{stage two reconstruction}

Stage Two Reconstruction. That's what they called it at my plastic surgeon's office. This Monday at 8:00 a.m. I underwent Stage 2 of my reconstruction. Bilateral Breast Revision and Nipple Reconstruction to be exact. Quoting my girlfriend in a text last week, "Yay! Nipples!" Yay, indeed! Last Tuesday I had a busy morning of pre-op appointments to get ready for my surgery. I started at Northwest Hospital in Whitefish. What a beautiful hospital and like the sweet, elderly lady volunteering at the help desk said, "It's a beautiful hospital that doesn't have that 'clinic" feel to it." I also had a great little conversation with said sweet, elderly lady that I can't do any justice to via typing about the food at the hospital. As she was walking me to where I needed to be she said, "Oh! And the ca-fe (with the "a" pronounced like the "u" in under)!" (While she said this she lifted her hands a little toward the sky and looked up as if looking to the sweet vision of heaven) "Not, a cafeteria, a ca-fe. Oh, and Mondays! Mondays they make (she paused here and turned to me with a little look like "waaaaait for iiiiiitttt")...quiche! I wish everyday was Monday!" It was awesome! It took everything I had not to giggle at her enthusiasm. :) It definitely made me want to drive up to the hospital on a Monday to have quiche for breakfast! The registration process was pretty straight forward, but I found myself thinking how much nicer it was than my pre-op at the hospital in Kalispell. There was nothing "bad" about the one in Kalispell, but it was very "clinic" and impersonal. At the hospital in Whitefish the lady that registered me and the nurse that spoke with me were so friendly, kind and warm. At the end of my appointment the nurse gave me a huge hug and wished me well with my surgery.

With four minutes to spare I dashed out the door and headed to my appointment with my plastic surgeon, Dr. Nargi. Luckily her office is only three minutes away. :) The purpose of this visit was to make a plan for what "tweaks" she is going to make to my breasts to appear "normal" and symmetrical. The goal is for them to look pretty close to the same. So she said she would lower the left breast a little because it sat a little higher and she would loosen up the outer, lower corner of the right breast so it would "hang" more naturally. She said it was "bunchy". I have not idea what that means, but I took her word for it. :) She asked me if there was anything that I saw that I wanted to look different. She had mentioned that I could change implant shape to change the shape of my breasts a little bit. Keep the size, but change the shape. I didn't like how they were very round and the line of the implant around the top was very visible. I know I'm not fooling anybody, it is obvious I now have fake boobs, but, I was hoping they could be softened up somehow. So I asked if changing the implant shape would soften them and she said, "Unfortunately, no, BUT I can take fat from another part of your body...whah...whah...whah...whah..." All I heard was "I can take fat from another part of your body..." YES!!! Do that! :-) What she said was she could take fat from another part of my body and redistribute it around my breasts to soften them up and to create more of a natural looking "sag". So she lifted up my shirt and said lets see where we can take it from. So she looked at my small three pregnancy mom "pooch" that was about a 5-6 inch "circle". . . Before you start dissing me... I don't care WHO you are, if your belly has been stretched to it's max three times with pregnancies there is something about your stomach you don't like and this is what I have never liked...back to my doctor... So she looked at my little tummy stuff that I don't like and she said, "I can take some from here. You know what? I can just get rid of that! You know what? I'm going to do you a favor because you deserve it. You have those two small hernias that you want fixed, I am going to fix those and suture your abdominal muscles back together (they separated with one of my pregnancies) and make your belly button an "inny" again. I am also going to get rid of this." "This" being a couple of small pockets of fat above my pelvic bones on my sides. She said, "it is mostly muscle there, but there is some fat there and I am going to get rid of it!" Ummmm, OK! Do it! Do it all! She told me I already had one surgery I didn't want I should have one I want. YES! Yes, please and thank you SO much! The benefits of having a great relationship and having made a connection with your plastic surgeon. :)

