Tag: breast reconstruction surgery

Breast cancer lesson 175: You don’t need a nipple to feel whole again after cancer surgery

On By Jackie ScullyIn Breast reconstruction surgery, Moving forward, Reflections on cancer2 Comments

695a4d30962888645dc699445268f4197d

A few days ago, I called the hospital and took myself off the waiting list for nipple reconstruction surgery.

It wasn’t a rash decision (many a cup of tea has been needed in the build up), but as far as decisions go, it is among the best I have ever made.

I must confess that while I would have loved to have said to colleagues and clients: ‘Sorry, I won’t be able to make the meeting as I am having my nipple put on that day’, and, while part of me liked the idea of being put back together again, a huge part of me was shouting: ‘Why?’

After surgery and finishing active treatment, it felt like the natural next step (why wouldn’t I go for a cherry on top’?!). Sitting in front of the surgeon talking about cutting and snipping and stitching back in October, it seemed like a quick and painless procedure and an easy way to forget the past.

But, ask me what I am thinking about six months on and I can tell you, it’s not a pink, fleshy (albeit realistic) blob on the end of my fat-filled right boob. It’s the fact that I am happier, healthier and fitter than ever and a nipple really won’t add anything – except a ‘permanent outy’ that no amount of warm weather would conceal.

Now, I realise that I was more curious than in need of an extra asset. And, curiosity just isn’t a big enough reason to brave a hospital gown, needles, a knife, an operating table, a series of nipple tattoos and the memory of a year in the warm, but treatment-focused arms of the amazing NHS.

I guess you might call me lucky. Strange as it sounds, I don’t want to hide from my scars. Each one carries with it a story that makes me who I am. Each one reminds me not to worry when I get caught up in the complications that come with everyday life. Each one keeps me grounded. Each one is a reminder of all I had to lose and all I have gained as a result of this challenging – and yet weirdly fulfilling – period of my life. My scars are just as much a part of me as my right foot that turns in and my dodgy hip. I am not looking to replace them, but embrace them. I have no ambition to be a topless model so why would I cover up what is always covered up.

I read my story in the lines that cancer has given me and I smile. I smile because they remind me not of pain and surgery, but of just how far I have come – and of just how far I want to go. It is with these scars that I will be lining up on the starting line of the Bath Half in two weeks (and the Pink Ribbonwalk in July and the Royal Parks Half in October). It is with these scars that I will be flying to the Caribbean (yes, leaving Europe for the first time) with my new size 6 tankini (sun-exposure conscious as ever). And, it is with these scars that I hope to make a difference on this wonderful planet of ours. As I said, all the way back in lesson 21: ‘scars remind you where you’ve been and how hard you worked to get there. They don’t have to dictate where you’re going, but they can give you the strength and determination to make sure the path you do choose is a beautiful, interesting and inspiring one.’

Last year, I came face-to-face with my own mortality at the age of 32. I had the chance, at a young age, to reflect on what my gravestone could say and I decided the message needed to change – and fast. I can guarantee it won’t ever say: ‘Here lies Jackie, cracking right nipple.’ What I hope it will say (and not for a very long time) is: ‘Here lies a woman who smiled, laughed, lived and loved – and dedicated her life to helping others do the same (admittedly may need editing as I am not in the market for a tomb)! Sounds morbid, but I have plenty of years to get it right.

Breast cancer lesson 162: Why it’s hard not to laugh in a nipple consultation

On By Jackie ScullyIn Breast reconstruction surgery, Reflections on cancerLeave a comment

The trouble with attending a hospital appointment on your own (don’t worry, I am not throwing caution to the wind after lesson number one, these are very routine appointments), is that you have no one to cover you if you need to pop to the loo. That’s why, I spent the best part of my 90-minute wait on Monday working out the best time to take the chance – only to realise it takes less than a minute to get back in the waiting room if you’re focused.

