I realize that I haven't written about my "NIGHTMARE NEIGHBOR". My recuperation has been daunted by my upstairs neighbor. The mother has started staying at her boyfriend's house somewhere else and lets her child (she must be anywhere from 17-19 years old) stay upstairs with her boyfriend. They have friends in and out all night, they yell, stomp, slam doors, etc. all night long. I live in an apartment and have called management on several occasions, even before my surgery. I spoke to the mother about this to let her know that when she doesn't stay home, me and my DD do not get any sleep. She insinuated that I was lying and I informed her that she is not here, so she doesn't know. The last time I spoke to her, she said to just bear with her because she is moving out at the end of the month.. (not a good answer for me - I wanted her to say she would make sure she was at home at night)

Since that time, I have had to get up several times in the middle of the night to tell this child to be quiet. She is, without a doubt, the most disrespectful child I have ever met. She used the f word and asked me what she was doing wrong? I told her that I did not have to tell her what she is doing wrong and informed her that she should be mature enough to know that she is being too loud and should have respect for those that live around her. (There was another occasion in which I lost my temper and told her what I thought of her - it was not pretty - I have been a single mom most of my adult life and can hold my own, but getting in a shouting match does not make things better, it just makes it worse.)....

I have called management and they have told me they would take care of it.....(has not been taken care of)

I have lived here six years, have NEVER been late with my rent and have never had to go through something like this in all the time I have lived here. You would think that management would be more agressive about the situation, being that this has been going on for about 2 1/2 months.

So, I have decided that apartment living is not for me anymore and while I have nothing to do, I have gotten pre-approved for a home loan and contacted a real estate agent that I know so that she can start looking for a house for me and my DD.

In the meantime, I have lost all patience with the situation so I stay up at night and sleep during the day. I get VERY angry when it wakes me up, so I figure it would be best for me to just stay awake so that I don't lose my temper....

It stinks because if there is something I have to do during the day, I do it after getting no sleep. My DD is sick, so I had to ride with her to the doctor yesterday (she is seventeen) - I had gotten only 2 hours of sleep the night before......I was so tired last night, I had a crying pity party for myself....I went to sleep at 4:00 am and woke up once to check on my DD this morning and then went back to sleep and did not wake up until about an hour ago......I feel so much better!!!

I guess I can look at it as my glass being half full - I would have never taken the step to start looking for house were it not for this.....

My recup: I am still in pain, but it is bearable...no pain meds for over a week!! I am not recovering like I thought I would and do not see myself going back to work on Feb. 7th.....so I am just going to wait until the 14th to go back.

My friend called in sick to come see me today.....she is a workaholic like me, so this was really sweet.....I was a little worried about the ride, but she talked me into going to her house for a change of scenery.... (She drove, only 5 miles away and no gravel or dirt roads - she talked me into it because her husband was going to be working late, so her house would be quiet) We watched a movie, she cooked dinner and then we watched American Idol.....we laughed until we BOTH hurt! (My pillow was with me, by the way).....I am feeling so much better!! I hope this is not a temporary thing.. If I am feeling this good by Friday, I am going to call the doc to have my post-op appointment moved up. I just do not see myself staying away from work for a full six weeks!!

Well, my DD was at her boyfriend's family's farm and realized that her friend had accidently left her.....(she rode with someone out there instead of taking her car) To make a long story short, there was absolutely no one to bring her home and she had to be at work in 2 hours....... So here I go, in my pajama pants, a tee-shirt, hair looking like crap, no make-up, to my car......I get in, get adjusted, and realize that I am going to have to get gas.....I thought, "this is just great, I am going to have to get out in front of all these people looking like I am homeless and everybody is going to stare." I made it to the gas station, pumped gas and as I was pulling out, a lady pulling in was honking at me and pointing at the rear of my car - I rolled my window down and she said "you didn't put your gas top back on".....It was then that I knew for certain that I had no business leaving home.

I drove real slow down bumpy gravel and dirt roads and finally got to the farm and turned the driving over to my DD. Well, like most teenagers, she takes off like a bat out of ****!!! I moaned like no other!!! She realized what she had done and started driving approximately 5 miles per hour and looking at me every time we went over a bump.....Of course, by this time, I am not very comfortable, and getting rather anxious to get home, and I tell her she can drive faster because my organs fell out when we initially left the farm.....

