Sorry for the long message but....

I am a little over a week away from my date at the castle. I am concerned about the following things and wanted to see if anyone else had any of these concerns pre-op:

I've got a list of stuff I need to do before I go into the castle, but I am having a real hard time focusing and I'm sleeping alot.

I've been anemic, and have been taking Slow FE to try and build up my iron, but it makes me gassy, bloated, sometime constipated and nauseated. Sooo I've been loading up on the fiber, water and walking when I can, but I have an anal fissure that is driving my crazy with pain. My fear is that it will get worse in the castle with the pain meds they will give me.

It's wierd, but I have no fear of the surgery... I'm just worried about my rear end, LOL.

I am going to try and take it slow this week, my pre-op visit is the 7th. HOWEVER,
My boss keeps reminding me that we only have "so many days left" before I'm out, every time I call her to tell her I'm not feeling too well - due to the heavy periods, anemia, and digestive issues. She is not very suppportive. It's like she thinks I'm having elective surgery, not going in for a large ovarian cyst they don't want to rupture, and dysfunctional bleeding....I just don't know if I can make it in to work every day next week... anyway.. I'm going to put myself first... and let everything else follow, RIGHT?

Please let me know if any of you have dealt with these challenges and how you did it!

BTW - My DH and my Mom are very supportive of me and are helping me every way they can - thank God for them!

Shark - TAH - BSO, soon......
Shark

Dear Shark,
I too was totally unfocussed for days before my surgery. I was lucky in that I had a very short time from when I got my date until I went it, but I would start something and just not finish it, or I would do things that weren't on the list.
At a certain point I decided it really didn't matter.
Check your list, see what you think is REALLY important and try to do that (or delegate if you can!).

with regards to the constipation issues: I've had an anal fissure so I know what you are talking about!!!!! I also have hypothyriodism, which doesn't help with constipation.
I knew I would have problems and started taking stool softeners when I got out of hospital - but frankly that was too late and I went through 2 days of absolute H**L!!!! -- which really didn't help my overall sense of recovery ... however once I got on the softeners I was (and am) fine.

I STRONGLY suggest you ask the dr if you can start taking softeners right away, as soon as you start eating solid foods.


best wishes for your surgery and your recovery
Cheryl