Bye Bye Binder

Well tomorrow I get to remove my abdominal binder! WOOO HOOO! This thing is so uncomfortable! My bruising from my lipo areas has diminished greatly in the past couple days going from dark purple to almost gone!

So far everything is healing very nicely! No complications for me!

I've been back to work now for a few days (half days) and plan to go back to work for 6-8 hour shifts on Wednesday! It will be nice to be back to a more normal life although being home has been nice. I always seem to envision my surgical leaves being productive. I have no idea why but for some reason I think if I am home that I will get things done. I thought I'd be able to relax on the couch, do some digital scrapbooking and get caught up. Well my goofy eyes got in the way of that! And now when I get home I am too tired to do much. I guess that's why you are on leave from work though to recoup, rest, and heal. Healing is hard work and takes a lot of energy!

I've been eating a lot of protein and have broadened my protein horizon by including other high protein foods like cottage cheese, nuts, etc but am still eating cheeseburgers as well. Five Guys is my favorite at the moment!

The kids are doing great and have been very careful around my sides. The hard part is not being able to pick them up, give them piggy back rides, and play hard with them. At least with this one I can still take them to the park and on little outings! Although I have found that since I can't lift them into a cart that some stores are harder to run to with them!

Well tomorrow I will wake up, take off the binder and be FREE!!!

I made it!

Well I made it through my first day of work! 2 hours of email catching up (and still have 600 left to weed through) and 2 hours of meetings. I wasn't too tired at the end but was ready to go. It will be SO much nicer when I don't have to wear the abdominal binder. Its just uncomfortable and sitting in an office chair just isn't the most comfortable thing in the world. Now if I had a recliner in my office that would be golden! Then I could recline and work on a laptop! I'm guessing my employer won't spring for a lazy boy though! 

The binder comes off next Tuesday so then things will be (hopefully) easier.

I've had this odd dilemma the past couple weeks. These are the things you don't think of when you have surgery. Our two cats are due (overdue) for their shots. We got the notification that they were due a week before surgery and I knew I wouldn't have time to get them in. Then one cat developed a cough (lovely). I had surgery and have been home but the majority of my friends work during the day. Why does this matter you ask? My cats are FAT and over my 10 pound weight limit! So how the heck am I going to get them in their little carry cages and into the car???? Well luckily one of my closest friends does shift work and is going to come over tomorrow to crate up the cats and put them in the car (although she hates cats and would rather just let them loose). When I made the appointment I asked the vet tech if someone there could help me and they said yes. So tomorrow Lindsy will get them ready, the vet tech will help me with them there, and then when we get home I'm going to close the garage, open the crates and hope I can shew them into the house!

It's weird things like this that make restrictions difficult! I'm doing well without lifting the kids and have that figured out but weird random things keep popping up. 4 more weeks of restrictions and then back to a normal life!

It's weird. It all seems so surreal. It feels like the initial surgery was a lifetime ago and that the exchange surgery was months ago. Today marked two weeks since surgery and since I am doing so well it doesn't seem real. My chest has no pain, looks normal, etc. I feel pretty good minus getting tired easily and still have some intermittent pain down my arm. My bruising from the lipo has been improving and that pain is lessening. In a few short weeks I'll be back to life, off restrictions, and moving forward.

I think about all that's happened in my life and realize that I am way stronger than I ever imagined and more than I give myself credit for. I have been through a lot and need to remind myself of that now and again. I try to live life to the fullest. To cherish every moment. To do special things with my kids, my husband, and my family. I am very much aware of the severity of everything I have been through. Beating Ewings Sarcoma twice is a miracle in itself. Then having melanoma insitu and pre-cervical cancer. I still feel blessed. I have had many more close calls that have all turned out benign. Last year I was blessed with the opportunity to reduce my risk and extend my life. I believe that although God will watch over me, he also gives us tools that we have a say in choosing. Anytime he has put a choice for a cure in front of me, I have taken it even knowing there may be risks with the choice. When I had Ewings, he gave me the option of a bone marrow transplant which at that time was experimental for my type of cancer. The doctors talked to me (16 y/o) about living wills, risks of complications including death and my family and I proceeded trusting that I would make it through. Even though I had long term complications and side effects that have impacted my life. I am here. I am healthy. I am living an amazing life. 

Last year he gave me the opportunity to have surgery to prevent breast, ovarian, cervical, and uterine cancer. After knowing my risk there was no way I couldn't take the risk and have surgery. I had to do it not only for myself but for my family, for my kids. 

