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   Continue reading Progress Update – March 30, 2016 →

I ate ice cream last night and drank a lot of water.

I slept okay, it was a little interrupted, and I took pain meds a couple of times. I still have compression socks on too (I wish he’d done the liposuction on my thighs). I have slight twinges in the boob area but nothing compared to below my navel. Holy smokes, it hurts. I have a little bleeding at the incision where they took skin for the graft, and at my navel where they put the long wand thingy in to pull out fat to fill in a left boob crease. I won’t post that fun photo; if it creeps me out, its not for general publication.

Continue reading Day after surgery 26 March, 2016 →

In terms of duration, pain and bodily torture, the order is;

• Stage 1 – Double mastectomy, addition of tissue expanders
• Stage 3 – Nipple reconstruction, skin graft and fat transplant
• Stage 2 – Tissue expanders removed and replaced with implants

My stage 3 surgery was on Good Friday, and it was, I woke up from general anesthesia. It was our 3rd rodeo, so it was a tedious run-up to the day. I didn’t prepare at home as much, no precooked meals, no massive clean-up. I was busy at work and just did the minimum pre-surgery requirements; no supplements and alcohol for 2 weeks.

Continue reading Stage 3 Surgery – March 25, 2016 →

My third surgery is on Good Friday. I hope its a great Friday.

Preparation for this surgery has been easier mainly because I’ve done it before. No supplements, no aspirin, no alcohol.  Whatever, let’s just get this over and done with!

I was a little unsure a month ago, but I took some photos and they changed my mind.  I see myself every morning, I look okay, I don’t look like a topless model. I’ve got used to Barbie boobs, the unevenness, the crease on my right side and an indent where the surgeon scraped close to the skin where my cancer was. I don’t like the corners at the ends of the scar seams, but I believe they will probably smooth out over time. If not I think they look worse when I look down on them.  I’ve posted some bad phone images below, leave now if you’re weirded out by scars and deformities. They’re not gross, just a little unusual.

Continue reading Ding, ding, round 3, March 22, 2016 →