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!!!!!!!!!