The reason for this latest waiting room visit was to meet the plastic surgeon and discuss reconstruction phase two. Phase two is, of course, the ‘return of the nipple’, if we see phase one as ‘destruction of the boob’. That was my understanding of the meeting anyway, so I was amused when the registrar took one look at me and asked me how the chemo was going! And I thought I actually had a bit of hair.

Now we are onto the cosmetic side of the job, I am finding it hard to treat the whole thing as surgery. I diligently took my top off on demand and smiled as we went through the usual: ‘we can tidy it up of you’d like to look even on both sides’. My stock reply tends to be: ‘I am very happy with my set (asymmetrical as they are) and I wouldn’t consider another general anaesthetic at this stage. Plus, the right one will grow and shrink as my weight fluctuates, so I will always be pretty lopsided.’ It is very kind that plastic surgeons don’t want me to be wonky, but I am just happy to be here – imperfections and all! Trust me, if they fix the boobs, their perfection would just look out of place.

I did consider stopping without a nipple given I am happy with my fleshy mound. But, I feel like the journey won’t be complete without finishing it off. It will be a permanent ‘outie’, so I think it will be padded bras all the way after surgery. It will also be tattooed so that it matches the left side.

Today was quite interesting in terms of reconstruction options. It seems there are two ways to reconstruct the nipple (or should I say we only discussed two). The first is a local flap, created using existing skin attached to the reconstructed breast. The only downside it seems is the fact that it would leave a little scarring to the sides of the nipple, but this would be covered up by the final tattooing stage of the process, Yes, I didn’t think it was enough to get radiotherapy tattoos. Now I want to tattoo my boob.

The second option is to remove skin from another area of the body to create the ‘protrusion’ (sounds a bit scientific for a boobie). The downside to this procedure is the fact that there would be two wound sites and the fact the grafted skin may not take to its new home.

For me, this didn’t feel like decision that would be hard to make. I have opted for the local flap and will take the extra scarring! I don’t fancy carving up any other body part for an extra bit of skin. It is already part belly. It certainly doesn’t need to be part anything else.

So, in six months time (you have to wait for the boob to settle after radiotherapy), I will, at last, complete my reconstruction. It’s a local anaesthetic. It’s a quick procedure. And I would bet money on it being one of the strangest experiences of my entire life. (I must admit, the consultation was pretty funny, with the highlight being the young doctor poking my boob with this finger to point out the position of the nipple. I kept thinking to myself, I haven’t been nippleless that long!)

It certainly is amazing to see what these plastic surgeons can do. I just never thought they’d be doing them to me!

NB: In other news, as part of Breast Cancer Care’s #hiddeneffects campaign for Breast Cancer Awareness month I put together a piece on smiling through cancer. Click here if you’d like to have a read.

Breast cancer lesson number 59: Never underestimate the power of a good pair of knickers!

On By Jackie ScullyIn Breast reconstruction surgery5 Comments

Image

Before my tummy became my boob, I had only ever bought one pair of magic knickers (by which I mean big, tight, figure-sucking Bridget Jones knickers not magical figure-adjusting knickers). I think it would be fair to say I had such limited success with the cycling-shorts-masquerading-as-underwear item, we had about one outing together. While it did eliminate certain troublesome areas from my waistline, it just repositioned them to both above and below said undergarment. Let’s just say, your typical body isn’t usually designed with a trunk that resembles the Scottish Highlands.

Having been briefed on the benefits of support knickers to help my tummy enjoy its new (if only temporary) life as an artificially-flat stomach, I approached my knicker shopping with some trepidation. These knickers are big and, if they are to be effective, don’t really have much wiggle room. They also tend to come in the imaginative black, nude and white range, meaning pink and navy don’t even get a look in (gap in the market methinks).

I must confess, I didn’t enjoy packing them in my hospital bag or putting them on at first (it took two of us to yank them up anywhere close to my stomach scar for the first five days). But, before I’d even left the safety of the hospital bay, my mum was already primed to pick up two more. Trusty old M&S. You know your underwear!

