In the summer of 1989, I took five weeks off from work to have a Hysterectomy.
He sent the fibroid off and said it was not cancer.
He also said that I could not do any heavy lifting or driving for 5 to 6 weeks after the surgery.
I remember checking in at the Hospital in Muscle Shoals, where I was prepped for surgery.
I hate knives and the thought of being cut is terrifying, so needless to say, I was very nervous about the upcoming surgery.
When my nurse came in, she said Are you nervous about the surgery? I said yes.
Then the nurse said, "I am going to give you a shot; it will relax you."
The surgery went well, and I was up walking the next day.
During the surgery, my abdomen was filled with air.
My stomach looked & felt like a balloon ready to pop.
They gave me an enema to relieve the gas, but it did not work.
The nurse said that I needed to walk to relieve the gas.
I walked up and down the hospital's halls but found no relief.
Finally, I went to the restroom and found relief; it sounded like air from a hot-air balloon or a stack of whoopee Cushions.
I was released from the hospital, and my middle son came to the hospital to pick me up.
I had a prescription to fill, so we stopped at Kmart's Pharmacy in Muscle Shoals.
The prescription was for the pain; it was Tylenol with codeine.
The doctors wanted me to walk, so I walked inside K-mart with my son to get the prescription filled.
A week after I came home from the hospital, my daughter-in-law said We are going to the Birmingham Zoo. Do you want to go? We can rent a wheelchair to push you around.
I had been cooped up in the house for a week since my stay in the hospital, and I was ready to get out.
It takes about 2.5 hours to drive to the Birmingham Zoo. When we arrived, we purchased tickets and rented a wheelchair.
I was still very sore from the surgery, and as I was pushed into the wheelchair, I could feel every bump and pothole that we hit.
It made me appreciate people who have to ride in wheelchairs all the time, especially those who use rented ones with no extra padding.
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| Riding in a Wheelchair |
At the Birmingham Zoo, we saw the African elephants throwing dirt onto their backs. We saw giraffes eating leaves from very tall trees. We visit the cages of the Siberian tiger, the roaring lions, the cheetah, the Black Panthers, the Snow leopard, and the Jaguar.
We visited Monkey Island, which housed hundreds of monkeys.
We saw a family of gorillas with the mother feeding her young.
We went into the reptile house and saw rattlesnakes, copperheads, coral snakes, Boas, anacondas, dragon monsters, chameleons, helmet lizards, Iguanas, and many different species of frogs.
Our next stop was to see the Roman God Vulcan atop Red Mountain, who overlooks Birmingham. The Vulcan is 56 feet tall, and there is an elevator that takes you to an overlook encircling the statue.
I had a wonderful time at the Birmingham Zoo & The Vulcan, but was sore the next day, and I had to take several Tylenol with codeine for pain.
A few weeks later, I rode to the Space and Rocket Center with my son and his wife.
This trip was also fun, but I had to take Tylenol with codeine because my stomach had not completely healed from the surgery.
I spent my time sunbathing on my back porch during the day.
I spent time at the Birmingham Zoo, at the Vulcan, and at the Space and Rocket Center with family.
I went back to the doctor for my six-week check-up, and the doctor said I could go back to work.
I was ready to head back to work, and it was wonderful to be behind the wheel of my own car.
