31- Monsoon season in Vietnam and my slow recovery in Hanoi

During the start of monsoon season in Vietnam, I reflect on my slow post-surgery recovery in Hanoi, swollen feet, fragile moments, and missing long walks through the city.

Start of monsoon season in Vietnam

Right now, as I am writing these lines, there is a thunderstorm outside. The thunderclaps are so loud that it gets kind of scary.

Sometimes they make me jump because they sound like a big explosion. One time it hit so violently that we were convinced it must have caused some damage somewhere not far from our place. Good God. I have truly never heard thunder this loud.

I could capture the lightning fromt eh window — Photo credit: Author

When it rains, it quickly becomes unbelievably humid. It almost feels hard to breathe. The air feels like it is 90% water vapor and you are not getting enough oxygen to survive 😅

Well, we are only at the beginning of monsoon season here, and I have heard that once the real monsoon starts in Vietnam in June, it can rain nonstop for days and days.

My recovery seems slow

It has been two weeks since the leg surgery I had in Hanoi, Vietnam, and my feet are still swollen. My right foot is visibly much bigger than the left one because of edema. So I sometimes need to remove my compression garment and keep my legs elevated to help the fluid circulate more efficiently through my body.

To be honest, I am kind of tired of all this. I wish I could walk around more and experience more of Vietnam while I am here, but the condition of my legs has kept my mobility very limited.

Lying in bed with elevated legs — Photo credit: Author

My appetite has also reduced (partly because of the lack of movement), so I have to be selective about what I eat during the day to make sure I still get the nutrients my body needs to heal.

The nature of the pain in my legs changes every 2–3 days, honestly. It started as acute pain, but now it is more local and feels almost like a tickling sensation.

I really hope I can feel better soon and move around more freely without my feet swelling again. I miss walking long distances and exploring every corner of the city!

I feel a strange correlation

It is weird, but I feel some kind of correlation between my leg condition and the sky in Hanoi. Both change rapidly and unexpectedly. Both are a bit unpleasant, and the combination of the two together makes me feel small and weak.

It makes me realize how fragile humans really are. But at the same time, it also makes me think that I need to overcome my fragility as much as I can before it is too late.

I am also worried about losing muscle mass because since the day of the surgery, I have barely walked at all.

Well, I guess that means once I get back to Canada, I will have to get serious about daily hiking in the beautiful Big White mountains 😎 I am so looking forward to it!

Originally published at https://niloogreene.com.

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