In the early days of my post-surgery recovery, the combination of big knickers and a body corset became a little bit too hot to handle (so much so, there were some rather unpleasant side effects. I will spare you the details). It felt more like a heat wrap than a support system and, in the end, the knickers had to go back to the drawer. With the corset firmly in retirement, however, the knickers are back in action and coming into their own. That is, when I remember to wear them.

The trouble is, when you have a lucky knicker drawer, it’s hard to get excited about pulling on a pair of nude cotton body suckers that don’t have quite the same effect. (Come on, I know you all have something lucky lurking in your drawers). It may sound odd, but I have knickers that have changed the course of a day by just being present. There is a priority list (mostly navy and pink) and, should one pair have to be recycled as a duster, the parting is like that of two good friends saying goodbye. My knickers have won pitches. My knickers have experienced great holidays. Of course, they didn’t prevent the cancer diagnosis, so maybe it is time to invest in some new ones!

Yesterday was a lucky knicker day – and it was a good day. It was also a day that introduced me to a quite unexpected nemesis: the stool. After an enjoyable session of work and a lunchtime visit from a good friend, I decided to brave the city centre for a meal. Aware of it being low immunity week (7-14 days after each cycle your white blood cell count is at its lowest), I diligently googled the restaurant and checked for illness in the group, before setting off on the train. (Duncan did point out that he was amused at my checking for illness, when I didn’t think twice about getting on a train, but I did argue that I would move if I spot a coughing commuter.)

On the chemo-related front all went well. Even the food was conveniently cut into small pieces, so the fact that I can still not open my mouth wide enough to eat anything larger than a cherry tomato, went largely unnoticed.

It was only after moving downstairs to the cosy bar area that it hit me. My scar had been rubbing against my jeans for a good few hours. While I look normal, beneath my clothes, my body is still hurting and crying out for a comfy sofa. It suddenly felt quite phased by the prospect of a stool. All I can say is beware the backless chair. It may not look menacing, but when your stomach muscles are still coming out of hibernation, sitting up straight is a workout. 

It wasn’t long before I started to feel quite naked without my magic knickers for company. It wasn’t long before I was back on the sofa, trapped back in my body suckers once more. I’m writing this with the black cotton tugging at my tummy, and I couldn’t be happier.

Next step is trying to turn a pair of these beauties into lucky knickers. Could a nude pair become my new pitch-winning panties? Bridget Jones would be proud.

Breast cancer lesson number 52: The memories do fade. Let them go

On By Jackie ScullyIn Breast reconstruction surgery, Chemotherapy2 Comments

Image

Walking through Greenwich Park on Sunday with Duncan, I started laughing when I remembered that only four weeks ago, I wouldn’t have been able to get to the park – let alone walk round it. It’s hard to imagine now that walking to the lamppost up the road was once comparable with climbing a mountain. It’s also hard to imagine that the train station once felt like it was on another continent, not at the back of the garden. What a difference a few weeks can make.

The great thing about the human body is that it not only has an amazing ability to regenerate and recover, but it also knows how to forget. While I can remember that there was post-surgery pain, I couldn’t describe it to you now. While I thought the fertility injections were at times relentless, when I threw away the last of the instruction leaflets yesterday, I didn’t even flinch. While at the time important, every procedure, every painkiller and every appointment is now packed away in the bit of my mind marked ‘experiences’. I can draw on it, but it neither haunts nor upsets me.

That, in my view, is how I am coping with this entire period and managing to smile through it all. I am neither particularly brave nor strong. My body just forgives me for every needle and enables me to forget. Every day brings with it a whole raft of new experiences, and my mind is so busy filing, it won’t let me dwell on each one. It just lets me get on with moving forward and confronting the next challenge. Thanks body. You may occasionally throw me a serious curveball, but you are pretty amazing when it comes to helping me overcome each one.

In Lesson number 19, I talked about cherishing those small victories and getting to that first lamp post (which will always have a special place in my heart). Six weeks on from surgery, today is another day for celebrating a small victory. Today is the day I get to remove my abdo binder, lovingly known as ‘the body corset’. For six weeks, it has been an extension of me. For six weeks, it held me together (literally), made me feel like my body wouldn’t rip open, stopped me eating in large quantities and forced me to get to know the location of pretty much every public toilet in the local area. Now, having been upgraded to ‘Bridget Jones’ knickers or ‘magic pants’, I couldn’t be happier.

