Yesterday marked the one-month anniversary of my intimate date with the OR. A near-total hysterectomy, sparing my only healthy-looking organ in there: my trusty right ovary.

It feels like it happened yesterday. It feels like it happened a lifetime ago.

Really, it depends on the day.

The human body is incredible in its ability to heal itself. I still have good and bad days, and even good and bad hours, but overall my recovery feels on track. Looking back over the past 30 days, I’m pleased with my progress – and not a moment too soon, as I’m headed back to the virtual office on Monday.

Last night, we were working on a few minor household updates – or, more accurately, Tom was, and I was doing laundry and cleaning out my foundation garment & sock drawers. Last weekend, with the limitations of my recovery looming over us on a beautiful sunny day, we got a wild hair and updated nearly all of the hardware in the house, changing the glaring gold and crappy chrome to brushed nickel and oil-rubbed bronze, giving the 90s honey oak everything a new, warm look. Tom, gardener’s kneepad supportively below, took care of the faucets and (15!) doorknobs, while I waved an electric screwdriver over something like 87 closet, cabinet, and drawer pulls. Now that it’s done, I can’t believe we lived with it that long!

Of course, as we’ve moved around the house, we’ve noticed a few additional things that just have to go as well, like paper towel holders and lighting arrays.

I’ve lost track of the number of trips to Menards.

Anyway, I was folding laundry as Tom stood on a bathroom vanity, wrestling with a new matte black fixture featuring large speckled globes and candelabra bulbs. I stopped to take a brief rest – it was a big movement day, including a slow climb up the famed campus hill and Korean corn dog lunch date with friends – sinking into the wide-waled corduroy on the reclining couch.

As I stretched back, I remembered the first week or so of my recovery, when I couldn’t – or maybe more accurately, knew I shouldn’t – push the cushy legrest in from the upright position. If the boys weren’t nearby and I needed to get up, I would carefully slide down the incline and shift off to the side, finding my knees and then performing a modified get-up to find a stand.

I don’t need to do that anymore!

The first weekend, I was hobbling around Costco. By the second week, I felt good enough to tackle some continuing education for my ACE certification. Weekend two, some walking, but mostly eating and gift-shop-shopping, at a nearby river town. Week three, some surprising new fatigue, but managed abbreviated loop walks with my boys and neighbor Moms. I discovered, and enjoyed, a series of hysterectomy recovery exercise videos from Jessica Valant Pilates. Tuesday and yesterday, I hit some new highs for puttering mileage. I’m not doing long, ten-mile break-free walks (or runs, or HIITs, or yoga or heavy weightlifting, grrrr) like I was on February 12, but I’m getting there.

It’s funny – when I scheduled my surgery for February, I figured I’d be stuck inside for most of my recovery due to snow, ice, and generally miserable winter conditions. I charged up my ancient iPad and readied myself for slow treadmill walks paired with Netflix mind candy. In reality, I only did that a handful of times (with the recently-launched Somebody Feed Phil, FTR). Ice and snow were here & gone, replaced by steady sunshine and clear sidewalks. And yesterday, it was 67 degrees. Yup. The weirdest Minnesota winter on record.

My Apple Watch is continuing to annoy me. Apparently the AI-designed monthly challenges get tougher based on one’s cumulative performance, and as I had gone into surgery in the best shape of my 40s, it has high expectations I’m now falling well short of. “Your total mileage/calorie burn/stand minutes/walking pace is down.” Well, yes it is. I’m doing my best here, Apple!

My weight has actually ticked down, which I wasn’t expecting given the lack of movement, though I have been careful with my diet. I’ve never eaten so much fruit! Grapes. Clementine oranges. Apples. Berries all and berries sundry. Sectioned and sweetened Del Monte grapefruit from an enormous plastic container found above the salad mixes in the produce section. The Easter candy has arrived at the house, though, and I will admit to sneaking (perhaps more than) a few pieces, because Easter candy is the best holiday candy.

I’m about five pounds from a low of my 40s, so I have a new goal to reach as I’m able to get back to my routine. Just gotta be sure it’s not all muscle loss! I’m hoping to be cleared for more activity near the end of the month, though I’ll continue to be limited for much longer.

Random: There are lots of mile-long, expensive lists of Things to Buy for Your Hysterectomy Recovery, but I’ve found I’ve relied on only a few items. Teas, along with sippable bone broths, have been warm and comforting. Waistbands still bug me, especially if I’m sitting upright for a period of time. Leggings tend to dig in a bit too much, so I’ve been partial to joggers from Pact and Vuori to make for a comfortable day. Recliners are still very much my friend (particularly now that I can get out of them). I still grab an ice pack from time to time, inserted into this comfy, huggable pillow.

On to Healing, Phase Two.