Yesterday was the 3 week anniversary of my surgery, and I'm still healing. This is hard for me. A voice in my head tells me I should be healed already, that surgery was all I needed to be okay, that wincing when pain hits makes me a big baby.
Lies. Damn lies. (Is that a quote, btw? In my head it is.)
A friend of mine who has had 14 surgeries (poor girl) reminded me today that my body is healing. I need to be kind to myself. I had major abdominal surgery! Of course my colon is still healing from where all the scar tissue used to be! Of course I still have pain where my appendix used to be! Her words were 'a cup of cold water in the night' to my brain and I feel permission to continue my convalescence, rather than pushing myself to start work again or pick my social life back up. I do not need to go to church on Sunday, I'm still healing. I do not need to go visit my ailing friend, I'm still healing. I do not need to go meet my other friend's new baby, I'm still healing.
It is totally normal to be 3 weeks in and still recovering.
Very true!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think the quote is, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."