While I wouldn’t wish for anyone to have to be held together by three strips of Velcro, I have to say, body corset and I did become friends. It made coughing doable, laughing bearable, sleeping manageable and moving around, a lot more enjoyable. It is also the reason (along with tummy tuck surgery) that I now have the flattest stomach ever! I am sure it won’t last long, but, while it’s there, I am going to celebrate it. Thank you body corset. We’ve had some good times. You do look a bit tatty now and I am sure I will forget what it felt like to live with you attached to me. But, you did well, and you’ll remain a fond memory, tucked away in the ‘experiences’ vault forevermore.

Image

It may have done its time, but the body corset’s days are not yet numbered. First, it will be making an appearance at my first few pilates classes over the coming weeks, to ease me back into the exercises. A nurse also recommended I hang on to it so that should we ever be able to have children, it would encourage my tummy to go back to normal post ‘push’!

Writer Aldous Huxley once said: ‘experience is not what happens to you; it’s what you do with what happens to you.’ I think he was right. Whether you are undergoing treatment right now, are years on from treatment or facing challenges in another area of your life, I want to leave you with a thought. Whatever pain or sadness you are feeling right now, just know that it will fade and you have the power to forget. Don’t cling on, just let your body do what it does best. It will get you through it – and out the other side.

Let your experiences make you stronger, but don’t ever let them hold you back.

NB: As a quick aside, if you’re wondering how the post-chemo days are going, I’m doing pretty well. A few steroids highs are helping me stay positive and I’M STILL SMILING! A nurse called me yesterday to check on me and did warn me I may crash after the course of steroids ends, but while I am up, I am going to embrace it.

Breast cancer lesson number 24: Not all upgrades are worth having!

On By Jackie ScullyIn Reflections on cancer2 Comments

I have only ever been upgraded once before in my life. Duncan and I were on a holiday in Cyprus and, having opted for a really tiny hire care, we were upgraded to something a little bit better. As the designated driver, I was visibly thrilled at the news. Duncan was laughing. I didn’t know why until I saw the car – or maybe juggernaut with a giant boot would be a better description. Having driven nothing larger than a Nissan Micra (I am pretty fond of my small car), it took me days to get used to it. As anyone who has been up the Troodos Mountains will know, big cars and little windy roads with sheer drops are not a match made in heaven.

Today, at my pathology report meeting, I received the results of the testing done on the cancerous mass – or should I say masses. This meeting is one of the most important meetings in the whole process because it’s the first time they’ve tested everything and it’s the first time they know for certain what really went on behind naughty right boobie!

With the results, came the second upgrade of my life (why can’t I just be upgraded to first class on a plane like normal people!?). The tumour they found was larger than anticipated; there were other masses (making it multi-focal cancer); and while there were only two lymph nodes affected out of a possible 13 (the number of lymph nodes present in a body varies from person to person), the cancer in one of the lymph nodes had spread into the surrounding tissue. This means I have stage 3 cancer, which is sometimes referred to as locally advanced breast cancer. Stage 4 cancer is secondary cancer and it doesn’t even get a mention in some cancer leaflets.

Ok, so you’re probably thinking that there’s no way Jackie will be able to get a positive post out of these findings. But, I am delighted to say I can and I have! The reason being is that I AM CANCER FREE. Yep, you heard that right. THE CANCER HAS LEFT THE BUILDING – AND THE BODY!!! Yes, it’s not the best news in the world (although the surgeon did say it was better than they thought it would be). Yes, it means I will have to have chemotherapy, radiotherapy and a course of hormone therapy. But, I can now say I HAD STAGE 3 INVASIVE LOBULAR BREAST CANCER AND NOW IT’S GONE.

