9, 2023 By SuzIn As blogged by Suz35 Comments

I had the rug-pulled out and the wind taken out of my sails recently, thanks to my first cousins. It’s a very long, complicated story, but they sold my Grandparent’s home without letting me know. They were rightfully the owners because their father, my Uncle, was the last owner of the home as Grandma passed away in 2009. But in my brain, in my heart, it was always our Grandparent’s home. Always.

Crazy enough, Linds was the one to break the news to me as she is close to, and works with my oldest cousin’s daughter. (the daughter, who I adore, was appalled at her father not contacting me as well)

For them, (my first cousins) this was about money. For me, it was all emotion.

Suz and G’ma, Suz, Gma, Linds and Lolo

My childhood wasn’t stellar, but when I look back, the time I spent at my Grandparent’s home was always joyous. I had meals prepared for me, was doted upon, and was loved unconditionally. It was my safe haven.

Grandma’s house is the one place that I visited/stayed at that had no bad memories or reminders of shit-gone-bad.

My dad (he passed in 1993), Suz, Uncle Alan (who passed in 2018) It was a windy Easter morning.

Grandma’s house is near the Miami airport in a lovely little neighborhood; My Uncles’ Widow, Joanie was living there, which was how it was supposed to be. They’d only been married for five years and she was sweet; she would have loved for me to visit again, but I just didn’t. I kept in touch with her by phone and snail mail. (unlike my cousins) I sent her flowers on her birthday and little gifts at Christmas; she knew that I cared about her. She was a bonafide wackadoodle, albeit harmless, but my Uncle loved her, so I checked in on her.

Grandmas house stood still in time, aside from the updated Kitchen Coach gifted to her around 2001. My grandma’s tchotchkes were still displayed in the same spots. The little terrarium I made for her in elementary school was still sitting in the niche behind the refrigerator wall.

I know. Things are just things. But still sometimes you want to put your hands on sentimental things.

Recently, Joanie had a myriad of physical and mental health issues and went into assisted living. I would have loved to visit the house again and perhaps keep a few of my Grandmother’s things that were forever residing in that 1942 house.

The news hit me harder than I’d expected; I think because it was sudden and of course because my feelings were not accounted for. The Coach assured me that they’re only concerned with money, which I know. Linds was so sweet and offered to go with me to the house and see if anything was still there. (Turns out Joanies nephew was purchasing the house)

The morning I found out, I spouted some cuss words and shed a few hundred tears, but within a few hours, I was ok with it all and had moved onto other matters. I think that’s called personal growth, right?

Anyhoo, I just needed to document this here for later when my cousins ask me for something.

I’m kidding but wouldn’t it be fun if they needed something from me later on?