I woke up to hear a lovely woman telling me we were all done and that it went well. I became aware that I was in the post op recovery area. I then became aware that I was very nauseous and sore. I told the nurse and she gave me meds in my IV for the nausea. It worked immediately. But then I was focused on the pain. I have a fairly high pain tolerance so I was concerned and told her. She didn't want to give me pain meds until I ate something so I dealt with it. She gave me some ice chips because my throat was very sore and dry from the breathing tube. The guy who wheeled me down earlier saw me and commented that they sure did a number on my hair, which was a mess. The pony tail holder was almost out. I was able to use my left arm to it out but my right side was in pretty serious pain. Anyway, he wheeled me back to a room down the hall from where I started out on floor #3. The nurse immediately got me out of the bed and into a chair. Sitting up relieved the pressure on my chest tremendously so I started feeling better. She brought me saltines and water and then gave me the hydrocodone. Within 15 minutes I felt fine. Paul came in and then she told me I could get dressed. I used the restroom and got dressed fairly easily. There was a woman on the other side who obviously had also just had some sort of surgery but she was very nauseous. They said they had already given her a lot of medicine for it. As I was packing up, we heard her vomiting pretty badly. I felt terrible for her. The nurses told her that they think she needed to spend the night there. I was thankful that wasn't me.
The nurse gave us a folder with after care info. inside and the wheelchair was brought up and I was discharged. I was in my house at 2pm. Not bad.
Thursday, February 5, 2015
exchange surgery day
Yay. I woke up on Feb. 4th at 6am excited !!! I felt fine, even though I somehow pulled a back muscle a few days prior. But even that felt fine. I showered and got dressed and Paul and I drove the girls to school. We arrived at the hospital at 8am promptly. This hospital was much smaller and quieter, which was nice. The staff was lovely and they helped us and brought us where we needed to go. We were taken into a room where the nurses took my vitals and put the IV in. My temperature was a perfect 98.6. Oh, by the way, I threw out the CVS thermometer that told me I did NOT have a fever in January.
So, we waited in the room for about 45 minutes. They had a tv so we watched the news. I was surprisingly calm. At some point it did hit me that there are people who don't come out of surgery so I told Paul that if I die, any info he will need is on my phone somewhere. Haha. If you know me at all, that makes sense to you.
Well anyway, I was told the surgery was scheduled for 10am so at 9am I was taken to the OR floor and Paul had to leave and get a beeper and wait in the waiting area. It again was pretty quiet there. But I didn't have my phone or a tv so I was stuck in my own head. I was starting to get a little nervous when suddenly anaesthesia came. Like 3 of them. They kept asking all the same questions, which made me laugh. Everyone was so nice though. And then finally my PS came in. I really like her. She marked my chest up and we talked about how sick I was, etc. Then they told me they were giving me some happy juice for my ride into the OR room. It made for a fun ride. I remember looking around the hallway. We arrived at the OR and there were lots of new people in there. They all introduced themselves but I don't remember much. I was moved onto a very small operating table and I'm not sure if I said it outloud or not, but I was wondering what they do with a larger person because the table was so narrow. Anyway, that was the last thought I recall.
So, we waited in the room for about 45 minutes. They had a tv so we watched the news. I was surprisingly calm. At some point it did hit me that there are people who don't come out of surgery so I told Paul that if I die, any info he will need is on my phone somewhere. Haha. If you know me at all, that makes sense to you.
Well anyway, I was told the surgery was scheduled for 10am so at 9am I was taken to the OR floor and Paul had to leave and get a beeper and wait in the waiting area. It again was pretty quiet there. But I didn't have my phone or a tv so I was stuck in my own head. I was starting to get a little nervous when suddenly anaesthesia came. Like 3 of them. They kept asking all the same questions, which made me laugh. Everyone was so nice though. And then finally my PS came in. I really like her. She marked my chest up and we talked about how sick I was, etc. Then they told me they were giving me some happy juice for my ride into the OR room. It made for a fun ride. I remember looking around the hallway. We arrived at the OR and there were lots of new people in there. They all introduced themselves but I don't remember much. I was moved onto a very small operating table and I'm not sure if I said it outloud or not, but I was wondering what they do with a larger person because the table was so narrow. Anyway, that was the last thought I recall.
Surgery week...again
So, this surgery was scheduled for a Wed. That would leave me 2 days of work to get it all together. I work in a school as a school counselor and February is a very paperwork intensive month for us. We also have a week break the 3rd week of the month. My plan is to return to work after the break, so I had a lot to do in 2 days.
