October 3rd I went back to see Dr. Game about the results from my CT Scan. Of course nothing showed up and I don't have lymphoma. I am still anemic and I have to up my iron meds once again. I will follow up with him in 4 weeks time to see how things are going.
Things are going really well with my health. I feel good. Nothing crazy has happened. I am healing up nicely from my 2 surgeries. Life is on the up swing. I am doing some reflexology which I absolutely LOVE. Not only does it feel good to have your feet and calves massaged, it just works really well with my body.
Other than that, we are just gearing up to get ready for our big trip next month to Punta Cana to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. We have so much to celebrate!!
So it has been about a month since my CT Scan and I haven't heard anything. I follow up with Dr. Game's office and they say that the CT Scan revealed nothing and that I can see him for a follow-up appointment on October 3rd. Phew, just as I thought, everything is okay.
September 6 I have my womanly physical with my gynecologist Dr. Mayo. I am back to regular yearly checkups for my pap smears since I have been cleared by the colposcopy doctor that my cervix no longer has abnormal cells. My appointment goes well and I ask Dr. Mayo about my surgery that I have been waiting for for over a year. I have very heavy periods that last 7-10 days and they figure this is a factor in my anemia problem. We discussed over a year ago of doing an endometrial ablation, yet I have heard nothing of this surgery to date. When I tell Dr. Mayo that I am still waiting, he immediately tells me that he will check with his nurse. He comes back in and says that I will be booked for surgery before the end of the month. He is very apologetic and says somehow my paper work got put aside. The office will get back to me in the next couple of days with a surgery date.
True to their word, I get a call a couple of days later and I am scheduled to go in for surgery in St. Albert on September 28th. I am happy about this as I am still not working so we can get this procedure out of the way before I head back to work.
Everything else with my health is doing really well. I feel good, no, I feel GREAT! Things seem to be really going along well. I am looking for work, working out again, living life like one should be. I am LOVING my new body. So with this surgery, it will just fine tune one more thing and I will be a completely new person.
Surgery on September 28th goes off real well. It is just day surgery so I am home that night resting. The next day I am a little tired, probably from the anaesthesia but other than that, I feel good. You would never know that I had surgery. 2 days later I am washing all the windows in our place for fall cleaning. So happy that they were able to get me in and get this surgery over with!
Now we just have to see what Dr. Game, my blood specialist has to say. What is up with those high white blood cell counts in my stomach? We will find out!
August 3rd I go for yet another CT Scan of my abdomen. I am so used to these that it isn't a problem for me. But this time is different because I have not been using my arms. A nurse had to help me get dressed in my gown (I can't lift my arms up). All is good and then I get in the room for the scan and then I remember, you have to put your arms above your head for this.
I explain to the nurses that I just had a breast reduction and have not lifted my arms for a few weeks now. I know that I will have to do so for the scan, but can we please wait until the last dying second to do so and can we do this as quickly as possible. We do the best that we can and I raise my arms above my head and try to not think about the pain. It is finally over and we take it easy getting me back off the bed and back into my normal clothes. Just glad that it is over. Home to rest and take more pain killers.
August 4 I have to change the tape on my incisions and since last week I almost fainted doing so, I get a nurse friend to come over and change it for me. Everything goes well and I am sure that next week I will be able to do it on my own. I again think that it was just all the med's and such that made me so woozy but I wanted to make sure that this week went smoothly with the tape changes. And of course the next week when I did it by myself, everything went just fine.
August 18th, I am changing my tape and realize that my stomach is wet. I look at my incision and I have a hole that is leaking fluid in my right breast. Luckily my sister in law was over and I had her look at it to see what she thought. She confirmed that it was a hole and that I was leaking but that it was small. I clean up, tape up and call my surgeon's office. They tell me that this can happen sometimes but not to worry, just to keep it clean and all should be okay. I am scheduled to see Dr. Moysa in just a few days for another follow-up so I will leave it until then.
