Well I’m back baby!!
I had the womb ablation and Mirena fitted last Thursday. And I’m happy to report, so far so good.
No bleeds, just a bit of spotting.
I am a very happy bunny right now. I’m not embarrassed or ashamed to say that I did not cope well with the bleeding.
Menstruation when you are young, vibrant and full of fertility is bad enough. But add in my lack of ovaries, which meant it was just utterly pointless, empty bleeds. Well that was too much for me to be honest.
It’s messy, draining - both physically and emotionally, and a right pain in the arse, one that I can well do without.
I still feel like I’m in a privileged position because I knew exactly what the issue was. I wasn’t going out of my mind frantically worrying about what was going on.
Menopause symptoms can be insidious. They can creep up on you, or they can hit you like a brick in the face. And many of the symptoms are under reported, misunderstood and we, as a population are utterly, depressingly misinformed and underprepared. Which can lead women to feel like they are losing their minds and or themselves.
So in some ways I’m grateful that I never went through a natural menopause. Mine was almost instant and I was completely aware of it.
At 36 in the space of seven weeks, my ovaries and womb were destroyed by radiotherapy. And then in my bowel cancer surgery my ovaries were removed.
I am very glad my original gynaecologist, from way back to when, came out of retirement. I felt I was in very safe hands last Thursday.
So it was off home in sexy anti embolism stockings to rest and recover.
The ablation was done as a day case, but under general anaesthetic.
You have to wear the stockings for 3-5 days, or until your activity level is back to normal. Which was a bit disconcerting, as my normal activity level is that of an elderly sloth.
So as you can imagine I fretted about that very much.
I attempted to balance recovering with getting and staying mobile.
I rested as much as I dared on the Friday.
I felt like sleeping for the whole day, but with a gripey pain in my womb and fear of blood clots, I kept myself busy.
Then Saturday I suggested to Chris that we go out and about. But I didn’t really fancy wearing the hospital supplied stockings, I mean I looked amazing in them of course!! Hahahahah
So I swapped them for flight socks. I felt they must do the same job? Well, that was my assumption anyway.
I still felt a bit icky. But knew keeping active would do me a favour.
Why so desperate to get moving? Well before my op on Thursday my blood pressure was very high. This was mostly because I was terrified. But the anaesthetist advised I start living a more consciously healthy, more active, lifestyle.
Would I rather get moving than end up on medication or worse? Hell yeah!
Even though I’m not naturally inclined to be sporty.
He said that if I just walked at a fast pace for half an hour a day I would see an improvement.
So here I am, getting active, doctors orders - literally!
We went off to Sawbridgeworth to look at some antique shops. Just a gentle stroll to start with.
Then Sunday I felt much better. Anaesthetic finally out of my system and ready to get out and about.
Chris offered to buy me a pair of shoes for being so brave about having to have the general anaesthetic. But I couldn’t accept them. Why?!
Well, while I was nervously fretting inside the hospital alone. Chris was alone, outside the hospital, reliving the worst time of his life when I was taken down for bowel surgery.
I have often said it’s easier to be the one physically going through it, than the one watching. I stand by this statement. Most of the trauma that I went through I was unconscious for. It really does make life easier.
So no, I couldn’t accept…probably for the first time in my life I’ve ever turned down the offer of a pair of shoes.
Ignore the corpse in the background, he’d had a tough week. :)
Jumper from Zara, Mitzah scarf from Christian Dior, Trousers from Quiz, Boots from Valentino Rockstuds, Coat from Holland Cooper.
We still headed into London but I just didn’t get any new shoes. We did pick up my trainers that I had dropped off to Selfridges a couple of weeks ago for cleaning.
We always drive up to London. We minimise our interactions with other people still. Covid is far from over, even if the twats in government declared it to be. I know more people with covid now that at any other time in the last few years. Wishing them all well. xx
Chris and I are not living as hermits, we haven’t done throughout the pandemic, but we do reduce the amount of contacts we have as much as possible.
So Selfridges is a yes. The transport network is a no.
We were meant to be increasing my activity levels. But Chris manage to park the car literally across the road from Selfridges.
That’s us right there. Thirty paces from the door of the shop. Not the best start to a more active lifestyle. Hahahahsh
Cleaned shoes collected we headed over to Mercarto Mayfair for lunch with our friends James and Tanya.