Sunday night, Superbowl Sunday actually, and my oldest daughter's 17th birthday, we had one of the biggest snow storms we have had in a while. While I was excited about a possible snow day the next day, I was stressing out. Well, we had a snow day. Oh well. We even had a 2 hour delay the next day, so I had 2 less hours at work to get it all done. Somehow, I think I did what I needed to do and I left work for the day excited for surgery in the morning. I was told to be there at 8am.
Sunday night, Superbowl Sunday actually, and my oldest daughter's 17th birthday, we had one of the biggest snow storms we have had in a while. While I was excited about a possible snow day the next day, I was stressing out. Well, we had a snow day. Oh well. We even had a 2 hour delay the next day, so I had 2 less hours at work to get it all done. Somehow, I think I did what I needed to do and I left work for the day excited for surgery in the morning. I was told to be there at 8am.
Exchange surgery week
So my surgery was scheduled for Jan. 9. On Jan. 3rd I woke up with a terrible cold. Everyone around this area seemed to be getting sick and it finally got to me. I tried my hardest to stay healthy but it didn't work. I rested as much as I could. I went to work for my final 4 days. I was planning on taking 2 weeks off because my PS suggested that due to working in a school. I had a ton to get done at work so I was busy. But I felt terrible. The cold was getting worse and everyone kept asking me if I was going to be able to have the surgery. I was determined to get better. What I didn't do though was take some days off. I told the nurses who called from the hospital and I spoke to a nurse at my PS office. The big question was did I have a fever. My thermometer never read more than 99 degrees and was often much lower. I felt like I had a fever, but it wasn't showing up, so I told them I did not have a fever. I was told to be at the hospital at 6am on Jan. 9th. I woke up feeling worse than ever with ear pain. It was snowing out so my husband drove me to the hospital. We both had a feeling we wouldn't be staying. I finally got into the pre-op area and they took my temperature. Surprise, I had a fever. My PS arrived and we talked and she explained the dangers of surgery with a fever. We decided to postpone it. I actually wasn't even that sad because I felt so terrible. I got home and when my primary doctor's office opened I told them what happened and made an appointment. I then called the PS office and they told me that they had an opening on March 27th. I was distraught. The thought of having to wait all that time to get those hard rocks out of me was unbearable. I begged her to find something else. She found an opening on Feb. 4th at a different hospital. That worked for me. So, that gave me a few more weeks. No problem.
I ended up with a sinus and ear infection that lasted for quite some time. I stayed in bed that entire weekend and took that Monday off as well. I lost hearing in the ear for a while so about 10 days before the surgery I went to see and ENT to make sure the infection was gone. It was and she said I was cleared for surgery. Yay!!!
I ended up with a sinus and ear infection that lasted for quite some time. I stayed in bed that entire weekend and took that Monday off as well. I lost hearing in the ear for a while so about 10 days before the surgery I went to see and ENT to make sure the infection was gone. It was and she said I was cleared for surgery. Yay!!!
Tissue expanders and fills
OK, so part of my surgery was having tissue expanders placed behind the pectoral muscles so that eventually implants would go there. If they were just put into an empty chest cavity, they would fall to the ground. So, after the drains came out, I visited my PS weekly for fills. She injected 60 cc's of saline into each expander using a magnet finder. I had zero sensation in the skin so I never felt the needle go it, but it was a huge needle. The fills felt bizarre, like liquid floating around. Immediately after each fill it felt like I had done some serious chest muscle workouts. Ibuprofen was my best friend. The soreness typically lasted 2 days or so and for some reason always made me feel very tired. I went in weekly from the end of September until the end of December. We filled them to 660 cc's each. I brought in an old bra for the last couple of appointments so we could make sure the size worked for me. During one of the last appointments we had to choose the exact type of implant I would get so she could order it. That was interesting. My husband came and she taught us all about the different types: saline vs silcone, round vs pear shaped, etc. I went home and read more and made my decision. Surgery date was set for Jan. 9, 2015.
About the expanders, each week my "breasts" got noticeably larger but were extremely hard. I described it as having two bocci balls inside of my chest. As you can imagine, that was very uncomfortable. Sleeping was difficult. But I knew it was temporary, so I could handle it.