August 22nd I see Dr. Moysa. Everything is going well except for this little hole that is leaking. Dr. Moysa looks at it and confirms that it is normal and then he shocks it with some silver treatment to help it heal. I am to keep that part of the incision open (no tape) and to keep a loose gauze over the hole to catch the leaking.
A couple of days later, I am really leaking from this hole and I think that the hole is bigger. My nursing friend comes back over and yes, that hole has gotten a bit bigger and I should probably go back and have them check it out. I mean I just am unsure! I don't want anything to go wrong!
So the next day I go back to the surgical suite and they check it out. Even though it has gotten a little bigger, it still looks normal to them and I am just to be patient as it needs to heal from the inside out. Nothing to do but wait. I leave reassured and pray that this thing will seal over very quickly! They tell me it could be weeks before it heals and I just am not very patient at waiting for things like that. So I will have to wait. Keep it clean and all should be good.
I have now passed the 4 week mark since the surgery and I am so curious to know what size I am. I know that I shouldn't even begin to think of shopping for new bras for at least 3 months after the surgery as there is much swelling and you don't know what you will be until then. But I can't wait, I have to know a ball park figure as to where I am. So I go to Victoria Secret. A store that I have never been able to shop in before. I tell them my story and say that I am not here to buy a bra (yet!) but would like a measurement. They do this for me. And I am so HAPPY!! Can you guess what I am after the surgery??? Remember I was a 36G before the surgery. Maybe this picture can help you out. It is bra before surgery and bra post surgery:
Can you see the difference??????
I am now measured at a 36B! A B!!!!! That is what I wanted and that is what I got! So super excited. I will never get rid of that one 36G bra...it is a reminder of where I have come from. The scars and pain are well worth it. I would do this all over again in a heart beat. Best thing I have ever done!!!
July 26th, I go off to see the blood specialist Dr. Game. We are to discuss the findings of the excessive blood cells that they found in my stomach when they did the biopsies when I was in the hospital.
Dr. Game doesn't miss a beat. He goes right into explaining what could be going on. He says we will need to to a CT Scan of my abdomen to check this out. I might have Lymphoma. He says he will be discussing my case with his colleagues at the Cross Cancer Institute.
What? Excuse me? I am not expecting to hear this news. Yet, it doesn't upset me because I know that this is not it. I don't have Lymphoma. If I did, I would be sick and I am not sick. I get booked into a CT Scan for August 3rd. I have had so many of these things, if I AM sick, it is because of all the stinking radiation from all these tests! So off I go. Another test and we will see what happens.
A couple of days later I have to change the tape on my breasts. This does not bother me as I like things like that and blood and guts doesn't do me in like it does for other people. But something happened on this day. I changed my tape and I was so nauseated afterwards. It really affected me for some reason! Maybe it is all the pain killers that I am on, I don't know. I spent the rest of the day trying to keep the nausea at bay. I think next week I might need some help with this. Good grief!
Healing from surgery is always an up and down ride. Sometimes you feel great, other times, you feel like, yes, you have had surgery. Sunday July 17, I felt like I had surgery! Although the pain wasn't what I thought it would be, the best way that I could describe this day was I felt like I had been in a fight. And in a way, it kind of was like that. I mean I was sliced and diced and suctioned and stitched and so many other things. I think today was my worst pain day. Again, thank you to the makers of Demerol and for sleep.
Monday Glenn has to go back to work so we have friends come in for the week to take care of me. Remember, I can't do much of anything for myself. I can't even get a glass of water. I am so thankful for the friends who came during the day to be with me, to feed me, give me my med's, help me get comfortable, whatever I needed! I could not have survived without them!
Sleeping is the hardest part. You have to stay on your back for a minimum of 6 weeks and I am not a back sleeper. I so badly want to be on my side when I sleep but I cannot do this. I struggle to get in any comfortable position. Many pillows and such to try figure out what will help me the most. Eventually, I kind of get in a groove of some sort but that was one of the hardest things about this surgery....sleeping on my back all the time.
