Any Baltimore Ladies?

Hi ladies:

I live in Laurel and consider myself close to B'more *grin*.  Can I join? Can I get details about 9/11 - (I am pushy)?  Sounds like a great get together.   Thanks!

Dawn I def had problems with weight gain with chemo and know some was from fluid retention. As soon as I finished chemo the weight came off.

 As far as fatigue as the chemo progressed so did the fatigue.

ray

BooBee there are tons of resale shops I can direct you guys too. I know of a few within 15 minutes from owings mills.

ray

there is little lamb cosignments in roland park, julie is the owner, 410 433 9086 you can do a wish list as well.  Also try tried but true which is in cockeysville 410 666 9265.

ray

boo bee I googled and found another one called  the lily pad in towson, not familar with it but try,  410 377 0025

ray

dawn i know a great lymphedema specialist but shes at mercy, do u want the info?

ray

Hi Ray, sure I would love the information. I am going to call Franklin Square today also. They are right around the corner from where I work.

dawn will send you the info in a PM, is in my cell phone which is not near me now.

Hi Renee,

That would be super!  Yes, great consignment in kids things around...  Send me a PM and we can plan a lunch!  

Hey Dawn, that is great news on finishing Chemo...congrat's!  glad you can get some time off to take care of yourself.

Have a great day everybody! 

MRDRN

1bmore - I am glad you are thrilled with your new nips.  I already researched Vinny and was pretty impressed with his 3D pictures, which I was considering.  Who is your PS?  Can't wait for the 11th, can you post the time and place again?  Thanks

Ladies - Looking forward to meeting all of you.  

Hi Everyone! I could not stand being cooped up a minute more, and my BFF Steph came to get me so I could drive my car back to my Mom's house. I will most likely get cleared to drive tomorrow, so let's just keep this our little secret, ok? LOL!!!

Anywhoo...I am making a quick pit-stop at my apartment, to use my computer and check in and update folks...so here goes...

Cathy (my other BFF) and I arrived at Mercy Hospital at 9:30am. By 9:45am I had had my first needle-stick for a test my plastic surgeon needed pre-surgery.

Shortly afterwards, I was called back and prepped for surgery. I was told surgery would start around noon-time, but it turns out my breast surgeon was running behind, so they didn't actually take me back until 1:15pm. Some of you may have seen my drive-by comments on Facebook (I wasn't supposed to have my cell-phone back there, but that's what BFF's are for!)

Dr. Chang came back to "draw on me." I told him the results of my Facebook Survey on CupSize, and he just laughed. He said, well, you have enough tissue/fat to give you Full B's or Small C's depending on which way you look at them. Fair enough, so that's what I have, Full-B's/Small-C's. And they are LOVELY!

Ok, so they take me back. My breast surgeon first does a skin-sparing prophylactic mastectomy on my right breast. This took about 2 hours. Then Dr. Chang came in to do my reconstruction. It only took 6 hours!!! He said the blood vessels they needed to locate were just sitting there saying, "HELLO, HERE WE ARE!" so the normal hour or two they take to search for and find the right vessels, they didn't need to do with me. 3 hours on each side and we were DONE! PRAISE GOD! Nothing but the grace of God and ALL your collective prayers! I was under general anesthesia for only 8 hours! Even the doctors were estimating 10 hours at a minimum, so I consider this a HUGE blessing!

I wish I could say the rest of that day went as smoothly. I woke up, and the first words out of my mouth were "I'm scared!" And then I kept asking if I was breathing. Cathy asked the recovery nurses why I was so agitated (more than normal when coming out of anesthesia), and they said that it's a common side effect of this new general anesthetic they are using. Apparently, the anesthetic they USED to use regularly, Propofol, is in short supply (post-Michael Jackson I suppose), and they are now using this other drug (whose name I have yet to get...) Well, apparently nearly EVERY patient who gets this drug wakes up verbalizing fear and having varying levels of panic and anxiety as it wears off.

