I thought I knew what recovering from a hysterectomy would look like. Pain. Rest. Wounds healing. What I hadn't thought through was doing all of that while being dropped, instantly, into surgical menopause. This is a diary of the first nineteen days: the bruising and the bloating, the hot flushes, the words that simply aren't there any more, and the slow realisation that at 48 I now have to think about my bones. Candid, unpolished, and absolutely not medical advice.