Hello world! (because apparently all my tweets and posts now have to sound like the start of a Visual Basic programming lesson.) I had my hysterectomy on Wednesday 12th September and came home on the Saturday, so I’ve been back for just over a week. I’m feeling really good today. The beginning of this week, the first few days of being at home, were horrendous. It hasn’t even been pain related to the wound, but sickness, wind and lack of appetite due to all the moving around of the bowel (or pouch, in my case) that they have to do. So the first few days were really hard and dark, and it felt to me like I wasn’t going to get better and everything was horrible. But things improve quicker than you realise they are, and last night I slept through the night in my bed without getting up to go to the toilet just to relieve myself of horrible wind pain. My appetite is coming back, I’m eating more, and here I am sat in my usual chair tapping away on my laptop.

Obviously there’s still a way to go and I still get tired easily, but I’m feeling pretty good, considering. I’ve kept a bit of a diary to show myself how far I have come. Because at some point in the next few weeks or couple of months I’ll be having my other operation and it’s going to take longer to recover from, and I’ll need to remember that things get better, as I’m fairly sure it’s going to be hell on earth. Again. Or worse hell than I’ve already seen. It doesn’t bear thinking about. But for today, I’m feeling good. I might even be going out for dinner later.

I’m actually starting to feel like myself again. Maybe sometime soon I’ll even start writing poetry again. I’ve had the odd line come to me. I wrote a little the other day, just to clear the bad thoughts out of my head, give them a new home on a page where I don’t need to look at them. Stop them fussing. I am so scared of the next operation. But I’ve proven to be pretty tough so far, in the end. Not every day, not every second. But eventually I come through. I have a checkup in about a week, so we’ll see what comes out of that. I just want to enjoy feeling a little better in the meantime while I can.