This has been a tough surgery to recover from, mainly because the last surgery was a breeze and I thought the work for this was on already numb areas.

I am proud to say I haven’t had any Percocet for 2 days. I’ve taken a gram of Tylenol a couple of times, but I don’t really think I needed it.  There are lots of times when something hurts or aches, but I don’t immediately reach for a pain killer.  When you have a boat load of drugs it is really easy to reach over and pop a narcotic.  Now if I feel pain I stop and ask myself, do I really need this?  I know I have 40+ narcotics at my disposal, but the plan is not to use them all, if I have some left over, that is perfectly okay.  The only thing I need to use up are the antibiotics  

During this recovery I have had a lot of nausea.  I have blown through the left over pills from surgeries one and two and I’m just starting the official surgery #3 nausea bottle.  I’ve also taken a little more valium this time too. I was way more worried about the skin grafts than I should have been. I have found a nausea/valium cocktail takes the edge off and allows me to feel normal without that worrying sickness in the pit of my stomach.

Today I had my first follow-up with the nurse, they took stitches out and I got a look at the reconstructed nipples.  They look like you would expect; a little frankenstein-ish, a piece of skin with a blob in the middle, like a bad needlework project.  There are also tiny pin pricks from the stitches.  I took a photo, but I think I’ll save it for the a progression set.  My hope is the final will be so good, this first one won’t be quite so shocking.

The good news is everything looks healthy, the grafts look good, no dark patches, everything is a healthy pink color.  The stitches from my navel (where the fat wand went in) are out.  The 6 inch scar where they took the extra skin and fat looks good too.  I can go back to wearing a normal bra (I just need to cut a hole in some gauze and keep them covered).  I also don’t need to sleep in a recliner.  In the past transitioning back into a bed has been slow, but I’m hopeful I can transition a little faster this time.

I can also take a shower.  This seems really scary, my pink raw nipples  don’t look ready for soap and water yet.  I may wait another day before I venture into the shower.  At least it’s not summer, wash cloth/flannel baths have been working just fine!