The day arrived. I woke up and took my valium. I highly recommend it on surgery day especially.
We got the kids up and grabbed the bags and were on our way to the hospital.
Maybe I need a frequent flier card or something but we know many of the people at the surgery center in our hospital. That is probably because this was my 3rd surgery there within a year. Everyone was so nice. We could not have been happier with our experience. I was even able to have a friend of mine from high school be my Anesthesiologist. Things were coming together.
We had no trouble getting my IV in.
Then they did injections into the cancer site with a radioactive dye. During the surgery, they follow the dye to the closest lymph nodes. Those nodes are called the sentinel nodes. The plan was to remove 1-3 sentinel nodes for biopsy.
After I was all set with IV and injections, I got to see Chris and the boys. My parents came to see me too. My sister and her family drove over an hour very early in the morning to see me.
Our friends Nancy, Ellen, and our friend & Priest, Becky all came to see me. It was so nice to see so many people we love come to support us -- and so early in the morning! I will never forget that.
Right before they took me back into surgery, it was just Chris with me. It was a very emotional moment. Up until then, I had held it together very well. This is when the tears started up a bit. The nurse told me, "This is a big deal and it's OK to cry." Well, that was it for me. Cry I did.
The surgery itself could not have gone better. All of the potential complications we were worried about with my lupus issues and MTHFR issues never happened. They didn't need to give me cortisol during the surgery and my heart did just fine. They removed all of the breast tissue, the lymph tissue, and were able to spare the nipples and all of my own skin. The plastic surgeon placed the tissue expanders behind my chest wall and filled them with air. I had the incisions below the breasts at the natural skin fold and also had a drain on each side of my torso, a few inches below the incision lines. The drain tubes were inside wrapped around both breast sites to help drain excess fluid. The fluid collected outside of my body in little drains that Chris emptied every morning and night.
While I was in surgery, Chris, the boys, my parents, my sister and her family all waited. Gary brought Chris lunch and sat with him awhile. Lynda picked up our kids and took them home for a few hours and let them hang out with her kids. She brought them back all before I was in my hospital room.
When I woke up, I felt some pain but overall not too bad. They had used some sort of numbing cream inside at the end of the surgery which helped a lot with the pain when I woke up. Then they started morphine in my IV.
It wasn't too long and the took me to my hospital room. That is where I got to see Chris and my parents and sister and within a few minutes Lynda and the kids came. Also our friend, Chuck came from church. It was so nice having everyone there.
It wasn't too long at all and the nausea started. At first we thought it was from the pain but after a few doses of morphine, I realized it was probably from the morphine itself. It was so bad that I actually vomited ..only I vomited nothing since I still had nothing in my system. It was awful. I was so nauseous it was debilitating. They started me on Zofran. I felt a bit better.
My parents ended up bringing the boys to their house to spend the night which was not our original plan. Originally, Chris was going to take them home and come back for me in the morning. Thank goodness my parents took them and Chris stayed because it was a very long and difficult night.
The very first time I stood up to use the bathroom, the pain was absolutely excruciating. It was very intense. After that very first time getting up though, it got a little easier each time after that. I have had 2 c-sections and let me tell you, this pain seemed worse and I have a pretty good tolerance for pain.
The pain would cause waves of nausea to come and the night was very long.
The next morning, I was surprised how quickly we could discharge. I was glad though. I wanted to be home. Chris left early to pick up the boys from my parent's house and came back to get me. We got me into my new PJs from my friend, Lori. Button down is the only way to go.
Notice my pink drain belt. The drains were a big source of discomfort over the 12 days. The drain belt is essential though to keep them from pulling on your skin. I got this from Amazon.
This picture was from many days later when I could stand up pretty well!
The ride home was very hard....the seatbelt is impossible across the chest, and I felt every single little bump.
We got home and I got situated in a new reclining chair that my parents bought us. It has been a lifesaver. Even more than 2 weeks out now, I use it all day long. If you are about to have this surgery, consider a recliner. It is worth every penny.
I spent most of the first week sleeping. I was given Tylenol with Codeine and Oxycodone along with muscle relaxers. I was not able to take any NSAIDs due to my kidney function. I took the pain meds for a good 6 days and then had to give them up. They made me extremely nauseous and at some point I decided that the pain was better than the nausea. I am still taking the muscle relaxers and that is something that will continue after each "fill" with the reconstruction.
