Just wanted to pop in with a quick update on my surgery recovery. It's been over a month since I had my appendix removed, and I'm slowly starting to feel like myself again.


The pretty get-well flowers from my coworkers

My surgeon had originally estimated that I'd been feeling back to normal and ready to pick up regular physical activity at the three week mark,

But when three weeks post-op rolled around, I definitely did not feel back to normal. I certainly felt better than I had the week after surgery, but I was still incredibly tired all the time and the thought of attempting a workout was kind of laughable.

I tried to go in to the office one time a week or two after surgery, and it was an epic failure. The commute and hauling my laptop in my work bag completely drained me.

My boss told me to work from home for the foreseeable future, and that's pretty much what I've been doing. I'm grateful to work in a place that has the flexibility for that (and a boss that keeps reminding me that my health is the most important thing and worth taking the time to heal well).

Forcing myself to slow down has been incredibly humbling. As soon as I was medically cleared to workout, I wanted to jump back in. I tried to walk on the treadmill one day, and it was so hard. Walking -- just simple walking -- felt more draining than running a marathon.

I've also tried to do a light weights workout. It was ten minutes total, and I used three pound hand weights and I thought my arms were going to snap off.

That was definitely one of the more frustrating moments of my recovery. Over the last year, I have worked so hard to incorporate regular strength workouts to help with all my muscle imbalances. And to feel like I had a year's worth of progress basically wiped out in a month was incredibly disheartening.

I know logically that surgery recovery takes time, and that strength and endurance can be rebuilt. For all intents and purposes, my recovery is going well. I'm definitely feeling better and moving in the right direction. But boy am I impatient to get back to where I was before.