How I made my surgery a less painful experience

Today’s subject is kinda different. Life is not all butterflies and blooms, but health problems are so common, and every one of us has their thing or has gone through it.  In case you don’t, you have to be very thankful! We shouldn’t act as if it’s the end of the world. Depending on the surgery, you might feel more or less pain or excruciating pain, and my advice is not by any means supposed to overwrite the directions given by your doctors and medical professionals. Hmm, let me emphasise this even more…

In this post I write about my experience. Υou always have to consult your doctor about the things you are allowed to do or not before or after a surgery. If any of what I did does not apply to your case or you feel like so, by any means don’t do it!

Ok, now let’s go on!

Positive Mentality

I was confident about the medical treatment I was going to have. Being aware of my problem, I wanted a solution. I was prepared knowing that times after surgeries are hard, and they were, but I was also convinced that people recover and they get on with their lives. Most of all I knew that going on with your life and being happy is basically a choice that can be made despite any health problems one can have even after a surgery. So, I knew I was going to be fine anyway, and undergoing a surgery could only provide a good chance to improve my problem. Therefore, I was very relaxed during the last couple of days before a surgery. I had my fair share before that too, but this is only human after all! Just don’t give up, do your research, have the talk with yourself and everything is going to be alright!

List the things you can do while recovering

Based on my doctor’s saying, I would have plenty of time after the surgery to recover. Meanwhile my everyday life was kind of crazy and I had so many things I wanted to do but didn’t have time, so I thought, “ok, let’s make a list of the things that I bet I will be able to do after the surgery”. And I did, and it helped me a lot during the first days after it, and it kept me feeling kinda “productive”. Of course I wasn’t working, but I wasn’t sitting on a sofa like a couch potato.

Prepare your space for when you come home

I like having a clean and tidy house and I thought “when you expect a friend to accommodate in your house, don’t you want them to feel welcomed and comfortable? Let’s do this for myself, after I come from hospital.” Simple as that. Afterwards I think it would have been a better idea, if I had also taken into consideration the specific physical condition I would be in. I would have brought extra pillows for example. But it was fine, we brought extra pillows after I came home.

How I managed to sleep

When I woke up from the surgery I wasn’t feeling well. I was nauseous, I couldn’t keep my eyes open and I slowly started feeling pain. The following hours the pain got worse and worse, and I am so grateful for modern pain killers, but they were not enough. What kept me going mentally strong? I knew it was something for a few days, better days would come and they came. So when the night fell, and I was in so much pain that I was thinking “please cut it off of me, this whole thing, I cannot stand it”, I realised that the pain would be there for the night, and it wouldn’t go away so fast. I couldn’t wait for it to stop so that I would sleep. And I convinced myself and that I was able to sleep in spite of this pain. And I did! Now, I did not sleep 8 hours straight, but I slept through 4 and then had a break of pain for 2-3 hours and then slept again for 3 more, but that was great and I was proud of myself!

Distraction!

So, how did I tackle the days following the surgery? The pain for about the three first days was just another level I can’t describe. I had never ever known this much pain in my life, and I wish that no one will have to go through it. However, pain was part of my healing process and it was persistent and I could do nothing more than the painkillers did for me. So, I simply started watching series and movies the whole day. Did I forget the pain while watching them? No. I was in so much pain the whole time, BUT, I gave my brain something captivating and engaging. This way, at least not all parts of it would focus on the pain. I distracted myself on purpose.

Patience

Keep going! I kept going and doing the things on my list. As the days went by, the pain subsided, I was so grateful. I didn’t like complaining about my recovery as I guess many others would do. After all the things I listed above, what is there to complain about? I had surgery, I was in pain, but I watched Netflix, and I did plenty of other things I would not normally do. I had time to think for my life and what I wanted to do. Even though answers did not come straight away, this time is part of a greater decision process I guess.

Gratitude

Actually, I felt really lucky. Why? Because I saw people who stood by me in my very difficult moments. I was not alone, and I will be forever grateful to those people who took care of me and made me feel good. Not to mention how thankful I felt that the other parts of my body were healthy, and the part that had undergone surgery was healing. Human bodies heal themselves at least to a certain degree and that is amazing. Computer hardware doesn’t do that…

I hope you found something helpful in this post, and if you happen to get any surgery soon, my thoughts are with you! Keep going, you might have hard times but they pass!

xo, Helen