I chose to wear tight trousers, knowing full well that tight clothes and eating does not make a great combination. But as I’m happy to change my bag in the car, I feel emboldened to wear what I like out and about.
There are ways round heading off potential leaks;
1, unzip trousers for eating. Eating/chewing causes peristalsis, which moves the food along the bowel. So the rule of thumb is, if I’m eating, I’m shitting.
2, wear a convex bag, this helps gain a little poo room even in the tightest of clothing.
3, add sticky pad extenders to the bag’s adhesive part. This buys you time if you pancake.
4, wear a dress and reduce the risk of upset. But where’s the fun in not living dangerously? Hahah
Mercarto in Mayfair is amazing. It’s a collection of independent tiny restaurants, in a converted church. Well, food is religion to some. ;)
We tried the Malaysian restaurant as we’ve never had Malaysian food before, and we thought it was high time we did. It was delicious.
We followed that up with some Thai food. Also delicious.
Then James came back with a full roast dinner, which I thought was hilarious, and who doesn’t want a roast on a Sunday? Especially after Malaysian and Thai starters. :)
(can I just check, does anyone actually like tofu? I’ve tried it so many times and the taste and sensation makes me retch a bit. I’m not sure if it’s just me?).
I don’t eat red meat, but the potatoes were delicious. :)
A friend saw that I was in London on my social media, and text me and asked if I could pick something up for her from a different part of London. As we were all stuffed full of lunch we decided to leave the car where it was and walk.
…so I actually did get my steps in after all.
We eventually finished off having done twelve thousand steps.
And I have carried that theme on along this week. With a hope of doing it every day from now on.
I think I need to do what I can to prevent ill health in the future. I’d be mad not to heed the warning.
This week has seen me clock up between ten and fifteen thousand steps a day. Not bad for an insomniac with chronic fatigue syndrome, with a wavering interest in fitness. :)
It’s new to be so active, and boy oh boy do I feel better for it!…reader, I do not feel better, hence my sarcasm. ;)
But I have to keep going so I might as well enjoy the Essex countryside views. :)
My intention is to do at least half an hour a day. But hopefully an hour if I can.
I bought myself some new fitness leggings in TK Maxx. They’re from Spyder. And really really very comfortable. Chris loves Spyder ski wear and now I can see why.
It’s been a pretty quiet week really all in all. I did meet up with a friend mid way through one of my walks. We had lunch, sat outside in the warm sunshine. It was absolute bliss.
I made a little change to the norm there too. Usually I’d go for a fairly unhealthy option. But I chose a salad. Yes! Me! A salad! Remarkable what fretting about potential heart attacks can do isn’t it.
I think it helped that my lunch date. Ally, chose one first.
She’s young, slim and gorgeous. So I was maybe hoping it would rub off on me.
…it didn’t, by the way. :)
But again, it all helps and it can’t hurt. :)
As much as I say I don’t like exercising, I am enjoying the walking a bit. And as the weather is getting better it’s nice to be outside again.
I had some time spare on Wednesday. I got up so early it added too many hours to the day. So I decided to make a start on my Easter table decor. It might not be the table I serve lunch at Easter, but I think it’s nice as a spring display anyway.
You can see all my scapes on the Instagram account I made for scaping;
the_great_escape73
It’s not a business venture or anything, it’s purely for personal enjoyment, and it really does relax me. Which is quite nice with the whole WWIII extravaganza going on.
I really need to say a huge thank you to my daughter in law Milly for showing me the time lapse function on my phone. Bloody love it for table scaping. It really adds to the posts.
Design inspired by Mrs Alice, but I shopped around.
Rabbits - Amazon
Candles - Neptune Colchester
Glasses - “ “
Cutlery - “ “
Table mats “ “
Dinner service - Denby
Nests TK Maxx
Cream carrots - TK Maxx
Cabbage chinaware - Bordello Pinheiro
(Mostly from Fortnums, and some from Kim’s mum).
Cream roses (from our vow renewal 11 years ago).
Candlesticks - many and various car boot sales.
…And introducing my new jug of dreams from - Klimchi studio 💚
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These are the extenders I mentioned earlier. They go around the adhesive part of your bag. It just adds a bit of extra security. I always use them when flying. Just buys me that bit of extra time.
Quick update. We registered on the government website to take in a lady or a lady and child from Ukraine. We’re just waiting for approval now I suppose. Not really sure how it progresses from here. xx