My FIRST WEEK back at work — WORK? What’s that?

I’ve been off for FOUR weeks recovering from my hyst.  This was exactly the right amount of time for me … three weeks wouldn’t have been enough and five weeks would have been too much.  I have started to have intermittent insomnia and last night was no exception.  The night before I had to go to work I only got four hours of sleep at best.  Maybe I was really excited to go back to work?! 😉

But it’s always been like that for me. I can’t sleep the night before big days like picture day when I was kid, my birthday when I was younger, the first day of school … so I guess returning to work was no exception. I also think my time schedule is off and I look forward to getting re-regulated again.

Day one back from work I walked in and so many people said, “Hey! You’re back! How are you?” 🙂  I got an extremely friendly welcoming return and in turn I told them I was glad to be back.  I’ve always said that you have to go away to be missed.  This is something more people should try.  I’ve actually got a few people in mind …

How can I miss you if you don’t go away?!?

It was so strange … I’m gone FOUR weeks after major surgery and I feel like I’ve been gone only a weekend.  I jumped right in like I hadn’t missed a day; of course, I have been at this same job for almost TEN YEARS!  In regard to surgery, you know what they say (that ubiquitous they) … surgery is only minor if it happens to someone else … any surgery on me IS major! 

I was concerned about returning to work since I am a desk jockey.  So many people have the misconception that a desk job is physically easy … a cake walk … a luxury unto itself … the pinnacle of middle American success.  BUT if you don’t already know this, desk jobs are bad for you.  Paul Ingram spells it out in this article from his blog.  If you sit for any length of time or have a desk job I highly recommend you read the following:

Just how bad sitting is for you: http://saveyourself.ca/articles/chair-trouble.php

The first week back at work went something like this:

• MONDAY — Very tired in the morning, the afternoon and entire evening.  I had a GREAT attitude as was very glad to return.  Sitting was a challenge!  My low back pain started hurting early in the afternoon instead of in the evening.  I slept better than the last few sleeplessness nights, but not great.
• TUESDAY — I was sooooo tired in the morning and felt like I’d been hit by a Mack Truck … OK, maybe an exaggeration.  Being hit by a Mack Truck would truly be incapacitating, but I really was very tired … maybe the “I have a sleepless newborn at home” kind of tired minus the crying and diaper changes. The back pain again crept up earlier in the afternoon.  Sleeping compared to the night before was much better.
• WEDNESDAY — So tired again … like I partied without the party.  After lunch I was almost wiped out and the back pain came right before I was to go home for the day.  But sleeping that night was GREAT!
• THURSDAY — For the first time I felt awake, alert, like my old self!  I was the most productive on this day back.  After lunch I felt like a sleepy zombie.  The frequent visitor of low back pain returned again before I was to leave for the day again.  Sleeping that night was phenomenal!
• FRIDAY — The day started off with receiving our newly ordered KING size bed at 6:20 a.m. so this disrupted my intermittent sleep that night.  It was quite ironic that the bed we received to help improve our sleep actually caused problems with sleep by it getting delivered so EARLY in the morning!  (Yes, I looked up irony to make sure this was a valid example.)  And yes, this is also a prime example of a first world problem!  Wah!  My king size bed ruined my sleep!  I wanted to have a repeat of Thursday, the clear-headed and energetic me.  The low back pain came on at its usual afternoon time. However, Friday was simply an obstacle to overcome, get home and eat the grilled steak and mushrooms we had planned for dinner; a dinner that I nearly fell asleep through — another first world problem, falling asleep during a big steak dinner.  I’m sure you probably have huge crocodile tears for me at this point!  After surviving dinner and then begging my husband to put the dishes and leftovers away with the minimal amount of words I could push out of my mouth, I settled on the couch distracting myself with our usual Dateline NBC show until we stumbled onto the beautiful three-part PBS tiger documentary — all about a tiger mother and her four cubs in India over a two-year time period (see below for link). There is nothing like distraction to decrease pain or at least make it tolerable.

The actual documentary is entitled:

Tiger: Spy in the Jungle http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b009r259

This tiger stuff has nothing to do with hysterectomies … but definitely worth watching!  But maybe distraction IS part of my recovery.

I survived the first week, was welcomed back with open arms and hearty smiles, have a brand new big bed only to be out for TWO MORE WEEKS for a real vacation.  Yep, the husband and I are packing it up to go the Pacific Northwest (in US … Vancouver, Canada will be another trip, another time all on it’s own) — a place neither of us have been too.  Cooler weather, lots of walking, and loads of fresh seafood all to help with any extended healing. 🙂

There are still some interesting posts around the corner … stay tuned for: the SIX WEEK FOLLOW-UP, first-time post-op sex and the cost of hysterectomy surgery (AKA a small fortune!) … to name a few!