So, Monday morning with the kids sleeping at my dad's and given the okay to miss school to eliminate morning chaos for my dad, Tony and I head to Whitefish at 6:00 a.m. for my 8:00 surgery. I had an IV put in (which always grosses me out), I got a fifteen minute neck and shoulder massage by resident massage therapist Johnny Ray, and my surgeon drew all over me with a purple marker as a guide to what she was going to do in surgery. Anybody out there a Nip/Tuck fan? I had a vision of Dr. Christian Troy drawing all over a woman with a tube of lipstick showing all the parts of her body that needed "fixed". I had no problem being all marked up, but did have to hold in my giggles thinking about being marked up with a tube of lipstick. Hee-Hee. The marker was far more professional!

Shortly after being marked up for surgery the anesthesiologist came in and said they were ready and he was going to give me something to relax and it works pretty fast. I hurried and gave Tony a kiss and said, "Oh! There it is!" as my vision started to get fuzzy. That is the last I remember before struggling to wake up back in my "bay". I swear there is nothing worse than coming out of an anesthesia induced sleep. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck! My body is totally uncomfortable, I can't make sense of anything, I struggle to speak coherently, I was roasting, I am nauseous and just feel downright crappy. I did go into this surgery knowing they were going to do what they could to alleviate some nausea because they were informed of how horribly sick I was after my last surgery. So even though my surgery was longer and I did feel nauseous after I wasn't near as sick as I was last time and it was pretty much 100% gone by the time I got home and slept for a few hours. I took a few doses of the anti-nausea drugs they gave me and then stopped taking them because I was feeling fine. Last time I was nauseous for about a week after. I have a different pain killer this time that isn't making me sick at all. Mental note to self for the future!

Considering I just had a 6 1/2 hour surgery on Monday I am feeling pretty good. I have very little pain or discomfort in my chest. Pretty much all of my pain comes from the lipo (I can't believe I had lipo done. Truly weird.) that was done to harvest fat to redistribute around my breasts. I am sore and swollen from my pubic bone almost up to my bra chest band, around my sides and into my back. You don't realize that everything you do uses your ab muscles to some extent. Trying to lay down and get back up is probably the worst. When I am tired I have to psych myself up to laying down because I know it is going to hurt something fierce! Ouch! But, again, I am amazed at the healing powers of the human body. Just 48 hours after the start of surgery and I can already tell that my body is feeling a little better and is slightly less sore. I am able to move around and unfortunately am able to do tiny bits of helping around the house. lol ;-) I had hoped to milk that a lot longer, but I feel too guilty. I told Tony this morning that I couldn't wait for all of them to leave for school and work so I could not feel guilty and go back and sit down and rest. haha! Don't worry, I am getting plenty of rest, but it does feel good to still be able to get up and down enough to help a bit. My stomach actually feels a bit better when I am standing so I stand at our bed and fold clothes. It's a little something to give Tony a hand. He is such an amazing man and husband. He handles the household splendidly on his own (much better than I do!!) and does all he can to take care of me and make sure I am comfortable. He is definitely a keeper! :) My dad has also been a wonderful help like he always is. He gives Tony a hand getting the kids to school and with picking them up if needed. Him being home to help with the kids the day of my surgery was the biggest help of all. It is nice to not have to worry about the kids and know they are being well taken care of and are enjoying a day at Grandpa's. I expect there was a little spoiling going on at Grandpa's on Monday. :) As it should be!

So that is the rundown of my 2nd Stage Reconstruction surgery. The plan is that this is my last unless something really doesn't look right with my breasts, but I really don't want to have surgery again so I think I can live with any little things that aren't quite even. Now the fun begins. Shopping for new summer tops and swimsuits! Watch out summer! Here I come! :)

Thank you to those of you that have sent well wishes, prayers and beautiful flowers my way for this final stage (hopefully) of my road to being whole again. We have so much love for our friends and family. You have made this unexpected journey in my life much easier!