Hooray for drain belts, recliners, and button down PJs!
We got the kids up and grabbed the bags and were on our way to the hospital.
Maybe I need a frequent flier card or something but we know many of the people at the surgery center in our hospital. That is probably because this was my 3rd surgery there within a year. Everyone was so nice. We could not have been happier with our experience. I was even able to have a friend of mine from high school be my Anesthesiologist. Things were coming together.
We had no trouble getting my IV in.
Then they did injections into the cancer site with a radioactive dye. During the surgery, they follow the dye to the closest lymph nodes. Those nodes are called the sentinel nodes. The plan was to remove 1-3 sentinel nodes for biopsy.
After I was all set with IV and injections, I got to see Chris and the boys. My parents came to see me too. My sister and her family drove over an hour very early in the morning to see me.
Our friends Nancy, Ellen, and our friend & Priest, Becky all came to see me. It was so nice to see so many people we love come to support us -- and so early in the morning! I will never forget that.
Right before they took me back into surgery, it was just Chris with me. It was a very emotional moment. Up until then, I had held it together very well. This is when the tears started up a bit. The nurse told me, "This is a big deal and it's OK to cry." Well, that was it for me. Cry I did.
The surgery itself could not have gone better. All of the potential complications we were worried about with my lupus issues and MTHFR issues never happened. They didn't need to give me cortisol during the surgery and my heart did just fine. They removed all of the breast tissue, the lymph tissue, and were able to spare the nipples and all of my own skin. The plastic surgeon placed the tissue expanders behind my chest wall and filled them with air. I had the incisions below the breasts at the natural skin fold and also had a drain on each side of my torso, a few inches below the incision lines. The drain tubes were inside wrapped around both breast sites to help drain excess fluid. The fluid collected outside of my body in little drains that Chris emptied every morning and night.
While I was in surgery, Chris, the boys, my parents, my sister and her family all waited. Gary brought Chris lunch and sat with him awhile. Lynda picked up our kids and took them home for a few hours and let them hang out with her kids. She brought them back all before I was in my hospital room.
When I woke up, I felt some pain but overall not too bad. They had used some sort of numbing cream inside at the end of the surgery which helped a lot with the pain when I woke up. Then they started morphine in my IV.
It wasn't too long and the took me to my hospital room. That is where I got to see Chris and my parents and sister and within a few minutes Lynda and the kids came. Also our friend, Chuck came from church. It was so nice having everyone there.
It wasn't too long at all and the nausea started. At first we thought it was from the pain but after a few doses of morphine, I realized it was probably from the morphine itself. It was so bad that I actually vomited ..only I vomited nothing since I still had nothing in my system. It was awful. I was so nauseous it was debilitating. They started me on Zofran. I felt a bit better.
My parents ended up bringing the boys to their house to spend the night which was not our original plan. Originally, Chris was going to take them home and come back for me in the morning. Thank goodness my parents took them and Chris stayed because it was a very long and difficult night.
The very first time I stood up to use the bathroom, the pain was absolutely excruciating. It was very intense. After that very first time getting up though, it got a little easier each time after that. I have had 2 c-sections and let me tell you, this pain seemed worse and I have a pretty good tolerance for pain.
The pain would cause waves of nausea to come and the night was very long.
The next morning, I was surprised how quickly we could discharge. I was glad though. I wanted to be home. Chris left early to pick up the boys from my parent's house and came back to get me. We got me into my new PJs from my friend, Lori. Button down is the only way to go.
Notice my pink drain belt. The drains were a big source of discomfort over the 12 days. The drain belt is essential though to keep them from pulling on your skin. I got this from Amazon.
The ride home was very hard....the seatbelt is impossible across the chest, and I felt every single little bump.
We got home and I got situated in a new reclining chair that my parents bought us. It has been a lifesaver. Even more than 2 weeks out now, I use it all day long. If you are about to have this surgery, consider a recliner. It is worth every penny.
I spent most of the first week sleeping. I was given Tylenol with Codeine and Oxycodone along with muscle relaxers. I was not able to take any NSAIDs due to my kidney function. I took the pain meds for a good 6 days and then had to give them up. They made me extremely nauseous and at some point I decided that the pain was better than the nausea. I am still taking the muscle relaxers and that is something that will continue after each "fill" with the reconstruction.
Hooray for drain belts, recliners, and button down PJs!
No comments:
Post a Comment