About the expanders, each week my "breasts" got noticeably larger but were extremely hard. I described it as having two bocci balls inside of my chest. As you can imagine, that was very uncomfortable. Sleeping was difficult. But I knew it was temporary, so I could handle it.
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Drains
OK. So plain and simple, the drains are the worst part of the whole experience. First of all, they are gross. They start off looking like there is just fruit punch in there, but they get nastier. They have to be cleaned out at least twice a day, depending on how much you are draining.
So they are plastic tubes coming out of your body. I had one on each side. Each tube feeds into a plastic bulb. The bulbs are what needs to be emptied out. If you don't empty them it will leak all over you. But because there is body fluid coming out, you have to make sure nothing gets clogged in the tubes. The nurses taught me how to "milk" the drains. It was hard at first, when I couldn't move too well, but after a couple of days, it was pretty easy. They also had my log the amount of fluid each time I emptied them so that we would know when we could take the drains out. That was frustrating for me because they told me that I could have them removed when the amount was under 20 in each side over a 24 hour period of time. Well, it seemed like that would never happen. It was very depressing to go in to empty them and see the bulb very filled. It did decrease every day, but not as quickly as I would have hoped.
And I looked online for other people's stories with the drains. Not the best idea. There are posts from people who had the drains in for months. The problem with the drains is that on top of the fact that I had no breasts except nasty looking scars, I had these 2 big bulbs to deal with. I didn't want to go anywhere because I didn't know how to hide it all. I was very self conscious.
Looking back now I realize that I only had to deal with the drains for about 10 days. The first few days I was not interested in leaving the house anyway. So it was a week of torture. Honestly, that's not so bad.
So they are plastic tubes coming out of your body. I had one on each side. Each tube feeds into a plastic bulb. The bulbs are what needs to be emptied out. If you don't empty them it will leak all over you. But because there is body fluid coming out, you have to make sure nothing gets clogged in the tubes. The nurses taught me how to "milk" the drains. It was hard at first, when I couldn't move too well, but after a couple of days, it was pretty easy. They also had my log the amount of fluid each time I emptied them so that we would know when we could take the drains out. That was frustrating for me because they told me that I could have them removed when the amount was under 20 in each side over a 24 hour period of time. Well, it seemed like that would never happen. It was very depressing to go in to empty them and see the bulb very filled. It did decrease every day, but not as quickly as I would have hoped.
And I looked online for other people's stories with the drains. Not the best idea. There are posts from people who had the drains in for months. The problem with the drains is that on top of the fact that I had no breasts except nasty looking scars, I had these 2 big bulbs to deal with. I didn't want to go anywhere because I didn't know how to hide it all. I was very self conscious.
Looking back now I realize that I only had to deal with the drains for about 10 days. The first few days I was not interested in leaving the house anyway. So it was a week of torture. Honestly, that's not so bad.
Home from the hospital
Well, it was great to get home. I was sore and tired and it was hard to get comfortable. I had no problem just laying around the whole day. Sleep was something I wasn't looking forward to because I couldn't imagine how I would get comfortable. My husband is the best and he slept downstairs so I could just use all the pillows to pretty much sit up and sleep. He brought up the zero gravity chair from the outside deck and put soft blankets and pillows on it. We set up a snack table and I was all set. It's definitely something I didn't plan to deal with, so I would recommend looking into comfortable ways to sleep if you have a mastectomy. I learned after the fact that they sell sleeping pillows and things, which I would have bought if I had known.
They sent me home with a lot of pain meds, but I found I didn't really need them after the first couple of days. I just took ibuprofen when I went to bed for a while.
It actually wasn't really so bad as long as I rested. That's hard for me. But it was also hard to just get up and move too much, so I watched a lot of Netflix and played online alot. I would suggest making sure you have things to do. If you like to read, make sure you have a lot of books. If you like to watch TV and movies, have everything handy.
Days when I tried to do too much definitely made me tired and the next day I couldn't do a whole lot at all. So, my suggestion is to rest rest rest.
They sent me home with a lot of pain meds, but I found I didn't really need them after the first couple of days. I just took ibuprofen when I went to bed for a while.
It actually wasn't really so bad as long as I rested. That's hard for me. But it was also hard to just get up and move too much, so I watched a lot of Netflix and played online alot. I would suggest making sure you have things to do. If you like to read, make sure you have a lot of books. If you like to watch TV and movies, have everything handy.
Days when I tried to do too much definitely made me tired and the next day I couldn't do a whole lot at all. So, my suggestion is to rest rest rest.
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