I have to give a huge shout out to my husband as well. Remember, I can't really do much of anything because I really can't use my arms. Yes, I can go to the bathroom by myself, but it takes having the toilet paper roll strategically placed in the bathroom so that I don't have to reach for it. Showering I cannot do on my own. I can't raise my arms to wash my hair. So Glenn has to shower with me and wash my hair and get me clean. I feel like a little child again! But Glenn just did everything that needed to be done without hesitation and was very gentle with me. He was always scared that he would hurt me, but I assured him that he wouldn't. You have to remember, my breasts are swollen, bruised beyond belief, have scares and I am taped up. He had reason to be concerned and careful!
On July 21st, I go back to Dr. Moysa for a follow-up appointment. Things are looking really good and he tells me what I need to do for changing the tape on my incisions for the next 8 weeks. The trickiest part for me is going around the nipples. During a breast reduction, the nipples are completely removed and then reattached. But with the doctor's guidance, I think we can do this! I will have to see Dr. Moysa again in a month for more follow-up. Until then, I am to continue on healing and doing as I have been...which is nothing!
So things are going really well! We have lots of help, I am just taking it easy, the pain meds are doing the job and I LOVE my new body!
I get a phone call, and, remember the excessive white blood cells in my stomach? I am scheduled to see the blood specialist on July 26th. More to come...
I can't believe that it is already July 2011 and over half of the year has gone by. So much has happened this year already and there is so much more to come!
I have been working temp jobs as I knew that I was having surgery on July 15th. I am now in my last temp job and am in a fun assignment with the Office of the Public Trustee. I am learning how to do dictation and work with a small but fun group! What a way to end my assignments...on a good note!
July 11, I have my final pre-op appointment with Dr. G Moysa...my plastic surgeon. I am nervous going into this appointment as I have not seen him since January and I hope that everything is still good to go. I am so looking forward to my breast reduction that I don't want anything to go wrong with the date so close now. I don't know why I was nervous. Dr. Moysa met with me and we took our final "before" pictures and he gives me all the information that I need for the day of the surgery as well as all my prescriptions that I will need so that I can fill them before the big day. Breast reduction surgery is painful so I will be on powerful drugs to help with the pain. Thank goodness I can get Demerol as I am allergic to Morphine. After this appointment, I am ecstatic! I can hardly wait for the 15th to arrive. I am going to be a new woman!
Now, you may be wondering why I chose to have this surgery. Most people are kind of shocked when they hear that I choose to do this, they didn't think that I had a breast problem. But I did. I was a 36G in bra size and I hated it. I always had to shop at specialty stores for bras and they were NOT cheap. I longed for the days when I could shop at Victoria Secret and actually get a bra in a color other than black or beige. Clothes shopping was another problem for me. I always had to get clothes that were too big so that they could fit me properly up top. I guess that is why people didn't really know I had a problem...I didn't dress to show off my breasts in a bad way. So I hated shopping....in fact, if I didn't have to do it, I didn't. It just isn't fun shopping for clothes and always getting a size bigger than you need. And then there is the obvious weight issue of them. At the end of the day, I hated my breasts. They were heavy, they were in the way, they just hung there. It was just so unnecessary to be that big with my size of body frame. So these are some of the reasons why I chose to have the surgery.
My surgery is scheduled for 8:45 AM. I am fortunate that I am getting the surgery done in a plastic surgery suite, not a hospital. They take such good care of you in a suite, rather than a hospital. The atmosphere is very relaxed. You are given very comfy robes to wait in and it is just the best situation before you are to go for major surgery. As I am waiting in my super comfy robe in my super comfy room, Dr. Moysa comes in for some last minute markings on my breasts so he knows exactly what he needs to do. Just before he leaves I jokingly tell him (though I was being serious) that he shouldn't be shy, take as much as he possibly can. He turns around and smiles and says that he will see me in the operating room.
