April & May 2015 Surgery Sisters

Jackbirdie, I need a bigger sleep hug. Tonight will be an all-nighter for me, topping off a sleepless night before my surgery. My eyes are tired, but my body and mind are totally wired from my drug cocktail. Instead of the common drowsiness as a side effect, I've fallen into the 'may also cause stimulation' camp. Not sure how long my eyes will hold out for Netfliix. I have struggled with insomnia for a long time, so I am well acquainted with sleeplessness. Something I have to work on now that I've had my surgery. I am staying a night at the hospital, as it was really important to my husband as a precautionary measure. I would rather be in my own bed enveloped in a pillow cocoon without all the hospital noise and distractions. I do have a recliner and will test both, but feel pretty confident that i'll be choosing the bed for sleeping. Just a reminder to bring an extension cord and chargers for your devices to the hospital.

I walked into surgery buoyed by the ring of support and good wishes of my April Sisters, so thank you everyone.

Here's my surgery experience. This will be lengthy, as it's 4:30 now and I have a couple of hours to kill waiting for morning and I am curious as to whether there is a character limit to forum posts that I will hit. Surgery was 4 1/2 hours. I arrived at the hospital wearing the compression stockings I got at my pre-op. My PS drew positioning and symmetry lines, as well as the incision line for my BS in purple surgical marker. This does not remove easily. I have a line extending to my neck and left and right lines beyond my clavicle. They faded a bit with wipes, but I can't shower until after my drains are removed, so I've got them for awhile. I am wearing yoga pants that are super soft fabric with 8% spandex over my stockings. They are so comfortable and bend so easily with the high spandex content. I didn't bother bringing PJs and will wear the same pants home. I am wearing a compression bra, which I am to wear 24/7 for 6 weeks. I bought two of the Intuition Recovery bras from postopbra.com - not cheap, but so comfortable.

I was drowsy and loopy post-surgery for about 4 hours from the anesthesia. I needed extra zofran for bad nausea. I took slow baby steps to the bathroom holding my IV stand accompanied by my nurse. My husband helped me get out and back in bed. 8-9 hours after surgery, the anesthetic had worn off and I was a different person. I got rid of the IV and compression machine and leg wraps. I am extremely fit and have 6 pack abs. I can sit up in this bed like a jack-in-the-box without using my arms, so now that the anesthesia is out of my system, I can easily get out of bed, i feel a slight twinge in my pecs as I sit up. I walked laps of the hospital floor at a good pace. I was tempted to do a lap of lunges, but was too embarrassed to pass the nurses' station. I will do them in a few hours. If I stand or sit with good posture, it is very painful where she attached the Alloderm, so I am leaning forward just a tiny bit. The nurses are amazed by my recovery. They are equally amazed that I got pressure ulcers (bedsores) on my heels from the operating table. Even 90 year olds wouldn't get them for my length of surgery. I think the compression stockings caused them, I am walking and did my laps on my toes and have a pillow under my feet on the bed. I brought kayaking shoes to wear here, which slip on and have open heels. It will take about 3 days for them to heal, which will slow me down. My husband took the week off and I know he will be after me to rest.

I am wearing my running hydration belt backwards with the squirt bottle holsters at the front holding my drains. It's the talk of the floor. The nurses and docs think it's great. It's as if I have the latest Apple product six months prior to release it"s getting so much attention, I can't take credit; it was my husband's idea. I will take a pic later and post it,

Time to wrap up my novel. Results. My PS tried out 4 sizes and selected the ones she best liked the look of on me. I have Allergan 410s mid height 295ccs, I am 5'7", 110 lbs with broad shoulders. She upgraded me a bit from my natural breast size. She tried 340s but the cancer side flap was turning blue. There are two abdominal pads on my breasts inside the surgical bra. My PS came by to look at the end of the day and each shift change of nurses has checked, so I've had plenty of views looking down. I unzipped and looked in the bathroom mirror for a complete view. My nipples look healthy and the anatomicals look great even at this stage. The incisions are closed with steri strips. There's minimal swelling and bruising so far. There is a dimple on the lower half of one, but I know things will change in the next few months. I'm happy with the upper poles and hope they don"t change much. I have a bony clavicle and drop off was a concern, which is why she wouldn't use rounds on me. They don't look tear drop now.

I didn't hit the ceiling on character limit, but need to wrap up, I don't know how they can expect people to actually sleep here. I had my blood pressure and vitals taken art 4:45. No problem for me, since I'm wide awake. I asked and she said she woke up patients if they were sleeping. Crazy. I can hear the wheels of the equipment cart rolling along the floor, alarms and beeps. These walls must be paper thin. I'd rather be awake at home than here. What I don't do for my husband. Good morning, sisters. Hope everyone is healing well.

PMR53, that seems so wrong that you are having pain almost 4 months later and that there is still inflammation. I am sorry that you continue to suffer and that this is becoming a chronic problem. Is your BS able to suggest possible causes?

I am not diabetic and have no health issues aside from BC. The nurses were so surprised because I am so healthy and active. My pain is very tolerable with pain pills. It is a combination of achiness and a ring of pain that runs along the lateral edges, along the incision area (I think it's probably emanating from pec dissection) and a throbbing pain at my sternum. I am taking hydromorphone for pain, along with gabapentin, Celebrex and an antibiotic that I have at home. Thank you for your tips. No air yet, but I just took a laxative, thanks to you. Best wishes for your upcoming surgery.

Lmonelli, good planning and preparation. My understanding is that if blue dye is used, it is injected intra-operatively, so the patient is under anesthesia, so wouldn't be aware or feel anything. The radioactive isotope is injected prior to surgery without anesthesia and is the procedure that many women find extremely painful. Some surgeons use both blue dye and the radio tracer while others use only one mapping agent. My BS did not use blue dye on me, but he does use both on some patients. Is your surgeon using both on you, or only one? I think it's great that you have the first time slot. I was first as well. I hardly slept, so early meant less time worrying.

PMR53, they have created an incident report. Both surgeons made rounds this morning, so I informed them as well. It sounds like they're pointing fingers at the nurse who laid the pads in the OR. Anyway, it's being investigated. My last hospital stay was 18 years ago for childbirth, so I have limited knowledge about how things work. Thanks for informing me about incident reports. My heels are a little better this morning.