I saw Dr. Sterkin yesterday for my 10-day follow-up and to get my right side drain out. Hooray! That meant I could shower today, and I did. It was the best shower ever. :) Seriously, if you want to feel absolutely amazing, just go 11 days without showering or washing your hair and then shower. Instant anti-depressant!
I was even able to work two hours yesterday afternoon. Two hours was almost enough time to get through my emails from missing 8 1/2 days of work. It felt really good to be back.
The guidelines to recover from this surgery are pretty intense. And they've made me more than a little cranky. In addition to not being able to resume exercise for 8 weeks, I can't reach above my head, or sleep on my side, and I have to wear Spanx so that the uneven fat harvested from my belly settles evenly and not in furrows, like it is now. I also need a firm, supportive bra to insure that my breasts don't end up all lumpy, too. Seriously, I cannot imagine why anyone would choose elective cosmetic surgery like this. I'm second-guessing my own vain-ness in wanting reconstructed breasts instead of just going with prostheses. I would have been "done" a long time ago. I also just learned that there's not anyone in the area who does nipple tattoos (Dr. Sterkin only does them in combination with nipple reconstruction, which I am NOT doing), so if that's what I want (a 3D nipple tattoo like here or here), I'll have to travel. Probably also have to pay for it, as opposed to having insurance cover it if I did nipple reconstruction, too. As someone close to me said, "it comes down to how much you want to pay for nipples that I'm assuming only a handful of people will ever see." Guess it's time to really think about what else I could/should get tattooed there. And to search for a good tattoo artist...
As for now, I have all my stitches out (just steri-strips left) and I'm packed into Spanx like a sausage. But I dare say I smell quite a bit better. :)
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
No clearance for work yet.
I had my one-week follow-up appointment with the plastic surgeon this afternoon. It was originally scheduled for 1:15, and my plan was to see him, get cleared to return to work, and then run into work to pick up my computer and work from home at least a few days this week. His office called and said he was running late due to a surgery, and switched my appointment to 3:30, so I went to work first and picked up my computer.
Then I was terribly annoyed (and disappointed) to learn that I'm not cleared to return to work yet.
The handout that we got after my surgery was one brief page, and the post-op nurse was a bit annoyed that she didn't have any written discharge instructions, so Greg and I are pretty certain that we had NOT been told that I was supposed to barely move my right arm this first week. In fact, I was making it a point to use that arm (within comfort--never doing anything painful) so that it wouldn't end up cording again like it had after every other procedure I've had on my right side. Apparently since my implant is textured, every time I move, the tissue rubs on the textured part of the implant, and oozes fluid. No wonder I'm still putting out so much in my drains. Sigh.
I know it is a minor thing in the scheme of things. Healing is most important and everything looks good. Bruising is decreasing and there's no signs of infection. But this is a truly sucky way to spend one of my two weeks of vacation from work. And I have to re-fill my antibiotic (stinky Sulfa drug) prescription since I still have a drain. And I *swear* I'm an excellent patient and I would remember if he had told me not to move my arm!
Only now did I get the full description of what I cannot do while I'm healing. Basically, for 8 weeks, I can't do much of anything. No aerobic exercise, no carrying anything over 5/10/15/20 lbs. (increasing each two weeks), no stretching over my head. I can walk, though. That's encouraged, so I'm open for walk buddies.
It's really all fine--I just want to get back to normal. :(
Then I was terribly annoyed (and disappointed) to learn that I'm not cleared to return to work yet.
The handout that we got after my surgery was one brief page, and the post-op nurse was a bit annoyed that she didn't have any written discharge instructions, so Greg and I are pretty certain that we had NOT been told that I was supposed to barely move my right arm this first week. In fact, I was making it a point to use that arm (within comfort--never doing anything painful) so that it wouldn't end up cording again like it had after every other procedure I've had on my right side. Apparently since my implant is textured, every time I move, the tissue rubs on the textured part of the implant, and oozes fluid. No wonder I'm still putting out so much in my drains. Sigh.
I know it is a minor thing in the scheme of things. Healing is most important and everything looks good. Bruising is decreasing and there's no signs of infection. But this is a truly sucky way to spend one of my two weeks of vacation from work. And I have to re-fill my antibiotic (stinky Sulfa drug) prescription since I still have a drain. And I *swear* I'm an excellent patient and I would remember if he had told me not to move my arm!
