Terrific Lady Day

Tis the season for baking, shopping and being oh so busy!  Sorry for the lack of updates.  Quick rundown: last week I met with a group of ladies who had all been diagnosed at 40 or younger.  Quite the difference from the group I've been meeting with through United.  We had a great discussion and it was so nice to commiserate with ladies my age.

2013 has put my family through the ringer, so I've been thinking about how I plan to start fresh in a few weeks.  Step two: lopping off and donating my hair (step one was joining a gym, which I'm loving so far!).  You heard it here first - the mane is now a little bob :)  I went into the cut feeling ready for it, keeping in mind how lucky I was to not go through chemo, unlike a lot of other women.  I hope my hair can make a nice wig for one of those ladies!  

Total donated: 8" :)

I had a quick appointment with my plastic surgeon after my hair cut to check in on my new boobs.  All is going well on the healing front - swelling is pretty much gone (we'll check in again in 6 weeks), and the incisions are looking great. She addressed the pain I'm having in my arm and thinks it should go away eventually. I'll just keep doing my stretches and hopefully it'll be soon!

Weekend Update

I had a post-op appointment on Thursday with Dr. Heinrich, who was pleased with how my healing is coming along. The swelling I saw just a few days after surgery is almost completely gone (as is the bruising), and the best part of all: I can sleep on my side again! After 4.5 months of sleeping on my back, I've finally made it through a few nights of not waking up at once or twice during my (when I'm lucky) 7 hours. Also, Jason can finally spoon me again! It's glorious :)

Dr. Heinrich also cleared me for physical activity so my sister Rachel and I took a lap around Lake Como to celebrate (I was allowed to walk before, but we were short on time).

Teaser for later in the week: Patient Advisory Committee

Dramatic

As expected, the swelling has minimized significantly and the fears and disappointment I was feeling just a few days ago was all way over dramatic. I'm still not looking the way I'd imagined but it's crazy how far along things can come in just a few days.

The pain is more of just an irritation now, although bending over hurts (thanks gravity) and I'm still not supposed to lift anything over 10lbs or raise my hands over my head (making showering and getting dressed super fun).  I'm at home again today so I'm going to see how things go just taking a few ibuprofen.  The major pain meds put me into a fog and there's no way I'd be able to operate at work tomorrow while on them.

Aside from the "pain," I've been feeling kind of itchy, and not where the incisions are either.  Just the skin, kind of where a tank top would hit.  I thought maybe the skin was stretching but that doesn't make sense either - that's what the expanders were doing.  I'm sure the nerves were irritated while Dr. Heinrich was in there swapping things and that's why I'm getting that sensation.  I have to ask her about it at my post op on Thursday.

That's all for now folks, time for a nap :)

Post-Op

I made it through; surgery Wednesday morning went fine (although we started an hour late; drivers in MN always forget how to drive on the day of the first snow, and Dr. Heinrich was stuck behind a few accidents on her way in). I woke up after the surgery super fast, ate a few graham crackers and I was on my way home. Jason got me set up in bed and I happily slept my way through the afternoon/early evening. My sister Rachel stopped by later in the evening and we chatted for awhile, and I was back to bed around 10:00.

With all of the excitement over the past days, weeks, months leading up to Wednesday, I'd neglected to really imagine what these first couple days with my new boobs would be like. I'd envisioned beautiful, perky new boobs that look great no matter what I'm wearing. When I finally got the "go" to remove the dressing yesterday, I had quite the reality check: they're swollen, still marked-up from the morning of the surgery (even after taking a shower), and are looking a little lumpy.  They're much softer than the tissue expanders, but I almost prefer how they looked Tuesday to what they look like now :(

I'm trying really really hard to remind myself that the swelling is expected to last a few weeks; that somehow, under the "mess" I'm seeing, there's a very nice set of reconstructed breasts. I'm on the same meds as I was on for surgery #1, which means about 30-45 minutes of awake time to 3-4 hours of sleeping.  I'm not sleeping through the night, and not because of the pain, but because I think my body is just done being rested.

I had a lovely parade of visitors yesterday and I felt great (although drugged) to be in their company again, but now today I'm feeling emotional; sad that things aren't looking the way I'd imagined.  I don't want to do another surgery, but then I don't want to look like this for the rest of my life either. Keeping ice packs near me non-stop; I'm determined to minimize this swelling sooner than later.