Well, as always time is flying past, and my op is just 2 weeks away. I am trying to get the last few things in place before I do actually go in. I must admit to feeling a little apprehensive about the whole thing. I know its all going to be fine, and I know that there is nothing to worry about. I am lucky to have a great circle of family and friends around me who I can talk to openly about this rather than bottling it up which helps a great deal. But still there’s a bit of my mind that pipes up now and then and casts a slight shadow of unease about the whole thing. I’m putting it down to the lack of personal experience with this sort of procedure.

One person that I have been talking a lot to is a friend of mine, Emma-lee, who has had similar surgery. Having had a fair few chats with her has made such an amazing difference, by taking away a lot of the mystery. As much as the medical professionals can prepare you with giving you the facts on the subject, hearing from some who has actually been there and done it gives you a totally different perspective; it adds that personal slant which is really comforting.

Our chats have been useful in two ways: firstly gaining a better understanding of what to expect during the recovery stage, and secondly in how to prepare myself over the next few weeks. I have already started to rest a little more, I am going to massively cut down my alcohol consumption over the next couple of weeks, and start to watch my diet. Emma-lee’s addition to this planning is what to actually take with me. To be totally honest I hadn’t really put any thought into this; I guess I would have just chucked some t-shirts and jobbing bottoms into a bag at the last minute. Off the back of her advice I’ve got myself some lightweight clothes specifically to take in with me. Other little additions such as baby wipes to freshen up have also been mentioned; things that I wouldn’t have thought of at least not this early. This advice has been really useful, and I’m really grateful to her for that.

So now: it’s just relaxing, waiting, and not worrying. Cheers for reading.

KBO