Well, I am back....sorry for the delay with my postings, but there was a family emergency and that had to be resolved first, and no, "I" was not the emergency. We are prayerful that now all is well. We will know for sure today.
Although spending 6 hours in a cold, uncomfortable emergency room..with emotions and fear flip flopping all over the place can be hard on anyone, having just had surgery made it that more arduous. It's amazing really, how wonderful our bodies are and how they manage to kick it up a notch, beyond what we think we are able to endure, when an emergency arises.
Following the endorphin rush.. came the crash. Once home, I was able to get back into my power-lift chair and take a dose of Robaxin and Celebrex...only then, was I able to exhale. Following the exhale came many hours of sleep.
The putting up of the above pictures have been driving me crazy...sorry, I can't seen to get them in order. So, for sanity's sake, let me describe each one as they appear from top to bottom.
#1. My drains...I had 4 of them. One in each axilla/underarm area, then 2 in pubic mound, bilaterally. They are designed to pulled the excess fluid build up from the body. I had to pour out the fluid every 10-12 hours, and record the quantity in ml's. This record was to be given to the doctor at my follow-up to determine if the drains were ready to be removed.
#2. This is my compression garment. I cannot even begin to describe to you, how tight it is. The garment was put on immediately following the removal of my drains at the doctors follow-up visit, 6 days following my surgery. It did NOT go on easily. As a matter of fact, I just looked at the nurse like she was absolutely out of her mind. How did she plan on getting that tiny garment on the horrible swollen body. The answer...force. As she attempted to make the two sides reach each other to be fastened and then zipped, it was clear to me, that I needed a bigger size....or so I thought. As she was attempting to harness me into this garment, I found myself pushing away, so she asked that my husband "BALANCE" me. What she meant was...hold on to her and keep her from moving till I get this thing on. Once on, I asked how it was I was suppose to breathe. I seems I could take a full breath. Within a couple seconds, I noticed that this garment was in fact comfortable. The question was, how the heck am I suppose to put this thing on by myself..and the answer was, I could not. It was simply impossible at this stage of my recovery, to do so. And why is it, that the minute she got that garment on me, I had to go to the bathroom. Hummm? I guess this thing works. Still can't breathe. Six weeks I have to wear this...24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with the exception of showers. My hope is, that as my swelling goes down, this garment will become tolerable, but as of today...not so much.
#3. My new belly button. Actually, I am very happy with this. This picture was taken just after I got home. Those little dimply looking things or folds in the skin worried me at the time, but as of today they are gone. So glad.
#4. OK, folks..this is the only picture they took in the operating room, much to my dismay. What we have here are the implants that they removed from me..if you look at the implant on the right, which is actually the implant from my left side, you will see it is flattened, dimpled and surrounded by a gelatinous substance. That "substance" was found throughout my chest. You see, when implants, or any foreign object, is placed in the body, the body forms a lining around it. This is known as a capsule. Over time, or even right away in some people, this capsule can contract because it is fibrous, and cause the implant to squeeze. Thus, the implant becomes hard. This is called capsule contracture. In my case, they had to do a capsulectomy and not only remove the implants, but excise the capsule also, and that is what you see in the picture just below the implants. I so appreciate my doctor for doing such a wonderful job. This is why my 5 hour surgery ended up taking 9 hours. The implant that you see on the left, was actually the implant from my right side. This was my painful side. The side that started all this. It was the side that was most disfigured and I have to tell you, that the doctor, having looked at that picture with me said he wished there had been a few other angles taken of that implant, because it was by far worse than the other... the picture however, did not capture that...Oh well.
#5. This again, is my compression garment. Actually, the white is my bra and the compression garment starts, right beneath the breasts. Did I mention that I can't breathe? The little white things at the bottom of the garment is just gauze pads placed over the holes where the tubing from the drains came out.
#6. Yeah, this one is a little raw. My left hip. Yes, the incision goes from hip to hip...and will shrink and fade over time. In this picture you can see why some movements are limited. That other mark is where the skin was pulled from by lower back as the nurses removed some kind of foam padding from my back following the surgery. That sun of a gun has pretty much heal up also. That one reminded me of road rash....stinging.
#7. This is another of the pics from before the drains were removed. The picture is a bit deceiving. The bellybutton looks like there is an incision from it, down to the large, incision, but there is not. It does go up maybe 1/2" though. I am so very swollen in this picture. My hips look huge. It is not uncommon, so have read, for people who have this surgery, to because depressed around days 4 or 5. Second guessing themselves even, as to why they did this to themselves. What have I done? Will this ever look right? I know to keep my eye on the prize. I know that healing takes time...that is one of the reasons I started this blog. I had to redirect my thinking, my thoughts.
#8. This is just a picture of me with all the dressings on....
Like I said the pics are all out of order, but there you have them.
Today is Thursday and I am feeling wonderful. No Robaxin since yesterday morning. They are all gone. Only thing left to take is my last two Celebrex. Walking is getting a bit easier. I can shower on my own now...WOW!! that is huge. Since I can't bend over, shaving my legs is difficult and spotty, but for right now, I don't give a rip.
This has been one HELL of a week for my whole family...sometimes, sad and unfortunate things just seem to happen all at once. This week, was one of those times. I thank God we were able to get through it relatively unscathed. Enjoy every day...make your choices wisely and always walk away from your difficult situations with something positive.
Week 3...healing is coming along well. Swelling is beginning to calm down. Just applied moisturizer...skin is so-o-o dry.
Breasts are doing well. Perfectly even. I don't know how he did it..but he did. Thank you, Dr. Baker.
Side view...not my favorite shot. It is a bit deceiving, but I am taking the pics by myself...waist is down to a 29.
Yes, I am still faithfully wearing the compression garment. I just put it on following my shower. It is shown with just the hooks, before zipping up. They don't call it a compression garment for nothing...notice my but is missing...
From this angle you can see the swelling that is still present. I like my new belly button. Both the TT incision and the BB incision still have scabbing taking place...but it is healing so well.
