Lost my NSV virginity

Today I had my first NSV

I swam 40 lengths today in the pool - 1km!! To many that might seem like not a lot but to me it's a really big deal.

1 year ago there is no way I would have managed that. I had severe hip pain that was really affecting what I could do and last year I had two sets of surgery on my hips to address the pain. I had bone growths on the ball of both hips that had destroyed the cartilage and hurt like a b****. So I had 2 separate surgeries to remove the growths and the damaged cartilage. I was out of action for a while after and was seriously at the point of wondering if I'd be able to do any sport again.

Part of my rehab after surgery was hydrotherapy. I was very conscious of my scars from the surgery - they're small but are noticeable as two marks across the top of each leg and was nervous of getting in the water. I was also conscious of my weight as I couldn't exercise and had gained some pounds. It so happened that another patient saw me in my swimsuit and made a comment to me - pointing out my scars, laughing at them and asking me if I had been machine gunned across the top of my legs because they looked a 'f****** mess'. I was 18 at the time of this and came out of that physio session in tears.

My surgeon recommended gentle swimming to me for recovery which meant going to a public pool. My mum had to physically hold my hand and walk me to the pool I was so scared someone would say something about my scars or my weight. I struggled to swim and was self conscious about my body and scars the entire time I was there.

1 year on and I swim in a bikini, don't give two thoughts about my scars and can actually swim constantly. I swim with my mum and she's also made comments that I've lost weight from my tummy. So all in all I'm a happy camper :happy:

I apologise for the essay, if you got this far well done!!! So yeah, just to share that and to say that if anybody else is self conscious about getting their body out in public, don't be - the weight won't go away if you stay covered up inside. And your confidence certainly won't grow if you stay in the house :flowerforyou: