No, I didn't meet a new friend and there is no new girl at work to speak of but the new girl I am speaking of resides on the right side of my chest!! That's right, I have a new (partial) booby...YAY!!! So let's back up a little bit. Before vacation I found out that I would have my reconstructive surgery on the right side July 25th at 9:30am. Now remember that with the original surgery November 4, 2013 when I had my double mastectomy, reconstruction was started at the same time. Three weeks later I ended up having a MRSA infection on the right side and had to have my right expander removed. I had to wait 2 months after chemo was complete to begin reconstruction on the right side again. Ever since I found out what day my surgery would be I have had a countdown on my phone because I can't begin to tell you how ready I have been to get rid of my prosthesis. When Wednesday came I was already so ready for surgery Friday that I barely slept. Thursday, I went to Dr. Stalnecker's office so that he could ahead and mark me for surgery. After being marked I returned back to work. By that night almost all the markings had worn off...UGH!!! So, I pulled out the permanent marker and told Ryan to do his best tracing the faded lines. He wasn't a big fan of doing it because he said if I had a messed up boob it would be his fault haha! Friday morning came and I was ready for surgery!! I was ready to take the next step to getting back to normal. We arrived at the Cancer Center at 7:40am so that I could have my port accessed because since I only have one arm for IVs, I really didn't want to be stuck when the port makes it so easy. After my port was accessed we headed across the street to the Surgery Center. I checked in and they immediately took me back! I couldn't believe it, I was getting ready to take this next step in my journey. Once I was in my pre-op room, I got to put on the lovely green gown with the fabulous blue socks, oh and a hair cap.
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Ready for surgery!!
Once I was in my surgery garb the dr. that was going to put the pain block in came to talk to me so I could sign some papers then not long after I was headed to get the pain block. I walked to the room where they were inserting the block and it was FREEZING!! I laid face down on the table, he gave me a few meds to make me a little woozy and in went the block. I was then returned to pre-op on a cart. Dr. Stalnecker came in for the last time to make sure I was ready and of course he asked if the marking stayed on. Ryan had to tell him that it had faded and he had to trace the lines. He left, the nurse came in and wheeled me back to surgery. It was time to get a new booby!!! Once in the surgery room I scooted myself over to the surgery table and the last thing I remember was the nurse telling me I looked really tan and I told her that we had just gotten back from vacation. Next thing I know I'm waking up in post op. Everything is still a little blurry until they took me to a room. My plan was to go home but the nurse or I guess I should say, Dr. Stalnecker put a wrench in that. The nurse told me that Dr. Stalnecker had ordered another bag of antibiotics and since I had received a bag in surgery, they were not able to hang it until 11pm. She said I could still go home but of course it's not recommended since I had an infection last time and we are trying to prevent one this time. So, needless to say, I stayed, reluctantly, overnight. Ryan was finally able to tell me about my surgery. He said that since I had so much time to heal since my last surgery, the muscle and skin had tightened alot so when they put the expander in they were unable to fill it very much. He also told me that they had to tear muscle tissue down from my upper chest and bring it down to help make the pocket for my expander. The plus this time was that I only ended up with 1 drain!! I received the antibiotic, then my last dose of pain medicine at 5:00am so I was ready to go home at 5:30am. Our dogs were so happy to see us when we walked through that door. Since surgery and returning home, the pain block emptied by Sunday morning so Ryan pulled it out, I have been really sore, kind of like I've been kicked in the ribs and the drain hurts so bad but it should be coming out on Thursday. I finally was able to take the bandages off the new girl and shower which felt awesome! So, Thursday I return to Dr. Stalnecker's office to have my drain removed (YAY!!) and to get my expander filled a little more.
