In August 2009, an ultrasound turned up a two inch ovarian tumor. At one point, it was a cyst, but throughout the course of its life, it ate the ovary and took over the blood supply. I needed surgery.
While that is devastating news, I only spent about 20 minutes dwelling on it. My emotions wanted to tell me this was the end. I was dying. My mind told me that this was an answer. It was an answer as to why I was tired. It was an answer as to why I couldn’t lose weight. It was an answer as to why my periods were complete and utter torture. Now, all I had to do was get ready for the surgery.
Mental
I only spent about 20 minutes dwelling on the negatives. I might die. There might be complications. I may not heal correctly. Then, I sat back and realized that I didn’t feel any worse today than I did yesterday. I had an answer as to why I felt sick. I could still eat right. I could still go to the gym, and I could still conduct my daily life. The issues with the surgery would come after the surgery. Once I realized that, I got up. There was no point to dwelling on the diagnosis, but I did need to physically prepare myself for the surgery.
Gym
I increased my gym time from three days a week to five days a week. I also hired a personal trainer. I knew the surgery would devastate my core muscles, but I also knew that I wanted to do anything and everything possible to get stronger before the surgery.
During the eight weeks before the surgery, I went from walking at 3mph to jogging for 30 minutes at 5mph. I also concentrated on my abs. I went from being able to do three sets of 20 crunches to three sets of 40 crunches.
Diet
I cut out all fast food. The only fast food I even considered eating was Subway. I also cut out all the sugar from my diet, and started eating five small meals a day consisting of lean meats, vegetables, and rice. I didn’t want to put anything into my body that was even remotely bad for it. My goal was to be as healthy as possible going into the surgery.
Weight
During the eight weeks prior to my surgery, I lost 10 pounds. I went from 180 to 170 and decreased my waist size by three inches. That was a major win. I didn’t want the surgeon cutting through a lot of fat. I figured that would just complicate things and increase my healing time. Plus, the ten pound weight loss meant that I might not gain any extra weight over what I had lost. I knew I’d have to sit and heal for at least eight weeks. During that time, I knew I would gain weight. If I could make it through that healing time without gaining more than 10 pounds, I’d be ahead of the game.