Keep on Keeping on...

     I did it. I got 2,427 steps yesterday and I'm not quite dead yet. The overage caught me up for the week and I'm right on track with just over 8,000 steps so far for the week. I did have to take the strong stuff before bed and I slept like a hibernating bear. We got our Hint subscription delivered yesterday. If you've never tried it, you really should. It's flavored water, but lightly flavored (think squeezing lemon in your water). It has no calories and no added sweeteners of any kind. We decided to start buying it again because it tastes delicious and I really need to boost my hydration (I get really bored of tap water). Anyway, the Fedex Ground delivery guy stacked all four of the very large boxes right in front of the steps to our porch. He didn't even bother putting them on the porch, just right in front of the steps. There are twelve 16 oz bottles per case and three cases per box, no chance I was lifting those bad boys by myself. Luckily, we also had a Fedex Express delivery later that day and he not only brought his delivery into the house, he also moved all the boxes sitting in front of the steps. What a nice guy!
     With the boxes in the house, I calculated that I could fit 36 bottles of water on the top shelf of our fridge. I decided to do 6 each of 6 flavors which is half a case of each. Now, I had to get inventive because I couldn't life the whole case, so I carried 4 bottles into the kitchen of a single flavor followed by the remaining 2. I repeated this for each case which left only 6 bottles (does this feel like a math problem yet?). I set each of the half cases on the chair, threw the empty box on the floor, sat on another chair, and lowered each half case into the box. In total, I consolidated two boxes into one and now have 6 half cases in the fridge and 6 half cases in a box. This whole process took me over 2 hours. I had to sit down after every single trip to the kitchen in order to relieve the burning/pinching sensation in my stomach. 
     Before you yell at me, I have to say that I'm really not overdoing it. I've had this same sensation every since I woke up from the operation. There are internal sutures and the doctor told me that the burning happens when they pull. It doesn't require me to lift too much weight or to do anything specific. Sometimes, I can walk around the house or sit in a chair without any issues and other times, my tummy just starts yelling at me until I achieve a reclined position and relieve the pressure. I'll be so glad when this stops. 
     I am officially 4 weeks post op as of yesterday and in 2 weeks I will drive myself to Wichita for my final doctors visit. After reading accounts from other women who have had total abdominal hysterectomies, I feel a little less insane. I've heard that it can take 6 months to a year for your body to really bounce back. Oh, and I've developed a new symptom (we'll call it that anyway). I get ravenously hungry at random intervals. I actually woke up the other night after sleeping for about 30 minutes with a burning need to consume everything that wasn't nailed down. As soon as I had eaten a single serve bag of organic popcorn, a handful of cashews, a cheese stick, and 8 oreo thins, I felt fine again and went back to bed. Yesterday, around 3 p.m. after I had put away the cases of water, I had the all consuming need to devour BBQ pulled pork nachos. So, I called Taco Shop and made it happen - then I was fine. I was so full that I didn't eat anything the rest of the day. 
     I've been monitoring my weight just to make sure that my eating patterns stay somewhat in the healthy range and that I'm not gaining or losing in a dramatic way. For the last few weeks since I've been home, I've stayed in the same 3-4 pound gain/loss window so, despite my epic appetite surges, there have been no concerning changes. Who knows. Maybe I'm just hungry. I've heard that healing yourself is hard work.