I had panic and anxiety attacks all night long! It was MISERABLE! Intellectually, I knew I had nothing to be afraid of, but I could not shake the feeling that if I closed my eyes and fell asleep, I would die. The nurse sat with me for 3 hours, God Bless Her. Finally I agreed to have them give me something to MAKE me sleep.

The next day, they moved me to a private room and the nurses got me sitting up in a chair within a few hours. I had on-demand Dilaudid via IV, could take Percocet whenever I wanted, and had the On-Q Pain Pump continuously bathing my abdomen in Marcane. But sitting upright for the 1st time was the most pain I'd ever felt in my LIFE! OMG!!! I could hardly believe it!

I slept in the chair for 3 hours, and the nurses finally took pity on me and put me back in bed. But then the dopplers for my new breast flaps went wacky. Get this, I had electronic doppler-monitor-thingees attached to the new girls, and my plastic surgeon has an I-Phone App that lets him check the blood flow into my new breasts 24 hours a day from wherever he is! There truly is an APP for EVERYTHING! I told him he had a Boob-Alert!

So apparently, the dopplers aren't happy when you move around, so my flaps really weren't failing. Dr. Chang said to remove the dopplers if the nurses were going to keep me moving around.

On Friday, I started on solid foods (somewhat reluctantly), and they stopped the Dilaudid (which was making me itch something terrible!) They also insisted I sit up in the chair again. I was in that chair 20 minutes before everything started going dotty and purpley. Basically, I passed out. My blood pressure plummeted to like 60/44! Back to bed, and they started pumping over 1000 mL of saline to bring my p[ressure back up. That worked! Essentially, they sat me up too quickly after taking me off the Gold-Star narcotics, and I was a bit dehydrated, so...*swoon*

I peed 12 times in 60 minutes! At some point, I stopped calling for the Nurse Tech and just got out of bed on my own. That level of moving around and eating solid food was my ticket OUT of the hospital the next day! Whoo-Hoo! All things work together for the good...right?

Painwise, I'm amazed at how much better I feel each day. 12 days post-op, and I haven't had ANY painkillers in over 72 hours! I'm still a bit sore and achey, and still have 2 drains (1 VERY stubborn!), but again, each day gets better and better!

I have to send a huge Shout-Out to Cathy who was there when I woke up (even though I couldn't see her, she kept talking to me and sitting with me, and answering my crazy questions!) She even got a hotel room right across the street from the hospital so she could be there when I needed her. And another Shout-Out to Stephie who kept you all updated, checked on my cat, collected my mail, and basically ensured I did not climb the walls too terribly. I have the BEST best friends in the WORLD!!!

And for each person who made a point of coming to see me while I was in the hospital, while I was looking like the Heat Miser's long-lost black sister, I THANK YOU!!! You have no idea how much those visits meant to me! I truly love and appreciate each of you!  ESPECIALLY to Kim & Amy whom I love to bits for coming to see me!  Kim was there pre-surgery and later for the for the passing out episode, and she helped keep everyone calm!

Each phone call, card, visit, prayer, email, they mean so much! And I just thank you all from the bottom of my flat-bellied heart!

I still have some recovery milestones to make, but I'm meeting/exceeding each of them so far! I'm on target!

Anywhoo, I've got to get back to my Mom's before she freaks out too much. She's taking extremely good care of me, and I will be there until the end of the week.

Later!

Alaina "I'm Too Sexy for These Drains!"

So who is coming to Gecko's on the 11th ???

I am  in

Alaina and Jaimeih, I'm in for the 11th - where is Gecko's?  

Here is the Address to Gecko's:

Geckos 2318 Fleet Street (Canton) , Baltimore MD (not sure of the zip)

Sorry that you are not coming Amy  

Alaina~ I am normally early....lol.....   So most likely I will see you early. 

Angie~ Glad you are able to come.  We honestly have a blast.