Category: Post nipple reconstruction/revision

First day of school, bras and need for the weekend

 

The long-awaited, heavily anticipated day finally arrived, the first day of school!  Thankfully, both girls had a great day.  We had some struggles last year with Meg’s teacher so she was worried heading in but came home thrilled.

Madison was ready to go at 7am this morning although the bus was not until 9am.  She loved that she got 30 minutes alone with us between her bus and Megan’s. She was so great, bus came she looked at me waved and said “bye Mom” and up the steps she went.  I knew she would be like that so I made her give me a big hug before we went down for the bus.  She waved happily from the window as the bus pulled away, then I was alone.  Walking home I might have shed a little tear but part was sad that my babies were growing up but the other was just how proud I am of who they are becoming!

Since I had to go to the bus stop this morning I got up and  took a shower, my first full shower in two weeks which felt wonderful! I got dressed including a bra. I put on an old sport bra which is pretty close to the right size.  I am still so swollen on the sides it is hard to tell what size I really am.  Due to the incisions under my arms and the bruising I still have from the lipo, I can only express my feelings on wearing the bra as down right painful.  And since I have to be a fully functioning member of society I must remain narcotic free during the day.

Frank  stopped at VIctoria Secrets yesterday on his way home as a surprise.  I have not been able to shop there in years due to size.  I still have the steri strips so I will save my new fancy bra for a few days. I cleaned out my drawer yesterday and in doing so realized I was a 40 DDD prior to surgery.  No wonder I had such back issues!  I know that each day will be a little better.

I need to get my stamina back up.  I am wiped out! Bus stops, laundry and some other things around the house, dinner and soccer practice should not do me in like this.  The highlight of my day was getting home taking a vicodine and getting my bra off…ahh the little things in life!

 

Doctor’s and Kindergarten

SO I had my follow-up this morning.  Pretty uneventful visit actually.  He agreed that one boob was looking more north than the other but says it could take up to 3 months for healing and that they should align properly.  He also feels the nipples will shrink down to a normal size.  At the moment I feel like they arrive in a room at least a minute before I do.  He told me to make another follow-up in 6 weeks.  At that point if they are still uneven then he can make a small incision to lift the left boob.  He can also reduce the size of the questionable nipple.  I wanted more detail on what this would look like, in office?  Hospital?  He did not want to discuss it.  Says we need to give it time to heal and let my body do it’s thing.  If all works out we will not need to do anything.  We shall see.

I was cleared to shower…YEAH!  So much easier than washing my hair in the sink.  I am also allowed to start wearing a bra, no under wire.  We will discuss the bra on another post.

After the doctor I came home and picked up Madison for a big day!  Meet the teacher at the Kindergarten.  I was so proud of her!  She did great!  As we walked toward her building she told me to follow her.  She showed me how to follow the red foot prints to get to the right building.  They had a bus parked in the lot so the kids could go on and practice with the seat belts.  Then we went into her classroom.  She looked around and found her seat and sat so confidently.  My baby, what a big girl!  They had an opportunity to explore, listened to a story read by the teacher and met some other kids from the class.

I love that our district does this.  Really allows the kids to get comfortable with the process.  She told me that she wanted to be in bed early so she could be ready for school.  She was asleep by 8pm…love it!  I am the mother of a 3rd grader and a Kindergartener, where does the time go?

11 days post Newpples, 64 days post BPM

64 days wow!  In the months leading up to the mastectomy, there were points where I never thought the actual surgery day would come.  Now I look back and am amazed, it seems like forever ago.  So how am I feeling?

My abdomen has healed nicely.  I have a small lump which is probably scare tissue in the front which I will point out to the doctor tomorrow.  It is still tight in the area but it is a good tight.  I need to keep it that way!  The Surgeon has mentioned that I can have a scar revision done, I will have to think about that possibility.

The boobs are coming along.  I still have one ugly bruise on the left side that causes some minor pain. The incisions are healing. I have my first follow-up appointment with the plastic surgeon tomorrow.  The newpples are different sizes, one of which way too big.  When I spoke with his nurse last weeks she said not to worry.  They have to be big to allow for shrinking and anything that does not shrink can be taken care of in the office easily.  I still think one is higher than the other  but not as bad as it was since some of the swelling has gone down.  I guess it will just take more time to determine what the final appearance will be.

I have not been allowed to stand and take a “full” shower since the nipple reconstruction.  They did not want the steri strips around the newpples to get wet.  It has been a bit of a pain, washing in the shower with the hand-held then washing my hair in the kitchen sink.  I remember when I was a kid my mother would freak out if you even brushed your hair in the kitchen.  Good thing she is not around to see this!

Big day tomorrow.  After the doctor Madison and I will head to the Kindergarten for meet the teacher.  I am happy that the district does this.  Allows the kids to not only meet the teacher, but see where the classroom is and in which building.  Our Kindergarten is separated from any of the other schools and has 3 buildings.  They are color codes.   Tomorrow Madi will get a lanyard to wear on Thursday that will match a colored set of foot prints that shows which building to go to.  This visit helps to relieve some of the first day stress.

She is so excited Thursday is the big day!