Foobs

Hopefully this link works:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joannamontgomery/post-mastectomy-my-new-foobs_b_3886195.html

Tried to link it so it would go right to the article...didn't work.

Lat dorsi flap

Along with the lat dorsi muscle that was tunneled under my skin and around to my chest the surgeon also took an area of skin from my back. This was for added coverage because my skin was so thin on my chest. It's a small area in the middle where my nipple would be normally. Almost a triangular piece of skin. I took the paper tape off the incision two days ago and there's a area that hasn't healed well yet. I'm worried about that so I'm glad I see the PS again tomorrow so she can take a look. They like using the lat flap because of the ability to keep the blood supply intact. I don't really have any pain under my arm where the muscle was tunneled to the front (sounds ickier than it actually is!).

My other side had a skin & nipple sparing mastectomy so at least I got to keep something! :-)

Showering with drains

I usually don't take long to get ready in the morning...usually. With 3 drains it becomes more of an ordeal. Here are the steps I take:
1. Take all 3 out of pockets attached to camisole & make sure all tubes are going out the front.
2. Put lanyard around neck and thru camisole; attach safety pins on drains to lanyard so they don't fall & pull out (OUCH!).
3. Step out of camisole.
4. Take off gauze/tape around drain insertion sites & spray with Bactine to numb them a bit. Pulling the paper tape off hurts in the areas where I'm not numb.
5. Strip drain tubes and empty bulbs. Record amount.
6. Take all 3 "passengers" (drains) into the shower & be careful while reaching for shampoo.
7. Step out and pat incision areas dry. Dry off "passengers".
8. Pull up camisole; take off dripping wet lanyard; insert drains back into their respective pockets.
9. Cut slit in small gauze square and apply antibiotic ointment to gauze. This fits around drain tube and covers painful irritated area. More paper tape. I do this for all 3 drain sites.
10. Pull camisole up over shoulders, put on another shirt over it. Ready to go! ( Ha ha! Ready to go take a nap...).

It is much easier than last time because my range of motion is so much better. I think I pinned the drains to my shirt last time and that works fine also.

Feeling good!

I've been feeling pretty good the past few days. I hurt a rib while sitting in a chair on the deck last night. No idea what happened. Ha ha! That's still painful...but that's what I've got Norco for!
I'm a pro at stripping and emptying my drains. The are called JP (Jackson-Pratt) drains and work by suction. The bulb on the end fills with fluid and I have to strip the plastic tube to prevent clots from forming. Then I open the bulb to pour the fluid into a measuring cup; squeeze the bulb and plug it to create the suction vacuum. I then record the amount. I do this for each of the 3 drains.
I cannot wait to have them removed! The total 24 hr volume has to get to 25ml or less. Today's was still over 85mls.

Awesome blog!

http://thetracinator.com

She has gone thru the lat dorsi flap, tissue expanders, implants, nipple reconstruction...

She also has the BRCA 1 gene mutation and that is why she elected to have surgery.

First post-op

I saw the plastic surgeon on Aug. 5 for a post-op appointment. The nurse removed my dressings and chatted with me. She is a 13 year breast cancer survivor and had some very encouraging things to say to me. Plus she hugged me as I was leaving. My drain sites are irritated and the drains still had enough volume that they needed to stay in. I have another appt on Tues.
The doctor said things look great, better than she expected! She only injected a small amount of saline into the expanders during surgery and elected to wait until the next appt to inject more. I can feel it sloshing around in the right expander. Weird feeling!

Nurses: human and feline

I had some wonderful nurses taking care of me while I was in the hospital. It takes a very special person to be a nurse! I hope that I wasn't too much trouble for them.

I also had my cat nurses caring for me at home. Callie prefers the night shift and there were some disputes when Fiona showed up early. Callie is especially cuddly when she knows I don't feel well and she checks on me throughout the night (she did the same during chemo).