I am home now, sore as can be, and I swear I will not break any more rules....this is a promise...

Tomorrow will be two weeks post-op. I just read my last entry and had a good laugh....boy, was I in full swing hormonal mode!! I had a pity party on the 10th day, cried like a baby.....But after making everybody I could possibly think of feel sorry for me -Mom, Dad, daughter, brother, 2 cousins and 5 friends (me calling them, not them calling me) and last, but not least, the wonderful people on this website,.. I am feeling better. I think I am on the path to getting my real self back....Maybe my one ovary is finally out of shock and is actually doing what it is supposed to do so that I am not on the verge of insanity at any given moment......

This week has been pretty lousy. I am 8 days post-op. I am tired of t.v., tired of crossword puzzles, tired of talking to my dog, tired of magazines, tired of having to ask my DD to do everything, tired of reading this site, tired of having MAJOR gas, tired of having to get up every time I sit down because I cannot find the remote or the cordless phone, and most of all, I am tired of the pain. I am just plain grumpy. NOW........ I feel better. I had to vent. Tomorrow will be a better day....I can feel it.

My 17-year-old daughter and I left home at 5:15 am on 1/3/05. We get along like best friends and were laughing about her driving all the way there. She can get lost in a department store parking lot and, of course, she took a wrong turn going to the hospital. We finally arrived at 5:45 am and my surgery was scheduled for 7:15 a.m.

Before I knew it, I was in the lovely "show your hiney" gown with very fashionable blue footies to compliment the gown. After my I.V. was in place, I said goodbye to my daughter, Dad, and Mom.

I remember the surgery room and being told that I was going to breathe in some oxygen.....the next thing I knew, I was in my room and everybody was looking at me like I had the plague. I asked if everything went well and was informed that I was just fine. My daughter politely informed me that I looked like crap.

I had that wonderful pump of which I abused during my entire stay. I see no need in hurting if you do not have to. My Mom is a nurse and said for me to stop pushing it....she said I should only need it when I am in extreme pain. I was smart though.....I would ask her to go do something for me and as soon as she left the room, I was pressing to my heart's content. (It beeps - I couldn't get away with it when she was in the room.)

That night was pretty rough....I began to hurt even with the continous pushing of the button (my mom was asleep) and they gave me toradol and phenergan.....I began to itch all over and finally realized, after scratching a layer of my skin off from head to toe, that I needed some benedryl. After taking the benedryl, I was much better.

My doctor came in to see me at 8:00 a.m. on 1/4/05. I asked him if I could go home....He looked at my chart and then asked if I was serious. I told him that I would much rather be miserable in my own bed than in that awful thing I was laying in at the time. He said if I passed gas, I could go home that day......Well, this was funny to me. I asked the nurse how I could prove that I had passed gas....she said they would believe me....I informed her that I would hit the nurse button and fart in the speaker when they answered....then they would know and I could go home. They got a good laugh out of that one. Anyway, I did pass gas and I was home by 5:00 p.m. on 1/4/05.

I did okay at home until 2:30 in the a.m. I needed to get up to go to the restroom and couldn't get up. I used the house phone to call my daughter's cell phone (she was asleep in her bedroom), but she would not answer. I felt like the lady who had fallen and couldn't get up. It took me one hour to figure out that I had to ROLL out of bed...My belly was so swollen, it was like rolling on one of those big balls the kids play with at little gyms....

I was feeling much better yesterday, but had a setback because I had to go to the doctor's office to have my staples removed - the ride and too much movement caused extreme pain.

I am feeling better again today - just going to take it easy. My Mom is coming to vacuum and wash clothes and I have my kid running errands...I am a control freak, so I know I will be critiquing everything they are doing and aggravating them into frustration...Gotta have fun sometime!!

By the way, my pathology report came back.....I had endometriosis of the uterus (we did not know this), and I am officially cancer free!!!!

When my doctor visited with me the morning after my TAH, I told him about this site and how much it helped me through this trying time. He asked if I could bring him some information about Hyster Sisters......I had already printed out a faq sheet and put it in my bag to take to the hospital, just in case the subject came up and he was interested. I gave him the information and he was really impressed and said he would look into it and maybe start recommending the site to his patients....

Thanks so much, sisters, for helping me through this trying time!!


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35, cervical cancer, TAH on 1/3/05