On April 2nd I showed up at the hospital at 6 in the morning… got myself registered…proceeded to the surgical holding pen and at 7:30 in the morning I was wheeled on my stretcher to the operating room. Within a few minutes I was joined by my surgeon who had me stand while he marked my breasts and the fun began as he wheeled on his little stool, back and forth and back and forth, using his green marker and ruler and then commenting that “They’re really big huh?”
That broke the ice and the laughter ensued, the anesthesiologist brought his ‘A’ game in the smart ass department and we joked and he teased about knocking me out and 7:45 was the last time I remember looking at the clock…
Surgery lasted until 11:30am… it went like clock-work…no complications, my vitals stayed stellar, the anesthesiologist was in recovery with me and calling me “teacher’s pet” as he told everyone exactly how perfect my vitals stayed throughout surgery. When I woke up, as soon as recognition hit me…I looked down saw that I still had boobs, though quite a bit less of them, and then felt the searing burn of the incision of my lower abdomen and I remembered exactly why I was there… once the morphine did its job and I was virtually pain free, I lifted my head a bit, looked down my body and greeted my feet. I was giggling with the nurses, they thought I was too good to be true because I wasn’t whining… why whine? I knew why I was there, I knew going in that it was going to hurt coming out.
I was released on April 3rd , no drains, minimal pain, doing rather well and I was pleased, except when the surgical bandages came off and hurt like a mofo… felt like they were tearing off a layer of skin, but I survived it.
A week later, first post operative check and all seemed well and going according to plan… nothing out of the ordinary and I was pleased as punch.
Three days after that first post operative check and something started to smell… literally… and it was me. I went to change my bandages and infection poured from my left breast like a running tap… as I tried to stop it, it proved a hard opponent and I raised my husband and within minutes we were off to the hospital because something was not right. Once I had bandages in place to stop the flow of infection it busted out my areola. GROSS!
Once at the ER the doctor paged locating and luck would have it, my doctor was in the hospital after just coming out of the OR. He rushed down to the ER smelled the air in my little cubicle, looked at me and said , “You have E-coli…” looked at the nurse and said, “ Get me a suture tray and drains stat… and swabs.” She told him that she had already taken swabs as he proceeded to unwrap the suture tray… he then told me that he had to cut me, that it would hurt, but that I would feel so much better in an hour.
He proceeded… opened up a portion of each incision, pressed the breasts to draw out the infection… it hurt but wasn’t horrible…and then he shoved drains inside the new incisions… that HURT LIKE HELL, but I managed my way through it.
I was admitted and placed on two different IV antibiotics 4 times a day…they burned going in because they were infused rather quickly, and by the second round I had come to realize exactly how sick I was because I started to feel better. The areola went necrotic… not the whole thing, just a portion of it… necrotic means that the tissue has died and that it will be replaced with scar tissue, but the nipple itself is holding strong and it’s getting better everyday.
I was told that had I waited 12-24 hrs I most likely would not be here to write this entry as recount.
Was it worth it? YES
Would I go through the surgery again even knowing that I would get an infection and lose a portion of my areola? YOU BETCHA
See…I did my homework going in… I knew that complications sometimes happen especially when there is a huge portion of tissue being removed. I knew that most commonly complications happen within the second or third weeks post operatively and I knew that sometimes it’s just the luck of the draw.
When he told me that I was going to lose a portion of the areola, I asked him if he was worried about it… he told me that he wasn’t, that anything is “fixable,” since he wasn’t worried, I am not worried… right now it looks a mess, but each day it’s healing and looking better and that is all I can ask.
I am going to have some extensive scars on the underside of my breasts because of having to be re-opened, but my scars flatten nicely within a year and I suspect once they mature they are going to look rather like stretch marks without going hypertrophic ( keloid)
My tummy has been FANTASTIC… it is healing well, is flatter, even though still swollen a bit and will be off and on for probably a year or more, but I have no hanging tummy, it’s gone, and I still can’t believe it… I caught a glimpse of my silhouette in a store window yesterday and I actually did a double take and then giggled like a little girl…SO WORTH IT… SOOOOOOOO WORTH IT!
Just some FYI
The best medical pads (you know the kind they put on to capture drainage?) are feminine hygiene pads and panty liners because they are flexible and non-stick… make sure you get UNSCENTED. I am using Always panty-liners and my surgeon thinks I’m a fucking genius and is going to recommend them to his patients. WAY cheaper than buying actual non adhering medical pads.
Paper medical tape is WAY better than any other kind… if you wet it, it pretty much slides right off instead of ripping off layers of skin.
Lipo suction hurts worse than the actual surgical site for WEEKS… be prepared for that.
Bed-wedges are SO NOT worth the money… buy pillows instead.