BMX in 5 days!

Hi Dovely,

You have a lot to take in and only a few days. Are you having pre pectoral or sub pectoral reconstruction? I had pre pectoral and it is meant to be a lot easier recovery than sub pectoral. I was one of the super fortunate people who had no complications. I slept on a wedge system in the bed. Contour living. We do not have a recliner. I had wound vacs for 5 days. 2 of my drains stayed in two weeks, two more for three weeks. I could shower after 48 hours, but I waited until after wound vac was off. I think it was two weeks of not lifting arms above shoulder, then no restrictions on that. No lifting, pushing or pulling more than 10 pounds for a few more weeks. I was very tired for the first week or so. My biggest pain was from muscle spasms and nerve pain, not so much surgical pain. After a couple of weeks, it was annoying but not life altering. I took Gabapentin for about 10 days or so. Then was moved to muscle relaxers. I did Rx pain meds for about 5 days then moved to all OTC. I used Dixie cups, that were labeled with times, on my bedside table for overnight meds so I did not need to get up or think in the middle of the night. The iron bra feeling and sunburn skin feeling were super annoying but I just focused on the fact that this was part of the healing process and would pass. I went out to a dinner party three weeks post op and nobody knew. I was fine, happy to be out, and slept well that night. Oh, I brought a side table up and put it in front of my bedside table so items were easier to reach. And, it may be too late but I waxed underarms, legs, bikini before surgery.

Good luck! Hopefully you will do just fine! Sending good karma and strong thoughts your way ! Take care, keep asking questions and keep us posted

Dovely,

Yes, gabapentin did knock me out a bit, but hey, I was tired from surgery anyhow! Gabapentin was my friend for that short period of time. I did my own drain stripping the entire time, so no help needed with that. I was able to take care of myself except for cooking. My husband was there, but his job was taking care of our elderly dog and ordering food. My sister came for a few days. I know many people need more help and/or have complications and that plain old sucks. But for me, although not a walk in the park, it was doable. If all goes well for you and food and drink are easy to get to, maybe 3 days of having someone available 24/7.

Oh, I could not open any childproof caps for a while. I had my “staff” :-) take the tops off and just rest them on the tops of the medicine bottles. Also could not open twist off tops for drinks, so they too were pre opened and left on loosely.

I also was advised to drink/eat protein. I drank Core Power, 26 grams, two per day. Ate eggs. Vitamin C. Zinc Sulfate. And multi vitamin. All of this wasfor wound healing. I had very thin skin and my right nipple was iffy. Saved it!