How I Recovered From Major Surgery

Earlier this year I became extremely sick and to cut a long story short ended up having major emergency surgery as a complication from Crohn's Disease. This surgery saved my life. You can read the long version here.

Prior to having my operation, I suffered a lot and I tried every diet under the sun including gluten free, carb-free, anti-inflammatory, vegan and juicing. The problem was because I was so sick with Crohn's Disease I had no energy to be bothered cooking or juicing. I had no energy to even hang out the washing some days and I was in excruciating pain because of a rare Psoas Abscess that wasn't discovered for months!

Here is how I recovered from this trauma.

EXERCISE

My recovery was painful and slow. Today however, I am so fit and healthy that I'm pretty proud of that for a 58 year old woman who went down to only 54 kg at her sickest. My recovery included slowly trying to walk again (now I try and do 10 km a day) and going back to the gym, and I have even hired a personal trainer (yes, she is one of my daughter's who are both PT's). I'm also careful what I eat and what I put into my body.

MINDSET

This one I can't stress enough. When I first found out about how serious things were when I had my surgery, I was terrified and it took me a while to settle down back at home because I would think about 'what if I didn't go to the hospital that day' or 'what if it had caused me to have sepsis' but I had to train my mind to stop thinking about that. Now I realise that I survived something very challenging in my life, and every time I see that scar half way across my stomach it doesn't upset me; it makes me proud of the fact I went through all this and came out better than ever.

GREEN SUPERFOOD POWDER

As much as I love nice fresh juice it's way too much work to get out the juicer, make the juice and then clean it all up. It's not that economical either. I was introduced to Clean Drinks Co green superfood powder which certainly takes away all the hassle with juicing. This powder tastes OK too, and I can actually stomach it whereas many green powders are a little overwhelming for me. This green powder is made of high quality blend of superfoods and not a blend of synthetic chemicals!  They also have a great night-time drink called Rest and Recover made with Turmeric for rest and recuperation. I make mine with unsweetened almond milk as a night time latte. Both these drinks are organic and suitable for vegans.

ANTI INFLAMMATORY FOODS AND LOW CARB DIET

I try to anti inflammatory foods as often as I can such as blueberries, green leafy vegetables, spices such as turmeric. I also prefer to watch my carbs and try to avoid the white devils (white rice, white flour, sugar, table salt and white oils).

HANG OUT IN NATURE

Most days I walk on the beach or try and get into the bush. At the very least I potter in my garden. Nature makes me feel good and taking time out just to enjoy this wonderful planet we live on is a great way to get better. I am very blessed that I now live in a beautiful part of Australia (Mid North Coast) where nature surrounds me everywhere.

PATIENCE

I had to learn to be very patient both in hospital and when I got home. Just turning in bed was a marathon and it took me nearly a month before I could even sleep on my side. I just kept telling myself that each day would get better. It took a few months before I was back to normal and a blood transfusion helped me get there.

I look back at it all now and feel very grateful that I'm still here to tell the story. I never thought I'd feel normal again. I've done this and when you go through something as serious as this you realise that life is very short and we need to look after our bodies and make the most of every day.