plastic surgery

Year 1, Month 6, Day 21: Cautiously Optimistic

keep-calm-and-remain-cautiously-optimisticYear 1, Month 6, Day 21: Cautiously Optimistic

Typing post-op and while on pain meds… so please forgive any glaring typos or grammatical mistakes.  Talked with my surgeon just before surgery about the adhesion again. She same up with a plan to insert a piece of Alloderm in that area to pad it and also create space between the skin and muscle.  Alloderm is a regenerative tissue matrix made from cadaver skin. It is also used in the nipple reconstruction.  I did not get the lasers I requested, but still ended up with an element of FrankenBoobs.

As they prepped me in OR, they asked me Continue reading →

Day 358: Just call me 7 of 9…

Day 358: Just call me 7 of 9…
So...

Since the last surgical procedure I have had all this water I just can’t seem to get rid of, in fact the plastic surgeon says I have 1-2 inches of fluid retention – yay me!  So she sent me off for an endermologie appointment – well 20 of them actually.  Today was the first.

Step one was to don a rockin’ body stalking, is that hot or what?  Then she takes this mechanized skin rolling device and Continue reading →

Day 303: Post-op 1 and a little reality…

Sally​Post-op 1 and a little reality…

Well, good news is that my incisions are healing quickly and the bruising is rapidly dispersing. Most of the sutures came out and now I’m just taping myself back together in a few spots.

Although we aren’t at the end of the road, we are on the downhill side and what I am looking at is my new reality. I’ll be honest, a large part of me wishes I’d have left well enough alone and just adjusted to the mastectomy scars.

For all those (mostly guy friends – but a few ladies too) who have images of surgically enhanced breasts from the magazines and movies, Continue reading →

Day 296: Good news, bad news, the night nurse…

Day 296: Good news, bad news, the night nurse…

Ferry BoatWell, I guess I will start with the night nurse.  Let’s just say I couldn’t wait for shift change in the morning.  So, something new this time was incredible itching from the narcotics… or the generic hibiclense that was made by Clorox (seemed like a bad idea when I picked it up from the pharmacy)… no matter what the cause, I was itching like crazy and this started about the time of shift change.  The IV Benadryl seemed to take care of it pretty quickly but I knew Continue reading →

Day 295: What a difference a day makes….

Day 295: What a difference a day makes….

Difference a Day MakesWell, part two of reconstruction took place.  Mom, sis, brother-in-law and I took off for the hospital around 4:15 am, traffic in the Puget Sound should not have been bad that time of day, but it was raining… I know, that should not matter here, but if you live here, you know it does.

We got there in plenty of time (10 minutes) and whose idea was it to have the hangry patient drive anyway?  Checked in, went through the Continue reading →

Day 118: Interviewing a new plastics expert…

Day 118: Interviewing a new plastics expert…

I have mentioned before that when it comes to my medical team, energy matters.  This is a big deal, I mean, here you are robbed of the top half of your body and large portion of your femininity and when it comes to putting you back together, you really want that to be done correctly.  I was lucky that a friend of mine has been through this process and she referred me to her surgeon who is located in Seattle, a few hours away on a good traffic day.  As much as I am not looking forward to traffic and the drive, I am looking forward to meeting this doctor.  My friend told me that this doctor has gone through this process.  This is huge.  Obviously this surgeon Continue reading →