Day 15 & 16

15
Today I had to get up very early for work (before 6am) to have my bath, get ready and get there for 7.
This was not too bad, though I stayed up fairly late. Sleeping is more comfortable now, despite sharing my bed at the moment with my friend who's here for the weekend. I can sleep in my usual position now, which is great. I'm fussy about pyjamas though, those which are too tight or have a seam which irritates the area are no good, obviously.

Work was not too bad for the first couple of hours, then I started to feel awful. Really weak, which I thought was just the early start, and itchy (which I assumed was my stitches). I went to the toilet and realised I had just come on my period, quite heavily. I took some painkillers - I have stopped taking them over the last few days, but now I really needed them. I had a couple of towels in my bag, as I've been carrying them around in case my stitches bleed. I put one on. After a few minutes it was unbearably itchy and annoying. I changed it after an hour or so for a clean one but it was the same.

In my lunch break (which I had to take early) I went and bought a new packet of thinner pads, with wings. I don't usually use them, I prefer tampons, but the doctors had advised not to use them for 2-6 weeks...it has only been 2 so I decided to play it safe. I felt disgusting and was in a lot of pain for the rest of the day - I concluded that after doing even less exercise than usual this month, my period pains were much worse than usual. I always find that the more exercise I do before my period, the less pain I have when it comes. But there's no way I could have moved around any more between the operation and now! So I'm hoping the pain won't last too long. I'm taking a lot of ibuprofen.

I had a bath when I got home and I felt much better after washing the blood away, and was able to confirm that all the bleeding was menstrual and not from my stitches. I had a nap for an hour and felt much better again. I put in a tampon (applicator, like I usually use) to see how it felt - it was fine. I thought the string might aggravate the stitches but I couldn't feel it! I felt much cleaner and much better.

Which was lucky really, as it was my flatmate's birthday and we had planned a party at the house. I felt alright after my nap so I helped her organise and clean the living room and while people were arriving and we started drinking, everything felt fine. It was lovely to see my friends after feeling so isolated, especially in a relaxed setting. About an hour later I went to the bathroom and freaked out slightly. My underwear was full of blood which was smeared all over my legs, even though I was wearing a tampon. I tried to wipe it all up and check if it was coming from the stitches. Thankfully, it wasn't. I must just be having an unusually heavy period. I should probably stop being so quick to panic about blood and pain, but it's better to be safe than sorry!

Anyway, I gently pulled out my tampon and put in a bigger one. It's worth mentioning, my labia itch considerably when I first insert the tampon, which seems like a warning sign, but everything's fine after a minute or so. The rest of the night was ok, I was able to relax and enjoy myself. Everyone else went out at around 12 but I decided to stay in and get some rest. It's been a long day!


16
This morning I overslept, having been unable to sleep because I was in a lot of pain with cramps. I called in sick to work as I was already very late, and felt awful. Spent most of the day in bed, trying to do work, but could not really concentrate. My friend who's staying at the moment was out most of the day, but he tried to persuade me to go out with him. I declined, I'm too tired. I don't feel like doing anything.