Surgery went great.
Even my pre-op anxiety wasn’t as horrible is it normally can be. Most likely because I talked about it...to everyone!
The morning was a little insane. We left the house late, hit traffic and arrived at the hospital late. So late, in fact, that registration called to make sure I was on the way 🤦♀️
After they took me into the pre-op room, I got changed, threw out my bra and they took my vitals. The doctor came in to see me, review what was going to be done and answer questions. Then I waited for about an hour to go to nuclear medicine to get injections in the cancer boob so they knew where the sentinel nodes were.
The trip from pre-op to nuke med was interesting. Nuke med is in the old building of the hospital and pre-op is in the new wing. I was literally wheeled down main hallways. Never one to miss an opportunity, I was waving at people like I was in a parade.
I’d be lying if I said the injections didn’t hurt like hell. My doctor said they shouldn’t be bad, other cancer patients said to prepare for the pain. Glad I was prepared!
By now I was winding up and could feel it so when the “Happy Juice Guy” aka anesthesiologist came in I asked for something. They gave me a little Ativan to help me relax. It worked.
Next thing I knew I was I’m my room waking up. I got to see Glenn before he went home to be with the boys.
In addition to the nuke med that lit up my nodes, my breasts were injected with a blue dye so they knew where all the tissue was that needed to be removed. We were told that the dye would make my pee blue and they were not kidding!!
I am the consumate boy mom who appreciates a good "Wooooow!" moment. After I peed the first time that night I had the nurse give me my phone so I could take a picture of it. Seriously, it was way darker than I anticipated. I sent the picture to Glenn and the boys and we all had a great laugh.
The rest of the night was uneventful, I got some good sleep and my doctor even had to wake me up the next morning when she came in to check me out.
A hematoma had developed on the right side so she had to press on the skin to move the fluid to the drain tube. Fun fact: when they cut off the boobs they take the nerves so, although she had to push on my chest, I could only feel pressure not pain!
I was discharged that afternoon and headed home to relax.
On the way out I was being wheeled past the nurses station and one of them said, "You need to wave on he way out, you waved on the way in."
I can totally see myself doing that...So I waved good-bye.
Since I opted to not have reconstruction I do not have expanders in my chest. Pain is minimal and controlled with just Acetaminophen (Tylenol).
The drains...Ugh!
I know these things are necessary but man are they a pain in the ass!
The tubes come out just below where the bottom of my breast was and the tube wraps up into the skin area in a big circle. The part of the drain that is under the skin is perforated to allow the fluids to drain into the bulb (referred to a grenade at the nurses station :) and the tube is so much longer than I thought it would be!
There is a plug at the top of the bulb that I open to empty out the fluid into a measuring cup so I can record the amounts and then the bulb gets squeezed before the plug is put back in. Doing this creates a suction that draws the fluid out of my body.
As heal I form clots that are a total pain to remove from the lines. Sometimes they move themselves sometimes they don't.
The compression bra they gave me was too tight. The band around the bottom had to be cut so that it wouldn't dig into my skin and some jackass decided that since it's a bra it had to have lace around the edges.
Seriously...Lace? WTF?! On a good day lace can cause chaffing. Why the hell would someone put it on a post-surgical garment?! No doubt someone that has never had this particular surgery and didn't have to be in the thing 24/7.
The other added benefit of the lace is that it gets stuck in the velcro. Because, you know, when you have tubes hanging out of your body AND limited arm motion you want to have to detangle the lace from the velcro at the top of the already uncomfortable bra!
Anyway...
This is how the drain looks under my skin on the left side of my chest.
There is some bruising (remember no nerves, no pain), which is to be expected but the incisions are amazing! I am so happy with the way everything looks. As the fluid decreases things are flattening out.
One friend even told me I'm his "favorite 2x4"...
Flat as a board!
OMGness! I am so glad I wasn't drinking when I got that text or I would have spewed magic bean water out of my nose.
Mom told my that makes me a Carpenter's Dream! LOL
I wish I could say that the worst is over but unfortunately that is not the truth. Sadly, having my boobs cut off was the easy part.
Chemo looms on the horizon.
I will most likely feel sick and lose my hair. They will give me anti-nausea meds to help with the tummy issues but, I gotta tell you, the thought of a summer without the need to shave is a bit exciting. 'Cause you know that you don't just lose the hair on the head...
Yeah...NO BIKINI RAZOR RASH!!!
Talk about a silver lining!
If I look hard enough there is always something good.
What's been the best part of this so far?
Love.
So many people have sent encouraging messages, prayers, gifts, flowers and have jumped in to help us out. We don't have to worry about food for weeks, the kids transportation is arranged and nurse friends have come over to check out my incisions and drain tube areas to make sure that everything is ok and there are no infections.
As a result of all the prayers, love and support we've received I've been able to heal at a very rapid rate.
We are blessed.