I have never been so at peace as I went into an operating room. Maybe it was the whole atmosphere of the place and the staff or maybe because I knew this was going to be such a great change in my life. The staff was so incredibly kind. I knew to enjoy the last few moments that I had awake cause when I woke up, I was going to be in for some super pain.
I remember waking up. Yes, I was in pain, but not like I thought I would be. The recovery room nurses were so attentive to me. Immediately I was being given more pain medication. The pain was not going to get out of control. Also, when I wake up from surgery, I am usually very chilled. They notice this immediately and without me even having to say anything, they put this machine on me called a "Bear Hugger" which is like a blanket type thing that surrounds your body and a machine is hooked up to it with a hose that blows warm air on you so that you warm up. What a nice and pleasant thing to have. Because let's face it, those "warm" blankets that they give you in the hospital are only warm for 30 seconds and then you merely have a blanket on you and you are still cold! Because of the bear hugger, my body is able to calm down and not have to fight the cold and can just be. The pain meds are working, I am warm and I am getting constant attention. Every surgery should be like this!
After a couple of hours of being in recovery and knowing that everything is going okay, I am good to go home. I am hooked up to drains and the nurses explain how they work and what to do with them. I am dressed and put in a wheel chair and taken to the room where I will meet Glenn. Thank goodness I knew a couple of people who had this surgery before and their tips to me were super helpful! I am completely bandaged up around my upper body and even the smallest tips like having a zipped up hoodie are extremely helpful and so necessary right now. How in the world would I ever have gotten a shirt or anything else on me?!?! It is so good to see Glenn. I can tell that he is worried about me, more so for my pain level and how that is going to go. We are in the back of the building going out a back door...so Hollywood style! But I get it...you really don't want to go out the front where people can see you and you are all bandaged up, can't move really well...those back doors for plastic surgeons are genius!
It is a slow process getting into the car. Have you ever not used both of your arms before? I am not going to be able to use my arms for about 6 weeks. Slowly but surely, we get in the car, strategically place pillows and SLOWLY make the drive home as every bump in the road feels like a huge crater in the road. But things are going really well considering. We get home and I get into the recliner chair and from what I can remember, I go to sleep. Glenn keeps up with my pain meds so that I can be as comfortable as I possibly can be.
Later that evening I wake up and feel a little wet. Glenn looks at my bandages and I am leaking a bit. Poor guy, he is so out of his element. He is afraid to touch my bandages because he doesn't know if he will hurt me, or if he will damage anything. He calls the doctor and the doctor tries to tell him how to change the bandages. But it is like Fort Knox trying to get into them, I am so wrapped up and there are drains and so much stuff. We finally called Glenn's sons girlfriend who is a nurse. She immediately drops everything she is doing and comes over to help. I don't know what we would have done without her! She is able to help Glenn with the dressings and we get everything back to what it should be. I do very well through this ordeal....Demerol is a beautiful thing! We have to see the doctor again in the morning to have the drains removed so as long as I make it through the night, all will be good.
I don't remember much more about that first day...I was very heavily medicated and slept for most of it. I can't do anything on my own. Glenn sleeps on the couch next to me as I have to sleep in the recliner chair. I have to be on my back for at least 6 weeks and getting in and out of bed will just be too much to handle. If I have to go to the bathroom or anything, I will need help as I can't use my arms at all. My abs and legs are going to be super strong by the end of this!
The next morning we go back to see Dr. Moysa and have the dressings and drains removed. I am sitting in a chair that reclines while the doctor and Glenn take everything off. I finally get to look down at my breasts to see what they look like now. Glenn isn't sure that I should as they look pretty beat up at this point, black and blue, big scars etc. But I can't wait to look! When I do, I instantly smile...they are so small and they look great to me! This is what I wanted. Yes, they look like they have been in a serious fight but I know that they will heal and that they will be what I wanted. We are given instructions how to take care of them and I will see the Doctor again in 5 days. More about this in the next post!
