Post Surgery

Well I am in desperate need of an update so this will be the first of a few posts today in order to get everyone up to speed on whats been happening.

My mastectomy went off without a hitch on February 14th, 2011. I only ended up getting a left breast mastectomy due to a lack of surgical time as well as some reconstruction considerations. I awoke from the mastectomy surgery in minimal pain because they gave me several deep tissue pain management injections while I was still under the anethstetic. I was very nauseous though, I have always had a bad reaction to the anethstetic. It took me two days to feel well enough to eat so they had me on IV nutrients. I refused all the morphine again, I just can't handle not being in control of my body. I tried an endone which I used to be able to tolerate just fine and still keep my wits about me, but chemo must have made me more susceptible to pain killers because even that made me ridiculously dopey so I tried to get by on half of one.  The pain was pretty manageable though which was very surprising.

I had one surgical drain, other than it being annoying to carry around it wasn't too bad. I had the drain removed on the 3rd day so record time which was great. I have to give my body one thing, its really good at healing after surgery. It only really took me two weeks to get most of my range of movement back and to feel fairly normal.

When I got released from hospital we were in the middle of a cyclone, which was inconvenient to say the least. We have a Toyota Corolla which is fantastic for fuel economy but no so much for cyclonic driving conditions. So needless to say my husband couldn't pick me up from the hospital because of all the debris on the roads and closures so I had to spend the night on a chair in the hospital while trying to recover from a mastectomy. I was fairly upset, as mentally and physically I was dealing with something so big and I felt rather left in the dark.

Mentally recovering from the mastectomy was easier than I anticipated but still quite hard.  The first week I tried to ignore it and I was very self conscious in hospital while I couldn't wear a prosthesis. The scar is huge, approximately 12 inches in length. My husband has been incredibly accepting and he never shudders, cringes or makes me in anyway feel uncomfortable which I am grateful for. I get upset if my mastectomy bra shows and that I can't wear all my old clothes because the bra is so ugly. I miss my pretty bra's and the ability to feel 'even'. I am happy my breast is gone though because now I feel safe, that cancer cannot come back there. I know it will be a long road to deal with all the emotional implications but I feel like it is attainable and I have already met with the plastic surgeon for my reconstruction so I am confident I will have all my confidence back soon after I finish cancer treatment.