Neediing a bit of support... but still LOVING LIFE!!

[MirandaLey]

Hi everyone!

I hope you are all doing awesome on your personal journeys towards recovery. I've been out of the program for several weeks now and have never been better! I plan to run through it once more in a month or so when things settle down in my life. As of right now I'm reading From Panic to Power by Lucinda Bassett and find it a nice refresher.

First of all I am SO proud of myself because I will be headed for surgery next week and I am handling everything SO well. I'm getting my gallbladder out sometime nexdt week -- not sure the exact date yet. I'm only 26, I'm in really good shape and eat great (thanks in part to this program) but due to family history of gallbladder disease it has plagued me for a year or more now!

I find that I am looking forward to my surgery with a mixture of excitement and aprehension. I've had a c-section so a gallbladder removal compared to that is super easy, especially since they do it laproscopically (they don't have to cut you open just go in through several small holes). But they will be putting me under which makes me a bit nervous! For my caesarean I had a spinal block but was awake. However it's not my first time -- I had my wisdom teeth out in 2006.

So I'm just a little bit nervous. But I'm doing my relaxation tape at least once a day, I'm trying to stay positive and just be super gentle on myself. I typed up a page of positive affirmations tailored to me and my situation, and I'm going to print it out and read it all the time!

I'd love some support from the community!

[MirandaLey]

Just wanted to update everyone -- I had the surgery and everything went really well! I stayed calm and really impressed myself. Even though it was a scary time, I managed to use my skills to get through it.

The hardest part was to not get carried away with what if thoughts. I had to go and wait in the pre-op room and for the first part my husband and baby were with me but then they had to leave. I still had about an hour to wait so instead of spending that time worrying, I used positive self-talk, prayer and distraction to keep me upbeat and energized.

Following the surgery I was really gentle on myself and told myself to expect to feel a little weird, anxious or depressed after -- it turns out depression is pretty common after any kind of surgery. But I'm thankful to say it hasn't been a problem.

There was one night that was rough, when I had been googling how to get rid of trapped gas pain from the surgery, and I stumbled across a forum where people had been saying some scary stuff about gallbladder removal. I almost panicked for awhile but I got through it with positive self-talk, and I was worried for a few days after but used my skills to not let it bother me and now I'm fine!

[1niceone]

Congratulations on your accomplishments it sounds like you are learning to re program your thinking and letting go of the what If thinking, I have had some triumphs and am not as uptight and stressed, and it sounds like you have the same problem I have I tend to have one symptom and I look it up to, an trying to cut back on that cause it just fuels my negative thinking an learning to be more up than down and not let stress turn into anxiety hope you are celebrating your litte triumphs