It's Monday!

Today is the Monday after my Friday surgery.  My doctors let us out of the hospital Sunday morning.  What a relief.  A full nights sleep was such a blessing to me and Cody.  We will be staying with my Dad in Denver City for most of this week.  It is nice to have all of the help with the kids.  Terry drove me home yesterday and Cody  went to get the kids from his parents.  I was very impressed at how gentle they both were when they got to Dad's house.  JB came up to me and told me that I was going to be OK and patted me on the shoulder.  Taylor laid down beside me in bed and held my hand for about 30 minutes.  Taylor is a little upset that I cannot snuggle her in my lap and carry her around.  Overall though it is good to be out of the hospital with all the beeping machines and interrupting nurses. 

I am well on my way to recovery.  My oncologist was able to remove all of my breast tissue leaving a great deal of bruising on my upper chest.  The plastic surgeon placed the implants under my pectoral muscles and also attached a tissue flap to my muscles.  The tissue flap reduces the overall time that it takes to finish reconstruction and also reduces the amount of expansion that is necessary.  My plastic surgeon was able to fill my expanders with 250cc of saline each.  With Katie's surgery they did not use the tissue flap and were only able to fill her expanders with 120cc each.  This means that my whole process should take a little less time than Katie's.  The goal is to fill my expanders with a total of 550cc's each.  I am going to have perky breasts.  Cody told me in the hospital that the girls where much perkier already. 

My pre-surgery experience was wonderful.  Cody and I got up at 4:30 am and where at the hospital by 5:30.  We went to admitting answered a few questions, and were off to the second floor to a waiting room.  From the waiting room we went to the surgical prep room.  I changed into the basic boring blue hospital gown and perched myself onto the moveable gurney.  My nurses then started prepping me for surgery and we signed a mountain of paperwork.  I was able to visit with a nurse from the SPOC program.  This program will take the extra tissue from my mastectomy and use it to try and grow tumors for research purposes.  If the tissue is able to grow tumors, specifically cancerous tumors, they will be able to use it for all kinds of research.      

The best part of pre-op was my nurse.  He was British and such a hoot.  I think he made everyone in the room smile.  He was singing songs, and talked to Cody specifically about what his goals for my surgery where.  D, DD, or maybe even an H.  My anesthisiologist  was also wonderful.  She was a little petitie thing with glowing red cheeks.  Her gifts to me were little pink cocktails before and after my surgery.  Whatever my cocktail was made of was wonderful.  I came out of surgery without being sick, and slept a great deal of the day on Friday. 

Both of my doctors where very happy with the overall results, and feel like my end results are going to be very good.  I will be going back to see my plastic surgeon on Thursday, and my oncologist will be calling me with pathology results sometime before Wednesday.    God has truly been there for me throughout this process, and gave me a true peace on Friday. 

God Bless, and many thanks!