A year of Believing - January Update #R2BC

At the beginning of the year I decided on the word 'Believe' as my guiding word for the year. The aim is that when I am stuck and not sure what I am doing or where I am going I need to believe that I'm on the right path, that God has got my back and that I can do this (whatever this may be).

January generally has been a really good month, I have been very gentle with myself and my expectations of what I'd achieve have been low, so there has been plenty of downtime to think, pray and read. It's amazing with all that time to ponder I have been thinking about work and what I want from life and I feel like I have some clarity.

Work and Volunteering
I've made the decision to finish another one of my voluntary roles at Easter and this will free up time to either find paid work or do other voluntary work that better meets my needs and skills. I've realised that I don't enjoy directly working with kids and I am much better in a HR, training, coaching or organisational role. I don't want to settle for something that doesn't set my heart on fire any more.

I met with the Volunteer Co-ordinator of the local Children's Centre and I am going along at the end of February for a course and hopefully afterwards there will be some volunteering opportunities that I am really interested in, things like running parenting courses or supporting new parents. I'm also keeping my eyes open for paid jobs but I have quite specific requirements as I can't see the point of working for really low pay in the wrong kind of role when I can earn decent money writing.

My Health
I had the operation I've been waiting for and I believe it has been a success. I felt like I was in limbo before it, just waiting to feel better and to have some energy again. I'm now a couple of weeks after my operation and life feels different. I really do feel invigorated again and I'm looking forward to it being at least a month after so I can see what my future cycles might be like.

My custom-made orthotic insoles arrived and they are fairly comfortable, although I had conflicting advise from the Podiatrist I saw this time as he felt I didn't need them and I just had to work on my stretching to loosen my calf and ankle muscles. He felt if three months of intensive stretching every day doesn't work then I will need an operation to lengthen the muscles. I am however believing that if I am consistent in my stretching that an operation will not be necessary.

I started to read a very good book called Believing God by Beth Moore, I found it hard to get in to at first but then it started to become more practical and spoke to me. So I am wearing a blue ribbon round my wrist for the next six months as a gentle reminder to make choices that are kind to me. I'm also trying to journal daily about where I have seen God working.

Losing Weight
Monday I have started to take Orlistat, which are fat blockers prescribed by the doctor, they are to aid my weight loss but are not for one minute an easy option. I need to be incredibly careful what I am eating whilst taking them or I could have very violent reactions, which would not be fun. I also have an induction at a new gym (right close to my house) on 22nd February and then I'll be exercising there twice a week on a Tuesday and Thursday evening whilst my girls are at clubs.

So for February I am believing -

1. That my TCRE operation worked and I'll now have normal bleeding for the future
2. That if I consistently keep stretching my leg issues and foot pains will go away
3. That the right work for my skills will come along and I have to believe in God's incredible timing and not take things into my own hands (and get it wrong no doubt)
4. That I will lose weight by eating sensibly and exercising regularly

I'm linking this post up with Becky at Lakes Single Mum for this weeks Reasons to be Cheerful linky.

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My Experience of a TCRE (Trans-cervical Resection of the Endometrium)

Operating Team Image, thanks to Shutterstock

I was keen to write this post as there seems to be very little information on the web about women’s personal experience of having a TCRE. Many, many women suffer in silence with heavy periods and I want to share my positive experience of having a simple day operation that can make the world of difference to your every day life.

A Brief History

I shared in a post a few months ago about how I've suffered with terrible heavy, frequent and painful periods for around a decade now. I honestly cannot tell you why I put up with it for so long, I think it had simply become a part of my life and I'd learnt to live with it. It was only when I was on holiday in May last year and my awful bleeding stopped me enjoying the pool every day with my girls that I realised something had to be done.

I have the most wonderful GP and she sent me off to see the gynae specialist nurse at the Conquest hospital (Hastings, East Sussex) as thankfully she knew I had been suffering for quite some time, having been prescribed Tranexamic Acid and Mefenamic Acid for a few years, as well as having scans for an embedded coil, missing strings and cysts. I was given a hysteroscopy and straight away the specialist nurse could see there were problems and referred me for an ablation of the endometrium.

I was led to believe this would be done by a simple balloon being inflated in me and radio waves passing through to burn off the excess lining of my womb. This is apparently a really simple procedure that the nurse can do, however she told me as my womb was quite enlarged (she didn't think it had ever fully shrunk back after having my twins) that it would be better to be done by one of the consultants with a general anaesthetic.

Meeting my Consultant

When I met the consultant he reviewed my notes and said he didn't feel I was suitable for the ablation due to the size of my uterus, the thickness of my endometrium and also the presence of fibroids. He felt it would be better to do my surgery the old fashioned way, which would mean him using a hysteroscope to see what needed to be taken away and then burning it away accordingly.

He told me I was very overweight and this could make the surgery more complex and he went through the risk factors with the surgery and what could go wrong, telling me I had a 70-80% success rate for the surgery. With those odds, I was happy to progress as I just needed some respite from the constant heavy bleeding.

Reasons to be Cheerful - I've had my Operation!

Happy Thursday, I hope you are well.

I had to write this and get it scheduled on Tuesday as Wednesday at 7.30am I went to the hospital for my scheduled operation and who knows what time they would get around to doing it, so the last thing I needed was to be worrying about getting my R2BC post out.

Hopefully if you are reading this Thursday morning (or after) I am lying in bed recovering from the operation and the general anaesthetic that came with it. I'm secretly really looking forward to Thursday and Friday being down days where I just read, watch TV and get waited on!

On the one hand I was nervous for the operation as they always scare you when you meet the consultant in advance and they tell you what could go wrong but I have put my faith in God and know that whatever happens will come to good.

I'm so thankful that we have our NHS in the UK. Of course it isn't perfect and in some areas it is better than others but I've been lucky and had great service from the Conquest hospital and especially my GP surgery. I really can't praise my local GP's enough, they have fit me in at short notice and gone out of their way to make sure my operation can go ahead.