I was interviewed for an article by Concordia University journalism students Olivia Johnson & Luca Caruso-Moro.
Visit the web page here: http://thecitymag.concordia.ca/overcoming-day-schools/
6 Weeks Post Tummy Tuck
It’s been 6 weeks since my extended tummy tuck surgery! I had a lot of excess fat and skin removed (apron belly). My scar extends around my hips and is also around my “new” belly button. I will be posting pics on Insta today or tomorrow, @SheWalksAboutNDN.
I still have a lot of swelling and can barely see my waist line but it seems to be coming back. I still have a seroma, doing warm compresses 2-3 times a day. Many of my stretch marks are below my belly button, I’m a mother of three and I expect to still have them. I didn’t decide to do the tummy tuck to chase some unobtainable notion of perfection but I did fight hard to lose 75 pounds and I was tired of the apron belly that I had for many years.
My surgical nurse told me it could take months or up to a year for a tummy tuck to fully heal. I will have substantial swelling for at least 3-6 months. I imagined that this was something I could power through and recover quickly but this is a big deal. My advice to anyone considering a tummy tuck is to give yourself at least 2 weeks off of work. I could have used another week or two, especially with the seroma complication and extended length of time that I had drains. Fortunately, I did not need pain killers for a long period of time. After two days post-op, I only used them at night for another week to help the pain subside so that I could get to sleep.
The good news is that I can return to the gym later this week! It’ll be slow and steady for a while – no ab or core workouts for at least 3 months. Very excited to get moving again!!
Wahéhshon 🙂
NETOLNEW Project
I am a full-time PhD student and a mother of three so I usually work part-time. I know a few wonder women who work full-time while doing full-time studies but that is too much for me with my health and workout regimen. This month I started a new part-time job for the Kahnawà:ke Education Center (KEC) as an Educational Research Assistant on the NETOLNEW Indigenous language revitalization project.
Kahnawà:ke has a long history of language revitalization going back about fifty years. Our community is often looked at as a model of Indigenous language revitalization efforts. From 2017 to 2018, I worked on Skátne Enionkwaió’ten with Kahtehrón:ni Iris Stacey and a team of community members to create a five-year strategic plan for language revitalization in Kahnawà:ke. It was wonderful and rewarding work (and challenging) but when my contract ended, I had to focus on completing my Master’s at Concordia University (which I did in June 2019).
This time around, the KEC is partnering with NETOLNEW to focus on adult second language learners (the “missing generation”). Our work will focus on supporting Karonhianónhnha Immersion School staff & teachers. I was excited at this new opportunity for the KEC to further some of the goals that were set in the language plan with Skátne Enionkwaió’ten. Walking the talk!! We also have two new project facilitators for Skátne Enionkwaió’ten but I remain connected to the project as a member of the advisory committee and the web developer/webmaster for the project website that I created. I hoped that by creating a website for the Skátne Eionkwaió’ten language plan that we would help inform other communities attempting to take a similar approach to language revitalization.
One way or another, I end up working in language & culture revitalization. I am so thankful to have this chance to continue doing very meaningful work in my home community. It has helped me to grow and sparked some new ideas for my future work. That’s all for now, looking forward to this new role 🙂
Skennenhkó:wa,
Wahéhshon – “She Walks About”
Starting my PhD program
I started my PhD program this month at McGill University in Montreal (PhD in Educational Studies). My summer off was great but it went by so fast! I have to admit that I am not looking forward to doing course work again but I’m hoping it won’t be so bad. It was hard to say goodbye to Concordia after so many years there. I built up this support network for myself and other students and made many friends. It’s hard to start over.
The vibe at McGill is very different from Concordia. I think it might be tough to find my place in this new community at first considering that I only have one course on campus and it’s in the evenings every other week. Basically, I am never on campus! I guess PhD student life is like that.
I am taking a mandatory seminar class with the chair of our department. It’s nice that I get to meet my entire PhD cohort. My peers are doing very different and interesting research project. I’m hoping we’ll bond to support each other because grad student life is so isolating. So far, so good!
Starting a whole other journey with this PhD thing, let’s see where it takes me.
In Peace & Friendship,
Wahéhshon