Road To Recovery.

I didn’t remember the first day after the operation. I think my body just needed time to recover a little. I did remember some pain, but this was nothing compared to what was to come.

Day 2 comes around and this is when I became more aware of what is going on around me. More aware of the pain, more aware of the restrictions because of the monitors connected to me and more aware of my isolation. Now things become harder.

Being connected to machines 24/7 was hard. Any wrong movement and there was an alarm. I couldn’t lie how I would normally. My body had worked off most of the anesthetic and I was not sleeping as much I would have wanted, and time seems to move slower. I became more aware that I cannot see my loved ones.

Not seeing my family was incredibly hard. My family and home are my safe space. Thank goodness for technology, at least I could video call my wife and little girl but there is nothing like seeing them in person. I was meant to get out of bed for the first time that day, but I was having a blood transfusion when the physio came to see me, so I was not allowed to get out of bed. This was a massive blow, just feeling the ground under my feet would have given me the confidence boost I needed.

The Sunday night came around and anxiety kicked in. The room was hot because of all the machines, I could not move how I wanted to. Then an extreme case of home sickness came over me. No matter how much I spoke to Shay I could not shake this isolation.

I am very blessed to have a good support group close to me. Helen and Ann are two people in that space, and they hold a very special place in my heart. They are my spiritual leaders and people I trust with anything and everything. I called them late that Sunday night and they calmed me down, helped me refocus and I fell off to sleep. The next day I got out of bed for the first time since the operation. This was massive for my confidence as I knew my recovery was going in the right direction and soon, I would be walking around.