Reconstruction Surgery (check)

Well, it's done.  :)   

I have to say, to those of you who said what a breeze this surgery would be, that I wouldn't call it a breeze.  But I am feeling better by the hour.  Greg and I just took a walk around the block and that didn't kill me.

Some things were slightly different from the first surgery.  For one, it was only 4 1/2 hours.  And the anesthesiologist (different one) didn't have me use the motion sickness patch.  In the short term, that was a bad decision (I was really queasy after surgery and the ride down to the car in the wheelchair and the ride home were decidedly NOT pleasant).  But in the long term, I think it was good.  I never had the vision problems and the nausea went away sometime last night.

I also told the anesthesiologist about my TMJ issues and how bad they got after my first surgery.  So instead of the regular way they put in the breathing tube (where he basically said they pull apart your jaw--which is what TMJ is), he used a fiber optic guide to get it in.  So I don't feel like my jaw's screwed up, although I do feel like my throat is a lot more banged up.  Maybe I'm just less "out of it" this time so the little things annoy me.

So bit by bit, here's what they did:

I decided to have the port-a-cath taken out during this surgery.  I know it's supposed to be minor, (done in an office) but I'd also heard that it hurt a lot, so I figured I might as well have it done while I was under.  Also, why not have my plastic surgeon stitch it up?  Probably more meticulous, right?  He also made that incision way over near my armpit so it'll be less visible (not that I really care, but if I have to go through all this, I might as well take the little perks!).

Then there's the implants.  Dr. Sterkin had to make new incisions under my breasts for them because the incisions used for my mastectomy weren't big enough.  He had thought he'd have to put in alloderm (cadaver skin) on the irradiated side to make room, but ended up not needing to.  Those incisions don't hurt much at all.  I'm bruised but its pretty obvious surgical bruising and not very deep.  I have two drains in (compared to five last time) and they have smaller drain tubes.  I'm sure they'll irritate me just as much in a few days, but for now they're okay.

The big surprise in terms of both pain and appearance is where he harvested the fat to fill out my breasts.  When he described it, it was, "we'll just take some fat from your belly to round out your breasts" and I was all, "hell, yeah!"  But it was liposuction (duh) and holy crap am I bruised!  I have a belly-binder to hold things in, but the bruising on my belly and down my thighs is crazy.  Even the post-op nurse couldn't help but make a surprised noise.  I'm assuming that at least part of it is due to my platelets.  Although they were at 85K for my pre-op bloodwork, they tested them yesterday and they'd dropped to 64K, so I got a platelet transfusion  (Once again, thank you to anyone who donates blood, but especially platelets, as I know it takes longer for them to take out the blood, grab the platelets, and then put the blood back)

Other than the bruising, I'm doing really well.  I refused to fill the prescription for Oxycodone and so far my pain is managed fine with regular Tylenol.  I hope to avoid all those other unpleasant narcotic side-effects, too.  :)

I have my follow-up appointment scheduled for next Tuesday afternoon.  My hope is that the drains will come out and I'll be cleared to return to work--at least parttime.  I'm still kind of bummed to not be able to do Summerfest this year, and I don't think I'll be going to the fireworks on the 4th.  But all in all, this went very well.  I have no doubt it's because of all the positive thoughts and prayers that you all sent my way.  Reading everything on Facebook brought tears to my eyes.  Thank you all for continuing on this journey with me!