From My Mind to....

"Let Your Body Recover Before Moving On."

Words related to me by a wise lady who is also going through her own cancer journey.

Though it has been several days since I blogged about my journey with cancer, that journey has never been far from my mind. My wife and I celebrated Mother's Day by attending church with her two grown children, and then spending the afternoon enjoying a picnic lunch and hiking at a local State Park.

It was three and a half weeks since my surgery and I figured if I took things easy, I'd have no trouble. After all, I had been walking as part of my rehab every day. It's two days later and I'm still feeling the effects of Sunday. I expected my pain to be lessening with time.

A question for anyone reading these words and who have experienced a journey with cancer: If you had surgery, how long was your recovery period from the surgery? Not the cancer, which may still be relevant to your situation. Yes, I realize every person will have a different experience, and that my question is probably meaningless to my situation. But I thought, who knows?

My oldest daughter's husband's mother, who is a few years younger than I, has been fighting her own cancer diagnosis for a year or so. She has a different cancer that required chemo after her surgery. While our situations are different, we talk to each other regularly. She offers advice about dealing with doctors, who may not always have your needs in mind. She means, they are there to destroy the cancer within you, and are seeking the most definitive way of doing that. The definitive method tends to wreak havoc on one's body and messing with one's mind. Don't be afraid to recover before moving on, she tells me.

My first post-surgical appointment with my surgeon will be two days shy of six weeks after the surgery. I'm a little concerned whether I'm allowing my recovery to happen as it should, or if I'm pushing myself more than necessary. I was told six weeks for recovery after major surgery, so I'll probably get yelled at. . There's a lot of healing within that must take place. Beyond drinking plenty of water (only have one kidney now and must stay hydrated to flush it properly, I cannot lift more than ten pounds while my mid-section muscles repair themselves. Consider me surprised at how many things weigh ten pounds that I took for granted as easy to pick up and move.

I'm unable to do even simple tasks around the house that were easily completed before. I gotta say, that sure hits the ego. It's hard to let such things go.

Hopefully, the next two weeks recovery goes easily.