In Recovery

I have started my blog very early on in my recovery from surgery so thought that rather than do it as a story, I would update as I go along so bear with me :)

I am currently 10 days into my liver resection recovery and I actually feel great, I have just had my 31 staples removed today by the district nurse and contrary to what others have told me -  it hurt! Not every staple but a good few! I kind of feel like my insides are going to spill out as I was sure they staples were holding me together!

I was at the Dr's to get my sick line and to try and sort out my medication, I am currently on Tramadol but it really makes me feel a bit jittery and light headed so I've been told to lower the dose and consider Cocodamol if side effects continue.

Now when I say I’m feeling great I mean considering what my body has been through, my tummy hurts and my back is throbbing mainly because I can’t sleep any other way than on my back, and my bowel movements (tmi!) are non existent and coming from someone who is normally very regular I am finding it extremely frustrating! Fortunately the Dr has given me a prescription for that too.

On the positive side I feel good about myself again, I actually like looking at myself in the mirror again – dramatic I know but PLD really affected my self esteem badly .  I’ve been trying all my clothes on that haven’t fitted for a long time and when I lie down I can see the telly without having to be propped up by 4 pillows. And no one has asked me when I am 'due' - 10 days that is a record!

I have most nights been giving myself Reiki too which I have no doubt in my mind been a great aid in my continuing recovery. I will elaborate on my holistic and therapeutic interests later in my blog as they have contributed largely to where I am today.

The adventure begins

21^st August 2007 my husband and I welcomed our first beautiful daughter in to the world, such a lovely time, we were delighted a happy, healthy, gorgeous pink bundle.

3 weeks later and motherhood was going well, although I noticed that my tummy wasn’t going down any and I mean not a tiny bit, I have never been slim but I knew even my jelly bean cravings throughout pregnancy would not leave me with a belly this size.

I made an appointment with my Dr, whilst in the waiting room a lady was sitting with her granddaughter she smiled over and said "Oh when are you due?". At the time it didn’t bother me too much as I had just had my daughter so I replied "Oh no I had my little girl 3 weeks ago" the lady was mortified and as it turned out she was the first of thousands to utter those 4 words ‘When are you due?’ to me over the next 4 years.

My Dr asked me when my baby was due when I went in to see him, after setting him straight he then examined me and then thought my uterus had not contracted and sent me to the maternity ward at Wishaw General. The midwives there quickly assured me it was not my uterus and I was sent to a gastro ward. The Drs asked me if I had travelled abroad in the last 5 years which I had and since Gambia and Egypt were on my list they decided to not rule out hepatitis.

I had to stay in hospital 2 days so I could get a scan, this was really hard as I had to leave my 3 week old baby at home, my husband was more than capable but this is when you want to be bonding with you newborn.

I eventually got my scan and I was told "you have a Polycystic Liver" I said "What does that mean" and the sonographer then answered "ask you Dr", so rude I felt especially I had had to wait so long for the scan, away from my baby and having all sorts of things going through my mind such as cancer, hepatitis and other diseases unknown to me.

I was sent home and told I would receive a letter from the hospital in due course.

Incidentally When I was in hospital awaiting my scan my mum told me that she had had a dream about me in which I had lots of balloons in my tummy and we were trying to burst them. After my scan we laughed at how accurate my mum’s dream was and for me highlights perfectly a mother’s intuition.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog, which will contain my thoughts, emotions and observations through my recovery from my liver resection and beyond.

My hope is that my words can help, inspire or comfort those going through similar experiences. I also hope I can help people make informed choices about their Polycystic Liver Disease (PLD), and share my real life experiences in how PLD has affected me.

Please feel free to comment or ask any questions.