09/03/2026
Surgery #14. Yes… fourteen. But this was actually the first one that was planned.
I’m currently writing this from bed while recovering, so here are the quick facts while I have the energy.
Last year every surgery I had was in full emergency mode. The kind where doctors are just trying to keep you alive. No planning, no prep, just crisis after crisis.
This one was different.
This one was a reconstruction.
My friends affectionately call it the “bellybutton to butthole” surgery. Which is both horrifying and hilarious and very on brand for the reality of my body these days. Because if you can’t laugh sometimes you’ll just cry
All of my surgeries last year were life-saving.
This one was about living and thriving in my body again.
For context, last year my abdomen was opened multiple times, I gained about 50 pounds of water weight, and at one point my abdomen was literally vacuum sealed open for a week before they could close me.
So when they opened me up this time, they also discovered a BONUS surprise hernia.
Apparently this was not shocking to the surgeons, given everything, just to me when I woke up and they were like “oh by the way we fixed that too!”
And honestly? Thank goodness!
Because if I had to recover from this surgery and then come back for surgery #15 in a few months… I would have absolutely lost my mind.
There is something strangely emotional about this one.
Not because it was the biggest surgery.
But because it marks a shift.
Last year was about surviving.
This one is about rebuilding.
And right now that rebuilding looks like a lot of bed rest, slow healing, and a very grateful heart for the doctors who keep helping me piece this body back together and for village that supports me while I do. 💛
