November 3, 2004

I'm a little crampy, a little cranky.

I ovulated early last week, which means I'm premenstrual this week and if I do have the dreaded mini-period, it will arrive on Saturday morning.

My breasts are a bit tender but my skin isn't too bad right now. I have a breakout of the painful cystic acne behind my ears. Thank goodness no one can see it, but it does hurt. I've been using progesterone cream in the morning faithfully this cycle and I'm hoping that my breasts don't hurt any worse then they do now. It's quite bearable at the moment.

The swollen belly has disappated almost completely and I'm wearing my normal clothes. Tights with a seam up the center get a little irritating towards the end of the day, but other than that, the incision looks great. I'll try to photograph it this weekend and post some updates. There's even one little spot on the left side that has no discoloration at all, so that gives me hope that it won't be this huge purple stripe across my pubic bone forever.

Posted by Elizabeth M. at 5:21 PM

November 6, 2004

Today I took a bit a hike down to a local coffee shop. That felt pretty good. Of course coming back was harder, it's always harder because there are five flights of stairs and I was really huffing at the top. I'm guessing that's because I was carrying a heavy bag, not because I'm out of shape.

I took a bit of look at my incision this morning. There is definitely a scar forming at the center of it, a firm white scar which is thicker towards the center. I don't know if this is an early indication of keloid scarring.

I'll give it a closer look tomorrow, I think. Right now it burns a little. I wore jeans today, probably not a good idea for a day when I'm doing a lot of walking.

Posted by Elizabeth M. at 9:42 PM | Comments (1)

November 8, 2004

So, here it is, my third cycle. I ovulated early last week. And if I had a uterus, I would have started bleeding this weekend.

And I did.

So it seems that I have enough of a uterus left for the mini-period.

I'm a little dismayed by it. I know it's not a bad thing on the whole, so I'm just going to suck it up.

I am, however, going to the doctor next week to have it checked into. Each bleeding episode has followed a lot of vigorous exercise. On Saturday I went down to the coffee house on the corner and then walked back up the five flights of stairs. Not to mention the laundry this weekend - three loads of laundry schlepped up and down the two flights of stairs. And yesterday I did a lot of sitting in uncomfortable chairs that can sometimes make my incision site feel like it's burning.

So, I'll visit the doc and see what's up. That's what she's there for.

I've also been having a little sex trouble. I have not problems getting excited or climaxing. But when my hubby and I have intercourse, I feel inordinately tight and hot inside and after sex there's a bit of a burning sensation, like a chafing feeling (not burning/itching). I'm chalking that up to either a pH problem - because he and I have never had unprotected sex in the 13 years we've been together - so my vagina just doesn't know what to do with semen and maybe it's irritating. Or maybe I have a little bit on an infection. Or maybe I'm too dry. I think we'll try some lubricant in the meantime. The doctor will figure it all out next week.

Posted by Elizabeth M. at 1:14 PM

November 12, 2004

Oh, I don't feel well.

For about a week my belly has been hurting, but more the past few days.

I'm doing too much, I know it, but I can't slow down. I suppose I'm waiting for the doctor's appointment on Tuesday to make me slow down. But at the moment, I'm not going to.

My belly is tender, mostly between the belly button and the incision site. The incision itself feel a little like it's burning. It's not infection (it's completely healed over) but it just feels a little more tender than other spots. Inside, I feel like things are a little zingy or pinchy. Not severe pain, nothing that would make me double over. It's not muscular, it's just kind of vague and pretty constant. My belly is also a little big right now. Not so huge that my pants don't fit at the moment, but big enough that I'll enjoy changing into sweat pants in a few minutes since I just got home from work.

I'm 14 weeks from surgery. I suppose I should be easier on myself. Luckily my husband is such a wonderful dear. He's been doing the dishes lately and really taking care of everything around the house. Somehow we'll muddle through Thanksgiving. We always do!

Posted by Elizabeth M. at 6:46 PM

November 16, 2004

I went to the doctor today. Three major complaints:

1. The mini-period
2. Pain during/after sex, just a slight, burning/itching feeling in the vagina. Mind you, my husband and I have never, ever had sex before without a condom - it'd been nearly 15 years since I'd had sex without a condom, so who knows if that sort of itching was just me not liking semen or something.
3. Swelling and pain. Yes I'm still swollen and in pain. It's the swelly-belly the hystersister's site talks about. I've got it. It's huge. I didn't even go to work yesterday because it was too big to fit into clothes. About 5 pounds of extra fluid in my abdomen. And think about this, I'm not holding it in my tissues like you do when you get the pre-menstrual bloat - it's all in my abdomen, and it's damn uncomfortable.

Anway the answers.

1. Mini-period - she could try to cauterize it if I really, really want to. I said no. We'd give it a year or so and then see how I feel about it. It could stop. It could get lighter (it could also get heavier).

2. I have an infection. A little yeast, a little bacteria. She said it's all pretty much expected after a hysterectomy and the huge doses of antibiotics they put me on. So, a little metrogel and a little diflucan and I'll be right as rain by the end of the weekend.

3. Take it easy. I'm doing too much. She said take it easy, no more marathon training for a month. If I'm still swollen she'll send me for some imaging. But as far as she could tell my ovaries had no palpable cysts and everything else seemed normal. I'm just walking and lifting and climbing too much. 'Nuff said. I'm back on the couch for a while and no evening activities. I'm skipping my class today.

Posted by Elizabeth M. at 9:12 PM