Jersey Shore star Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi has the cutest post-surgery nurse in her youngest son, Angelo, as she continues to recover from her recent hysterectomy.
“What a journey this has been 🙏🏽,” Snooki, 38, wrote via Instagram on Sunday, August 16.
Snooki shared a photo of her and Angelo, 7, cuddling as the reality star laid in a hospital bed. (Snooki is also mom to son Lorenzo, 13, and daughter Giovanna, 11, whom she shares with husband Jionni LaValle.)
In addition to the sweet snap of the mother-son duo, Snooki included a selfie featuring the reality star with her parents, Helen and Andrew Polizzi, as they visited her in the hospital.
Snooki’s post also featured a glimpse of her returning home as she continues to recover from surgery. She shared a snap of her snuggling with her dog Rocky as she laid in bed. Angelo made a second appearance as he held up a camera.
Snooki showed off a crocheted pink uterus and a pair of socks featuring a cheeky message that read, “I’ve got 99 problems, but a uterus ain’t one.”
Several of Snooki’s Jersey Shore costars sent love her way as both Paul “DJ Pauly D” DelVecchio and Deena Cortese replied with several heart emojis.
Earlier this year, Snooki was diagnosed with stage I cervical cancer. Four months after receiving her diagnosis in April, the MTV personality underwent a hysterectomy as part of her treatment plan.
“It’s starting to get dark. [I think] my surgery ended at 9:30 or 10:00. I’m going to be honest with you: not great,” she said in an August Instagram video. “I told you guys, in general, I’m not good with pain, and I’ve really been trying to be tough, but it’s not great. The reason is because we did that C-section cut, and [my doctor] ended up taking out the uterus, my cervix and some parts of my vagina just to make sure we get everything.”
Snooki explained that her surgeon did not remove her fallopian tubes or ovaries so she “doesn’t go into pre-menopause.”
“The good thing is, obviously I’ve had three kids, so when you have kids, your abs disconnect,” Snooki said, referring to diastasis recti, a condition that can affect pregnant individuals as their abdominal muscles separate in order to accommodate a growing fetus. “[My doctor] ended up putting them back together, which is nice, because they were totally separated from my three kids.”
Snooki shared that the early stages of recovery were difficult for her due to the “pain.”
“I’m doing my best and I’m trying to stay optimistic,” she emotionally shared. “I hope I sleep tonight. I have a heating pad, so that’s helping. We got my fan, I have a ton of ginger ale and, yeah, we’ll see what happens tomorrow. … The first couple days is hell, and then it’s going to get better, so I’m trying to stay in good spirits.”
