More of the Same

Actually, a few things have changed since my last post but, the bottom line is I'm still tired. I'm not complaining, though, I'm simply stating a fact. When I think about how tired I am, I get frustrated. Then I remember it's only been four-and-a-half months since the surgery and it's perfectly normal for me to be this tired, considering everything I've been doing.

Besides looking after my Mom, I started a new job. It's only temporary and part-time but it's very hectic right now, and will be for a while. I'm doing PR-related stuff for the local chapter of the Red Cross, so I'm sure you can imagine how chaotic it is.

I'm also part of the sound effects crew for a play our local community theater is doing. And it's not just pushing buttons to get the effects. We're doing them "live" so the audience can see how we create the effects. There's a part toward the end of the play where I'm doing so much that I actually sweat. But I'm having a blast!

Anyway, we had rehearsal yesterday morning (and this morning) instead of at night. So, when that was finished I took my Mom grocery shopping. After getting everything put away at about 3:30 p.m., I took a nap. I woke up at 7:15 p.m. I ate dinner and went back to bed. I woke up at 4 a.m., went to the bathroom and didn't wake up again until the alarm went off at 8 a.m. And, I could go back to bed again and sleep for the rest of the afternoon ... if there wasn't a Bills game to watch.

I'm thankful, though, that being tired is my only complaint. Before the surgery, there's no way I could have handled all of this. I would have been too tired, in too much pain, and constantly worried that I'd have some kind of flooding "accident." So, I really am starting to enjoy my uterus-free life. Yay!

Tired, Tired, Tired

Anyone who's read my other blog knows that I'm working on a play for our local community theater. I didn't think an extra two hours a night would take such a toll on me, but it has. I'm having fun but I'm exhausted.

Then, on top of that, I did something stupid. I volunteered to work a day at the Red Cross (Meals on Wheels) on the same day I had an AAUW meeting. That means I didn't get an afternoon nap. Actually, I didn't get one for three days in a row.

All I was planning to do yesterday was sleep. But I woke up at 6:10 a.m. and, when I went to the bathroom, I noticed that my Mom's oxygen tube wasn't in the hallway going into her bedroom, so she must have been awake and downstairs earlier than normal. I went down to check on her to see if everything was ok. She was in the kitchen. Her hands were full of blood, there was blood all down the front of her nightgown and all over the floor. She was having another gushing nose bleed. When it didn't stop after 10 minutes, we went to the ER. Her blood pressure was 201/76. I'm sure everyone knows that's not good. An hour and a half later, after they took care of her, I took her home. But I couldn't go back to sleep because I had to go to her doctor's office and pick up some blood pressure pills for her. An hour later, when the doctor's office opened, I went down and learned that they'd changed their policy and they don't just give out the drugs anymore, even if you've been getting free samples for two years, as my Mom has. So the receptionist took the phone number and said she'd call when the drugs were ready. I figured I'd try to get some sleep while we waited for the phone call. But the phone rang just about every half hour for the next few hours. It wasn't the doctor's office, though. They didn't call until 2:45 p.m. When they did, my Mom said she also needed a prescription for a problem she was having with her eye. They said they'd call it into the pharmacy. So, I went to the doctor's office and picked up the blood pressure medicine. Then I went to the pharmacy, hoping the prescription would be ready. It wasn't, so I went to the bank while I was waiting. When I got back to the pharmacy, the pharmacist told me that they don't carry the eye drops the doctor ordered. She called the doctor's office to see if there was something else he could order. He was gone for the weekend. So then she called another pharmacy to see if they carried the drops. They don't either. She called another pharmacy. Thank goodness they had the drops. So, the orginal pharmacist made a deal with the third pharmacist. I paid for them at the first place but had to go to the other place to pick them up. Sheesh! What an ordeal!

By the time I got home and got my Mom all taken care of, I was too wired to sleep, although I was more tired than I was when I woke up 10 hours earlier. So, I went grocery shopping. Well, it really wasn't "grocery" shopping. I'm on the hostess committee for next month's AAUW meeting and I want to make these cookies I saw a recipe for a few months ago. But, since I never made them before, I want to try them before I offer to bake them for the meeting. I mean, I don't want my first time on the hostess committee to be a bad experience, for me and the poor women who would have to be polite and tell me the cookies are good even if they suck.

So, on a day I planned to catch up on sleep, I finally got back to bed at 6:50 p.m.

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention this. A woman at the Red Cross, who had a hysterectomy a few years ago, told me it's perfectly normal for me to still be so tired at this point in my recovery. She told me she still has to take naps after work sometimes, and she's two years younger than I am.

I also told her I wanted to take the Red Cross Disaster Relief Course and go to the Gulf Coast to help out. She told me there's no way I'd be up to doing that until at least January. But she said she's sure they'll still be sending people then.

Anyway, although I had some really strange dreams last night, I did get some sleep. I could use some more, though. But I will get an afternoon nap today. I have to. Big Brother 6 isn't on 'til 10 p.m. and I can't fall asleep during that, can I? ;)

Follow-up Doctor Visit

My doctor was very pleased with everything. The Effexor is working well, and didn't wreak havoc with my blood pressure. Even the symptoms it didn't help with don't seem as bad because the depression isn't an issue anymore.

He also said my hormone levels show that I'm just starting menopause but, he doesn't think there's a need to do anything about that since most of the symptoms were depression-related, not menopause-related.

The only thing that concerned him at all was my cholesterol, which is 236. But, he knows that if I continue to lose weight, that won't be a problem because my "good" cholesterol is 56. Fifty is good; anything higher is even better, he said.

So, at 3 1/2 months post-surgery, I'm in pretty good shape now. I'm believing, again, that I actually will feel better in November, which is six months from the surgery and when most women start feeling better than ever.