Week 9 surgery

Well, week 9 has come and gone. Seems surreal. I went in Thursday and had my last reconstruction surgery. Went different this time. Not all the tests before surgery, just change into gown, get the IV...which the nurse couldn't do! Bruised up both my hands! When I had my mastectomy that nurse had no problem! Plastic surgeon came in and drew all over me. Marked where the ports were, marked for the lipo and marked where I wanted my cleavage done over. I didn't really like how he did it the first time, they were too close together. Crazy how you can just pick how you want your boobs to look and a dr says, ok, we can do that. Want more roundness and definition? Ok, we'll suck some fat out here. Strange.

The nurse told me when I was ready to go in she would give me a shot to relax me and it would work in 30 seconds to 1 minute. She was right! I remember watching her put it in my IV and I kinda remember kissing Matt. He said he had to jump up to kiss me goodbye because they immediately started wheeling me away. Last time, all the people that were going to be in on the surgery were waiting in the OR. This time they were all gathered around me in pre op and followed me in. I had an entourage! lol. Last thing I remember was someone telling me to slide onto the operating table. Don't remember going down the hall, coming into the room, the mask, nothing. 

Woke up around 1 and they started pushing food and water at me, made me go to the bathroom and asked if I was ready to go home! I was out of there by 2pm, home by 3! Matt came in and sat with me in post op. I was sore, but not too bad. The nurse kept asking me if I wanted a vicodin and I told her I didn't like them. She kept saying I better stay on top of the pain, I was still feeling the anesthesia. That freaked me out cause I knew how bad I was hurting the first time around and didn't want to go there again! But also didn't want to be sick from the vicodin either. So I decided to take ONE, eat this time instead of having an empty stomach and see what happened. At 6:30 that night I said, oh, it's been 5 hours since I took pain meds and I have no pain, guess I'm good! Matt says, Woman, you are a bad ass!! LOL! But seriously, I really had no pain. I was sore of course, I'd been cut and rammed with the lipo wand, but nothing I even needed Motrin for.

We came home and just sat around and watched tv for the rest of the night and day, got a pizza for dinner. I was all bandaged up and dying to see my new cleavage but couldn't. I could see however all the dark purple bruising forming under my arms, where your bra goes!!! Wow!!! And it kept getting bigger and darker. And it really grosses me out to have stitches, especially in my cleavage. I was surprised to see them cause he glued me from the mastectomy. I have about a million little tiny stitches. Again I will say, Dr A knows his work! He's good! I'm thrilled with the results!!! I have a couple single stitches here and there from where he went in for the lipo too. They all come out this next Friday.

Lipo isn't as bad as I feared. My sides are SUPER tender and bruised bad, but I think it's going to be worth it. My chest, by my arm pits, isn't bruised at all but it's really tender. And it goes in now instead of having what I called a fat bubble right there. Too bad I'm 51 and not 21, cause I could wear a tube top now, for once in my life! My boobs are small enough and no fat would hang over!!!!! 

I had to go back to the dr Friday and get the bandages removed. Then we stopped to visit my sister Jill and then we went to about a million garage sales...that's how good I felt! BUT, I think getting in and out of the car and the car seat hitting me right in the bruised area every time I did, got to me by 5pm. I was more than ready to come home and sit still!

Soooo, I'm all done! I have my appt Friday for the stitches and I'm assuming probably a couple more follow ups with him, but that was my last surgery!!!!!! I am so thrilled to be past this. I am so thrilled to have kicked it's butt! I am so thrilled to have made it with no problems and come out on the wonderful side I did!!! 

So happy & grateful!!!!!!!!!

Week 8

Well, tomorrow marks 8 weeks. I am completely back to normal. I'm doing everything I was doing before with no pain, no restrictions, just like before. Getting used to the feeling of my new additions. Things feel different now. More firm than I've ever been. Sometimes so firm they are in my way! But getting used to it. Aggravating sometimes, but better than having breast cancer.


Went to the plastic surgeon today. He scheduled me to have the next procedure done, getting the ports off of the implants. I am at my desired, much smaller size and love it. So he will remove the tubing and ports and also going to do some lipo suction on the sides because I complained that they feel like they are in my armpits and he said he could suck some of the fat off the sides and make it less bulky. Also going to do a little at the top, near my armpits, on the front, for the same reasons. I am not thrilled with having lipo done, scares me, which made the nurse laugh because I'm afraid of the lipo after having a double mastectomy. I said yeah, that sounds dumb! He said because of where the lipo takes place he will not be able to RAM the tube thing so it will be a more gentle procedure than what you see on tv. Which also means there could be less bruising. Recovery time is 2 days, so yay for that! 


Hopefully that is the last procedure I have to do. I'm soooo ready to be done with this! I know it's only been 8 weeks, but I feel I've been going through all of this since my diagnosis, December 14th, which means 5 months and I am really ready to be done and no more dr's!! I know there are people out there doing chemo and radiation for months at a time and my heart goes out to them. There's also people who have the expanders in and are getting fills and going to the dr for months too, so I know I'm lucky to have all this done in just 8 short weeks, but it still feels like forever.


For mothers day Kari got me a tshirt that says, yeah, they're fake! My real ones tried to kill me! Thought that was funny! And today I got my pink survivor bracelet in the mail that I will proudly and happily wear! Soooo glad I caught this so early and was able to stomp on it til it was gone and can go on and live my life! 


Another update after my outpatient surgery next week.

Week 6

Normalcy!! That's what week 6 is all about! I feel pretty much normal again. I guess it's a new normal cause obviously my boobs feel different, but it's a good normal. No pain left at all. Everything is healed up good and looking really good! Again I will say my plastic surgeon did an awesome job!


I've been working in the yard all week. I still get tired easier than I used to and it frustrates me to no end! I have things to do and I can't stand not being able to do them! Matt says it's from sitting around for 4-5 weeks, I'll have to build my muscles and stamina back up. It makes me mad to get so tired that I have to go sit down in the middle of my to do list. And even worse that sometimes I just can't finish it. I know, I know, it's only been 6 weeks since I had major surgery! But I feel so good that I feel like I should be able to do whatever I want/need to.


I am thrilled to feel this good after just 6 weeks, believe me. I think I was pretty lucky in the healing process. I have to say I was more patient than I thought I would be. I don't have a lot of patience!! I followed dr's orders, didn't do my housework or shopping or anything without help until I got the go ahead and maybe that's why I have felt so good through this process.


We were talking today about week 1 and how I couldn't even stand to take a shower without almost ending up in tears from the pain and being soooo tired I HAD to sit down NOW. How showering was such an ordeal and task with the drains hanging around my neck and how Matt had to dry me off, wash my hair cause I couldn't reach up there, dress me. I am soooo thankful to be past that. 6 weeks flew by, yet it seems so long ago.


I have no regrets of my decision and never will. I am cancer free, no worries, no tests, no drugs. And I love my new small boobs! All you women out there with small boobs wishing you had big ones, no you don't!! Believe me! Small ones are soooo much better! ;)