Tag: nipple reconstruction

Blogs, boobs and the future

I have been communicating via this blog for roughly 5 months or so.  I started as an outlet for my feeling surrounding my upcoming Bilateral Prophylactic Mastectomy.  I found great comfort in the support of others who were in similar situations.  I hope I also provided some for others.

I continue to recover but for the most part the roughest parts are behind me.  I have completed the nipple reconstruction and revision and have been cleared for regular activity.  Although still sore, each day gets easier and more normal.  Today was a day of laundry and food shopping, can’t get much more normal than that! 🙂 I will see the doctor again in 6 weeks and may need 1 more small procedure but nothing to the scale of what I have been through the last few months.

SO, now what?  I enjoy the outlet the blog provides.  I named it Decisions for my Family but initially had a header of Boobs don’t make the Woman. A few weeks ago the blog went through a face lift and I dropped the “boobs” title.  I will continue to write the blog about things that affect the most important thing to me, my family.

This summer’s surgeries have changed me as a person and will be a constant foundation for many of my decisions.  In my situation, a reminder of how important actually making a tough decision is as well as  the impact of such decisions on everyone around me.

I have not fully decided what the future of the blog looks like and may not fully define the parameters.  Quite honestly there are no parameters it is truly a wide open topic.  From the upcoming election which I feel is the most important in my lifetime, to continued updates on the boobs.  There will of course be many words describing the most beautiful things in my life, my girls, my husband, my family. The future is thankfully, wide open!

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?