I feel immensely blessed.

Back to work!

Ugh, 2 weeks has gone by really fast! On one hand it feels like surgery was forever ago and on the other hand I can't believe I am already going back to work.

I had talked to many others who have had this surgery (talked to may be a strong word, read blogs, posted on forums, etc), and many were back within a week of having surgery and I didn't know how they did it. What I've figured out though is that the exchange surgery was cake! It was easy, everything was already stretched and ready so it was a quick recovery. I could have gone back right away as well. BUT the liposuction part...eek! Not as quick recovery especially since they had to dig and scrape to get any fat. I'm sure if you had regular lipo and had fat to get rid of that it probably wouldn't be that bad but when you don't have much to get it takes them so elbow work to get some out!

So I'll be heading back to work tomorrow for half days through Tuesday. Tuesday I get my abdominal binder off so then will reassess to see if I am ready to do full days yet or not.

I feel great but also haven't been doing much so we'll see how it goes when I actually have to do something!

Doing Well!

Its been a week and a half since surgery and I am doing great! I can't believe that I feel this good this quickly. I have been having some pain that radiates down my right arm but they think that its being irritated by the stitches that are inside at the top of the implant. The stitches will dissolve so that should take care of that. I am also still having some pain on my right side where the liposuction for fat grafting was done. In one week on next Tuesday I can stop wearing my abdominal binder which will be a HUGE relief. It is tight and uncomfortable and makes wearing real clothes difficult.

Other than that I really have no issues! My endurance is much better and I even went on a little hike with my hubby and kids this weekend! My eyes are pretty much back to normal but being on the computer for long amounts of time seems to strain them and give me headaches from straining so I'll wait another week or two and then possibly go get my eyes checked (I haven't had an eye exam for a long time and used to wear glasses so probably should get them checked anyway).

I talked to employee health and hopefully will be going back to work for half days Thursday and Friday but need to recall tomorrow to make sure I am ready. When the Dr initially told me prior to surgery two weeks off I didn't believe I would be feeling this good! If I over do it I still get tired but am doing really well!

The kids are doing really well. Addy still is a little hesitant that we can't do EVERYTHING that we had been doing so we've done a couple little special outings. The main thing I can't do is lift them so things like being at a playground with monkey bars that she wants me to lift her up to is hard for her.

The house is a disaster! I can't lift or do repetitive motion type things so laundry is out, scrubbing is out, etc. So once I can lift again our house is going to need a deep clean!

Thank you to all of you who have helped out, made a meal, sent a gift card, sent a card or email, and for those who have been checking in. It means the world to me to know that I have so much support!

No Diving!

I had my follow up appointment this morning and the best news is that I don't need to dive! No hyperbaric for me! YAYAYAYAYAY!!!! This means that everything is healing well, must be all those cheeseburgers! So that is amazing wonderful news. As long as nothing else changes I should be good as long as I follow his rules:

• Eat high animal protein (specifically cheeseburgers) for the next 5 weeks, after that he said I can go back to "vegetables or whatever". Protein enhances healing.
• No second hand smoke (or me smoking which isn't an issue) for at least 6 months. Smoke causes vasoconstriction which can impede blood flow and reduce blood flow to healing sensitive vessels causing permanent damage and thus impairing healing.
• Wear abdominal binder for 2 more weeks. Compression to the lipo sucked areas help healing and prevent any seromas from forming (fluid filled areas).
• No lifting for 4-5 more weeks.

I can stop wearing the breast binder and just wear a bra (preferably an underwire). So as I await the ones I ordered I put on the non-underwire 34C that I had on with the expanders and it fits pretty well. Yay for no binder!

My eyes are WAY better today! Pupils contracting, vision pretty clear but it takes a couple seconds to focus when close up or on the computer and I can't look at the computer for very long before they feel strained.

I still get tired easily too but hopefully the endurance comes back quickly! Its amazing how much surgery takes out of you. I mean, I know my body is trying to heal and all but I'm really not a sit on the couch kind of person and like to be busy!

I can go back to work whenever I feel ready (as long as I follow his rules)! So I'll call employee health tomorrow and see what they think. I'm thinking later next week would be the 2 week mark and I should be pretty good by then.

I go back to see him in a month and then will be DONE!!! Can you believe it!

A big thank you to all of you for support, food, help, and love!

Looking good!

Well my pupils are finally starting to contract so my vision is starting to improve!

So here are the updates!

