Tag: Surgery

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!

Just a little blue

I am a little down at the moment.  I was allowed to take the dressing off yesterday and although I intended to leave them on longer, I changed my mind.  I did it mainly because I wanted to change them.  Now, I fully realized that this process was not a breast augmentation and that we were not going to have perfect boobies once complete.  I fully realize that I am only 4 days out of surgery.  I fully realize that I am swollen and that I have fresh incisions from the nips to under my arms on both sides.

Now, fully realizing these things does not mean I was not a bit taken back when I looked into the mirror.  I feel like the nipples are huge and one is larger than the other, maybe they will reduce in size as swelling goes down.  I am happy with the size and the air bags are gone…happy things.  I feel like one points up and one points down and that there is a significant difference in the center points between the two.  I know normal healthy breasts are not prefect but I feel like these issues are really glaring.

Frank says to relax, step back.  Let the swelling go down, let the healing take place for a few days at least before I get upset.  I see the doctor on Wednesday…for the first time it hit me that maybe I am not finished with surgery…oh god.  I will do my best to push it to the back of my head until Wednesday.

So a snapshot for how my week is going…I wake up early to get the days Disney dinning reservations booked.  The on-line system seemed to be having issues so I go old school and pick up the phone and call.  After a few minutes the lovely woman on the other end informs that Disney prides itself on having one of the best IT systems in the world and with that said the system seemed to be down.  I wonder how often this happens..the Bailey’s broke the Disney Reservation system!

On a happier note, it is now a few hours later and meals are mostly booked!!  I am glad I have this to distract me for a bit each day.  Today is highlighted by Chef Mickey for breakfast and  dinner with Chip and Dale at The Garden Grill.  We want to have some steaks in Canada for lunch but for some reason Le Cellier has not opened up that week yet.  It is never easy :-).  At least we have the others booked.  There is always tomorrow!

Soreness and stem cell research

Very sore!  I am a virtual drug store having taken a little Tylenol, motrin and oxy along with my daily required aspirin.  I am still extremely sore!  Although I am thrilled to be home with my family I think this surgery as an out-patient may have been a bit of a stretch.  Ice packs will be next for me I think.  Whining aside, I am home and moving around so all in all not too bad.

I read over my written release instructions.  Funny even though I signed them yesterday I had no real clue what they said.  I get to take the surgical bra off tomorrow.  There are bandages under it that must stay on and not wet until Wednesday.  Getting this bra off will be good.  It is very tight and annoying.  It could be worse!

So an interesting thing happened before the surgery during my pre-meeting with the surgeon.  He explained that due to the controversies over the use of embryonic stem cells, doctors have been looking for others that would be useful.  He is part of a team researching stem cells derived from fat cells.  He asked for consent to use the fat that would have been discarded from the liposuction as part of the research study.  He said that the results so far showed that though not as robust as those in the embryonic cells, the fat-derived stem cells were showing promising results.  Very cool..sure use my fat and if you need more take what you like!

It would be nice to think that some day it will be possible to treat tissue or bone defects or other diseases and that my fat will have been part of it!