Only now did I get the full description of what I cannot do while I'm healing. Basically, for 8 weeks, I can't do much of anything. No aerobic exercise, no carrying anything over 5/10/15/20 lbs. (increasing each two weeks), no stretching over my head. I can walk, though. That's encouraged, so I'm open for walk buddies.
It's really all fine--I just want to get back to normal. :(
Monday, July 4, 2016
Post-op, days 3-6
Friday I woke up at 5:30 am in a lot of pain. The stitches--especially those under my right breast--were hurting so bad that it was difficult to catch my breath. I gulped down my antibiotic and fell back asleep.
Somewhere close to 7:00 am I woke back up and Greg wasn't in bed with me. I thought that was odd, but to be honest, I was too tired to care. Next thing I heard was the bedroom door opening and I saw (in the dark, without my glasses on) Greg walking toward me. But in my muddled head he looked like Cara. He flopped down on the bed next to me and it took me partway through a conversation with him to realize he WAS Cara! She'd secretly planned a trip home (overnight--leaving the Twin Cities at midnight) to surprise me. And it worked. :)
We spent four days walking, shopping, getting pedicures, cooking, eating, playing games, and just hanging out as a family. It was fabulous and did such a great job of distracting me from the healing process.
One of the cool things I realized was that I don't have to carry these cards with me anymore:
They were for if I had to fly, go through a metal detector, or have an MRI.
~~~~~
Anyway, here I am, six days out of surgery, and on the eve of a visit to the plastic surgeon tomorrow. I fear it won't be a great visit.
My drains are still pulling out a LOT of fluid. If it's like my last surgery, I have to be under 10 ml in 24 hours to get them pulled. The one on my right had 38 ml in the last 24 hours. <sigh> I have to wait 24 hours after having the drains pulled to shower, and I don't think I want to go to work having not showered in over a week. So there's that.
However, over the last four days, the pain has decreased a lot. And it's shifted, as the first 4 days the pain was mainly in my incisions. Now the incisions feel fine (except where the drains are pulling), but my bruising from the liposuction has gotten painful. Still, I haven't had to take Tylenol more than once a day (not at all today!), and I've been able to gradually increase my steps, getting over 10,000 yesterday! (Today I had a lot of company/visiting and actually didn't have as many steps)
So we'll see what tomorrow's visit with Dr. Sterkin holds. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. I will say one thing: after 5 drains, 2 drains are a piece of cake!
Somewhere close to 7:00 am I woke back up and Greg wasn't in bed with me. I thought that was odd, but to be honest, I was too tired to care. Next thing I heard was the bedroom door opening and I saw (in the dark, without my glasses on) Greg walking toward me. But in my muddled head he looked like Cara. He flopped down on the bed next to me and it took me partway through a conversation with him to realize he WAS Cara! She'd secretly planned a trip home (overnight--leaving the Twin Cities at midnight) to surprise me. And it worked. :)
We spent four days walking, shopping, getting pedicures, cooking, eating, playing games, and just hanging out as a family. It was fabulous and did such a great job of distracting me from the healing process.
One of the cool things I realized was that I don't have to carry these cards with me anymore:
 |
| one for the port-a-cath; two for the expanders |
~~~~~
Anyway, here I am, six days out of surgery, and on the eve of a visit to the plastic surgeon tomorrow. I fear it won't be a great visit.
My drains are still pulling out a LOT of fluid. If it's like my last surgery, I have to be under 10 ml in 24 hours to get them pulled. The one on my right had 38 ml in the last 24 hours. <sigh> I have to wait 24 hours after having the drains pulled to shower, and I don't think I want to go to work having not showered in over a week. So there's that.
However, over the last four days, the pain has decreased a lot. And it's shifted, as the first 4 days the pain was mainly in my incisions. Now the incisions feel fine (except where the drains are pulling), but my bruising from the liposuction has gotten painful. Still, I haven't had to take Tylenol more than once a day (not at all today!), and I've been able to gradually increase my steps, getting over 10,000 yesterday! (Today I had a lot of company/visiting and actually didn't have as many steps)
So we'll see what tomorrow's visit with Dr. Sterkin holds. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. I will say one thing: after 5 drains, 2 drains are a piece of cake!
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