• Surgery went fantastic! No real complications so far. Fat harvesting didn't go wonderfully since there wasn't very much to take from. They attempted taking it from my sides/back/flank but only got 22 ccs which ended up being enough for what they wanted. They don't take from the abdomen on mastectomy patients in case that if you get breast cancer, that is where they would need skin and fat from. My doc is a perfectionist and told me he gave me a really nice waist line, Great! (although I didn't have all that bad of a waist line to begin with!)
• Pain has been minimal. My chest has a big ZERO for pain. My sides (from the attempted liposuction) have more pain but nowhere near as much as my last surgery. I haven't even taken tylenol or anything for pain. Most of the pain is when I sit or get up and am using my side muscles. If I am still then they are fine!
• Nausea is getting better. I had a TON the day of surgery and even the day after. I had 4 different IV meds and a scopalomine patch and none of it worked. Now my nausea is related to my eye sight and more motion sickness feeling but is finally starting to go away.
• Scopalomine patch.... NEVER AGAIN! I had horrible side effects, dry mouth was tolerable, blurred vision... not so fun.... First it was mainly near vision was blurry, then it was a combination, then it was far, now it is back to near and is starting to resolve. But it is giving me headaches and nausea and eye strain trying to see things. It made my pupils dilate and just now they are finally starting to constrict back to a normal size but I have been pretty photosensitive. So note to self, the antiemetics didn't help anyway, skip the patch. I would have been feeling MUCH better if I hadn't had the stupid thing!
• I'm wearing two binders, one for the breasts and one for my lipo, and they aren't the most comfortable things in the world. The goal is to provide enough pressure to prevent seromas (fluid pockets). I'm supposed to wear them for three weeks but he said if I got a good supportive underwire bra that I could wear that instead.
• So went to Kohls to find a new cheap bra. My new boobs will take a couple months to settle in so I dont want to waste money on a new bra until they are all healed up. Well unfortunately they don't sell 32s in the store (most stores only have 32a's). I even looked in the "teen" bra section and they didnt have any either. So I tried on a bunch of 34s which were all WAY too loose. I found one that I thought fit ok, it was a 34B but now after getting it home, the cups aren't big enough and don't sit in quite the right spot so I'll be returning one of those as well! I went online and ordered two styles of 32C's so hopefully one of those will work. Then once everything is all healed I'll go shopping for nice, fun, pretty bras! I've gotten a couple gift cards for Victorias Secrect so am super excited to go shopping for fun ones (thanks to those of you not afraid to get a boob appropriate gift! HA!)!
• Meena and Papa were here for the weekend to help with the kids and took a special trip to Chuck-E-Cheese (brave souls I tell ya!). The kids loved having them here, especially having Scooty here (Meenas Dog) since JT really wants a dog. Good thing we got to borrow her for a few days!
• So things are going pretty good! So far no signs of healing issues. There was a tiny scab at the end of one incision but that is gone. I see the doc tomorrow again to do an incision check but as of now, it doesnt look like I'll need hyperbaric!!! That's the goal! And I'm still on an "eat a ton of cheeseburgers" diet to increase animal protein and improve healing.
• And as far as how things look, well they look GREAT! I love my new boobs! They are volume wise only a little less than the expanders 275/300 but look much smaller than the expanders looked since they are softer. I thought that they would look more, well, fake but they look really natural. They feel natural. They are great! If you didn't know I had surgery you would never know they weren't real ones. They are very proportionate to my body and they don't have that circular destinct implant look, the fat grafting that they were able to do makes them look just perfect! They are smaller than I thought they would be which is a good thing! Most likely will be a 32C. A big step up from my 32 a/aa petite!

So things are going well! I've been out of the house twice now (made it to the park for an hour tonight but was exhausted when I got home). Hopefully over the next few days I'll have more energy and my eyes will be back to normal!

Say prayers for a good appointment tomorrow, clear eye sight, no healing issues, and energy!

Surgery Update

Well I made it through surgery and was able to come home the same day. Today has been ok as well. The lipo suction spots on my sides hurt way more than may chest (which I have barely any pain there!).

The lipo was kind of a bust! They harvested from both of my sides and still only could get 22cc's (their goal was 30-50) but it worked out to be enough to top fill the left side.

I had MASSIVE nausea after surgery and am still feeling barfy today. And they had given me tons of different anti nausea drugs. I even had a scopalomine patch which has a side effect of blurred vision so my eyes are still all goofy.

I'll update more later when I can see what I am typing!