Phase 2 of Expander Reconstruction

Yesterday Cody and I loaded up our crew and made the lingering drive down I-27 to Lubbock.  Our goal was to leave by 9am and take the kids straight to Gigi's house just south of Lubbock.  Overall, we did very well, and made it to Gigi's before lunch.  She had lunch ready for the kids and Pappy so we did not stay long.  The two of us headed off to town for lunch and to make a quick stop at Little Foot Prints.  (I have yet to find a good kids shoe store in Amarillo, so this is a usual stop for us.)  Tummy's full, shoes purchased, and we were off to the plastic surgeons office for a check-up.

We have officially begun phase 2 of reconstruction.  My stitches were removed, and 50cc's of saline were injected into each of my expanders.  I thought it would be nice to let all of you in on my experience.  As a whole it was extremely uneventful.  By this point I have very little modesty left.  Each and every time we go to see any of my doctors I am instructed to take the top half of my clothing off and put on a timeless hospital paper vest shaped smock.  This little contraption is literally a one-size fits all paper vest.  Very attractive, my favorite part is that the bottom of the vest hits at about the waistband of my jeans.  Regardless of how much the vest covers or does not cover modesty is still out the window.  As soon as the doctor or technician comes in its time to open up and take a look.  I was encouraged to hear that everything was looking great, and yes I would still be sore for quite a while longer. 

Procedure time, first on the agenda was removing the stitches!!  Lets just say that since the surgery I have very little sensation or feeling.  I can feel pressure, but not much else.  I was not able to see exactly what was happening, but the nurse made a few clips and pulled out one long string looking stitch.  When the nurse first started pulling there was a little bit of pressure, but it quickly went away when the stitch pulled loose and freely came out.  Both sides were completed in a minute or two. 

Fill time.  The second part of my day was increasing the volume of fluid in my temporary expanders.  To do this the nurse used a contraption that was held above the expander.  It had a moveable pointer that rotated on the end of a plastic handle.  When it was held above my skin in the area of the port it would rotate somewhat like a compass to find the exact location of the injection port.  They knew the approximate location of the port placement from surgery, but there are times when the expanders can move after surgery.  The pointer would wiggle around until pointing straight down when it was directly above the port.  After locating the port, pressure was applied to the pointer on my skin to leave an indention.  I did not feel the pointer at all, just the pressure that was applied.  My skin was cleaned, and we were on to the injection.  I was told to look away or close my eyes while they inserted the needle into the indention.  I did not feel the needle going in at all.  They said that they ask for you to look away because some people flinch if they watch the needle going in, and this can cause them to miss the port.  Once the needle was in place they started pressing the 50cc of saline into my expanders.  If any of you have ever wanted instant gratification this is it.  You could literally see my breasts getting larger.  While the last 10-20cc were going in I started to feel pressure.  My expanders had taken on enough extra fluid to start stretching my chest muscles again. 

Around 7:30pm we finally made it home to Amarillo.  I slowly lowered myself out of Cody's pick-up, after 2 hours of riding my body was stiff and my chest was sore.  We got the kids off to bed, took a few ibuprofen, and went to bed.  This morning I was once again sore, a few more ibuprofen and a great deal of movement later I am feeling pretty good this afternoon.  I think by tomorrow around lunch I will be back to where I was Monday before my fill.  All in all, a very minor set back in my recuperation. 

For the next five weeks we will be making a weekly trip to Lubbock to add saline to my expanders.  The goal is to reach 550cc in each of my expanders; today I am at 300cc.  I am still a little worried about what I will look like with 550cc breasts, but I do have the option of saying I don't want to be any larger at any point in time.  After we reach the desired size or 550cc we will begin preparing for Phase 3.  Phase 3 of reconstruction is an outpatient surgery to trade my expanders for permanent implants.  So, it looks like we have 6 weeks to discuss and decide on saline or silicone implants.