Roger W. Smith, FRCS

I had my TT surgery 18hours ago and I am so grateful to God to be alive! The main reason I didn't start my journey earlier was because I thot I wouldn't come back to finish it! I'm so SCARED of anaesthesia! I am saying a BIG MASSIVE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE ONE ON THIS FORUM! U made ALL the difference Updated on 23 Mar 2013: Been in hospital for 2 nights now and might be going home later today. I've just had my drains removed. Thanks to RealSelf members I was well prepared for the pain. It wasn't unbearable thank God. I'm walking upright and feeling great. I'm asking for more painkillers as I can't deal with a lot of pain. So far so good.Updated on 30 Mar 2013:This is certainly to mean feat. No walk in the park! No matter what metaphors or euphemisms you decide to use or understand, we have to know that this is not an easy surgery. It's very easy to come on this wonderful site and read all the wonderful comments left by other wonderful members. As I trawl through the site in my comatose state( I've been having a number of these pre and post op) I've often come upon different stories but the underlying core of each one is that people tend to heal better when they have support. Family members. Close friends. Support is support. I sadly came across another review and I realised that not only was the lady 'not happy at all with her decision to get surgery' But I think she has now fallen into a depressive state. I really prayed all was well with her after reading her story. But the point I'm trying to get across I guess is we all need to know ourselves truly. You can't come on a blog and read how great everyone is doing and decide on the back of that to go through a major life changing surgery without putting everything in your personal life into perspective. The truth of the matter is we all fare differently to adversities in our lives. We all have different levels of support from families and friends. As for me, my husband is my ONLY support. So apart from looking after 3kids in my downtime, he has to care for me as well! No easy task by any standard. Luckily the children all under 10 are on Easter break so I have another 2 weeks to get my act together! I'm exuberantly grateful for having had this procedure but I know I will not be going through this major surgery ever again God willing! Please for anyone embarking on this journey get your MIND prepared! If our bodies was all we needed to get prepped then that would be easy if not comical as this is the reason why we are all here in the first place. But I strongly believe the mind is most important of all. There will be down days. And more days! But as long as you know in a few months, you will start to reap the benefits of your surgery, then it's only a matter of time. As my DH husband says, you have to go through the process to get to the promise! Happy healing to everyone out there! I'm 9 days PO and looking forward to a lot of milestones! Wishing everyone a peaceful and happy Easter. God bless you all. [RS bleep]Updated on 6 May 2013:6 weeks PO and I'm very happy and grateful for this milestone! Had a few bumpsin the road, a very painful abscess which had to be punctured and drained for a week. Antibiotics were also prescribed. Started my scar treatment with Mepiform which my PS recommended and hoping for near perfect results. I haven't started any real exercise yet as I've been simply too lazy. Will start with some wiifit plus and take it from there. It's been challenging at times but for Gods grace, all is well. I look fabulous in clothes and my hubby can't keep his eyes off me! Appreciating the new me. Seeing my PS again in 6 weeks. That's when he's going to take a 'finished picture' I hope I won't disappoint him:-) I hope everyone's doing great. Happy healing to us all!