Finally! Reconstructon on Wednesday

DebbyM

jessiesmom1 said:

Getting New Foobs
Hi JoAnn,

Congratulations on getting your new foobs! I had my reconstruction surgery done on 6/13/2011. I had a breast reduction/lift on the left (non-cancer) side and had my tissue expander replaced with a saline implant on the right side. It was about a 3.5 hour surgery. The reduction/lift took more time than the exchange done on the right side. This was done in the Outpatient Surgery area of my hospital. I was told to bring a sports bra to the hospital with me. When I woke up from the anesthesia I had that sports bra on and had a compression garment over that. It was kind of like a tube top but closed down the front with super-strength velcro. I wore both garments for 2 weeks and then wore only the sports bra for another 4-6 weeks. I was then give the go-ahead to wear a regular bra. I had to go shopping for new bras as I was smaller but had no real idea what size I was. My 18 year old daughter was my lingerie consultant. When all was said and done, I had gone from a DD cup to a C cup. The reduced side looks fabulous. For the 1st time in maybe 40 years it actually points forward and not downwards. So strange. The reconstructed side is slightly smaller in volume and the shape is not as natural as I had hoped it would be. A person looking at me while I am clothed would probably not see much of a difference.

As to surgical recovery itself, it was not bad at all. Unfortunately I came home with the dreaded drains but they were removed within 2 weeks. I took the prescribed pain meds for the 1st couple of days but in reality could probably have done without it. I think I anticipated it would hurt so I took them. What helped more was reclining in bed watching TV with an ice pack on my chest. The reduced side was more sore than the reconstructed/implant side. I do not have a great deal of feeling on the right side of my chest since the mastectomy. What I was unprepared for was how hyper-sensitive the nipple on the reduced side was for about 8 weeks. A feather could touch me and I would cringe. Depending on your job you might not actually feel the need to stay out of work for 2 weeks. I am gong to wait a couple of months to make sure the new foobs (fake boobs) are the final shape then I guess I will get the nipple/areola reconstruction and tattoo.

I hope your surgery goes well. It is one more step on the road to feeling a little more "normal." Good luck. By the way, my last chemo was 1 year ago. I have a full head of those salt & pepper chemo curls and have even had 2 haircuts.

IRENE

IRENE

Lots of good luck and
Lots of good luck and prayers!

jnl

SueRelays said:

Excited for you!! I know
Excited for you!! I know how anxious I am to be over chemo and surgery and moving on to that next stage!

Wish you all the best!!!

Praying your surgery went
Praying your surgery went well today and that you are resting comfortably now. I will be watching for an update from you.


Hugs, Leeza

disneyfan2008

checking back to see how
checking back to see how things are going?

Denise

Ritzy

disneyfan2008 said:

checking back to see how
checking back to see how things are going?

Denise

Checking on you too JoAnn!
Checking on you too JoAnn! Post an update for us when you are feeling strong enough.


Sue

Kylez

butterflylvr said:

Well JoAnn,
Looks like the twins are being born. Thinking of you at this moment praying all is going well. Post back when you can...

Hugs,
Lorrie

How did surgery go JoAnn?
How did surgery go JoAnn? Positive thoughts and gentle hugs!

Ritzy

cinnamonsmile said:

Good luck and best wishes to
Good luck and best wishes to you and your surgical team! I hope everything goes smooth for you! What an exciting day! Much better to look forward to something good isn't?

Keeping you in my thoughts
Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers!

Sue

JoAnn4818

Never Under Estimate Surgery
Oh my dear Pink Sisters,

Thanks so much for all the positive thoughts and prayers. I didn't realize when I went in how much I would really need them. I had my surgery Wednesday afternoon and at first it looked like things went well. When I came out of recovery and was supposed to be getting ready to go home the breast that had the lift got extremely swollen, my blood pressure spiked way up and I got a fever. The nurses got the fever down and let me go home by almost midnight. The next morning the fever was back over 102 degrees so they did a second surgery and kept me overnight. It's taken me a while to recover from all the medicines they pumped into me. Today is the first day I can actually sit up. I wasn't treated well at the hospital at times. I asked for pain medicine just a few hours after the first surgery. The meds I got in recovery had worn off. I had to wait 3 hours to get any since the doctor on call didn't answer his page. I told my surgeon about it and he said he would look into it. He said they never called him and he wouldn't have let that happen.

The side with the silicone implant is soft and feels so good compared with the tissue expander! Neither side looks like a breast at this point but I think that's to be expected. Thanks again for your support!

love,

JoAnn

jnl

JoAnn4818 said:

Never Under Estimate Surgery
Oh my dear Pink Sisters,

Thanks so much for all the positive thoughts and prayers. I didn't realize when I went in how much I would really need them. I had my surgery Wednesday afternoon and at first it looked like things went well. When I came out of recovery and was supposed to be getting ready to go home the breast that had the lift got extremely swollen, my blood pressure spiked way up and I got a fever. The nurses got the fever down and let me go home by almost midnight. The next morning the fever was back over 102 degrees so they did a second surgery and kept me overnight. It's taken me a while to recover from all the medicines they pumped into me. Today is the first day I can actually sit up. I wasn't treated well at the hospital at times. I asked for pain medicine just a few hours after the first surgery. The meds I got in recovery had worn off. I had to wait 3 hours to get any since the doctor on call didn't answer his page. I told my surgeon about it and he said he would look into it. He said they never called him and he wouldn't have let that happen.

The side with the silicone implant is soft and feels so good compared with the tissue expander! Neither side looks like a breast at this point but I think that's to be expected. Thanks again for your support!

love,

JoAnn

So sorry JoAnn that you
So sorry JoAnn that you weren't treated well. That isn't right. I hope some heads do roll because of it.

Praying that soon you will be feeling a lot better.


Love, Leeza

debi.18

jnl said:

So sorry JoAnn that you
So sorry JoAnn that you weren't treated well. That isn't right. I hope some heads do roll because of it.

Praying that soon you will be feeling a lot better.


Love, Leeza

Hope your feeling better
So sorry things didn't go as smoothly as hoped for. Glad you are home and praying for a quick and easy recovery.

Lots of hugs, prayers and positive thoughts!

Debi

DianeBC

Gabe N Abby Mom said:

Add my good wishes too! Let
Add my good wishes too! Let us know how you're doing.

Hugs,

Linda

Lots of good luck, prayers,
Lots of good luck, prayers, hugs and good wishes!