Reconstruction January 2016

After a wait of nine months from finishing radiotherapy I was back in hospital for the start of the reconstructive surgery. Yippppeeeee. It was January and freezing outside so I was quite glad of the really warm hospital ward. I was quite a regular in Rayner ward now and knew most of the nurses.

It was the usual routine. Fill out the paperwork. Get my bed on the ward. See Dr Stephenson so he could draw all over me !! and check everything was all good to go. Then the anesthesist would pay me a visit and try to find a good vein. That was kind of hard as all my veins had collapsed on my right hand from the constant chemotherapy and blood tests. As I had no lymph nodes in my left side only my right side can be used from now on so he had to find  a suitable vein. 

Within a few hours I had had my pre meds and was asked to put the gorgeous white long socks on to stop the deep leg thrombosis. Such a fashion accessory ! then after my urine sample, blood pressure check and temperature taken it was time to pick up my pillow and head down to theatre.

I was having an empty silicon implant inserted under the skin by opening up the same scar again. Plus the port which would sit on the chect bone under the skin also. This was so the implant could be injected every few weeks with a little saline solution slowly to enable my skin to stretch. Over several weeks a small amount of saline would be injected through the port until it was to the same size as my remaining breast. 

As always it took hours after the surgery for me to wake enough to go back to the ward. I ended up with really low blood pressure and was out of it on morphine until the following day. 

When I did finally wake the following day my chect felt tight. The port on my chect bone was the worse it was constantly pushing on my bone. That was the worst part. Painful and bloody irritating to say the least. 

I had to stay in hospital a few days as normal to make sure their was minimal movement to the chest area . I was flying out to Spain the following week to visit my sister who lived there. Once I was released from the hospital I was informed I would need to have daily visits to the breast clinic for dressing changes and to check for infection. 

I felt as if I had two boobs again, what a feeling. You know that if it wasnt for the initial  surgery you didn't stand much of a chance of beating the disease but you still can't help feeling the thoughts of how totally unfeminine you feel. One boob, my beautiful long hair gone, eyelashes and brows just about showing signs of growing. You really do have so many emotions and feeling swirling around in your head. The amount of arguments I had with myself was crazy. Sometimes it was a struggle to keep the smile going believe me. 

Anyway, the boys were so excited we were off to see Auntie Shas in sunny Spain.

I had to take a whole supply of dressings with me to change the wound daily. But that was not a problem at all.

Off we went and loved every minute of it.