Today has been a good day. The surgeon and the breast care nurse were surprised to see me looking so well – and bolt upright. The surgeon had a quick peek of the new improved me and looked very impressed with the results (it’s nice to get nods of approval when you take your top off). I met the surgeon who saved my life and got the chance to ‘thank him for working his magic’, and I am no longer waiting to hear what the next six months are going to look like. My cancer surgeon doesn’t want to see me again for a whole YEAR (woohoo) and there was an incredible amount of smiling and laughing. Anyone would have thought we were having a celebration rather than discussing the fact the cancer was trying its hardest to take me away.

Thank god for amazing surgeons and for Christmas Eve 2013. My engagement may have been the best Christmas present ever, but finding this lump on Christmas Eve has got to be up there. While no one can tell me what the future holds and whether or not it will come back, the fact is, right now, I’m lucky to be alive – a fact that’s only just starting to sink in!

Breast cancer lesson number 21: Scars are tattoos with better stories

On By Jackie ScullyIn Breast reconstruction surgery, Reflections on cancer1 Comment

I am proud of all of the scars life has chosen to give me (maybe not the one from burning my arm on the cooker while trying to make victoria sponge – that just hurt).

Scars tell stories. Scars signal strength. Scars remind us that life is hard, but that every time we hit a difficulty, we have the power to recover and that the memories do fade. Every scar I have makes me who I am – and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Image

When I came out of my hip surgery with a drain mark, a seven-inch scar and 44 holes, I thought I was pretty hard. Looking down at each mark today, I think of the moment I learned to walk again (in my parents’ kitchen), the moment I took my first post-op cycle ride and the moment I stepped back into high heels (still look a bit tipsy in anything over a centimetre so this is still a rare occurrence). Little did I know that just over six years later, there would be a few more impressive scars fighting for the top spot as a marker of life’s challenges.

With my wound care appointment and my first trip back to hospital since surgery fast approaching, I thought I’d take a moment to assess the scars that are now covering my body (don’t worry, there won’t be any photographic evidence).

1)    The tummy tuck: appropriately I think, the big tummy tuck scar is a 38cm whopper in the shape of a smile. It is glued together (open for the eyes to enjoy) and is covered in a thin sticky mesh tape, which keeps it protected and attracts every bit of fluff possible. When I look at it I smile at how flat my tummy is and how many people contributed to the chocolate fund to enable me to have the surgery. I am very lucky. I believe it will look angry for 12 to 18 months and will then be neatly tucked away under my bikini line. Nice!

2)    The drain holes: two in the abdomen and two down the right side (with a few pinholes where the stitches were). Blink and you’ll miss them! When I do locate them I think, they were painless tubes attached to sports bottles and they did a good job. Thanks drains!

3)    The belly button: Now moved to its new position (quite what they did I will never know – cut it out and dig a hole to reposition it?) it is surrounded in stitches that look like threads of cotton. I think I get a trim tomorrow when I go in! When I look at it, I laugh at the fact they went to such lengths to keep it in a normal position. They think of everything.

4)    The boob: imagine a milky mound with a saucepan-shaped scar on it. Basically, the boob skin is still the same, except for a circle where they took off the nipple (the nipple area is now a flap of skin from my missing tummy – complete with light tummy hairs). There is a line extending out from the circular scar, moving towards to the right armpit. This incision helped them reach and extract all my lymph nodes, saving me from a further scar under my arm. Currently covered in little steri-strips, I am still waiting for the big big reveal. When I think of my mound, I don’t think of what I had, I think of what I have: my life. I am grateful to those surgeons who are both trained to take the cancer away and create something that means I won’t be afraid to look in the mirror for the rest of my life. Take that cancer!

In short, it’s less Frankenstein’s monster and more a new improved me.

I read a beautiful quote earlier: ‘Scars remind you where you’ve been. But they don’t have to dictate where you’re going.’ I’d like to amend it slightly: ‘Scars remind you where you’ve been and how hard you worked to get there. They don’t have to dictate where you’re going, but they can give you the strength and determination to make sure the path you do choose is a beautiful, interesting and inspiring one.’

So make today a day to be proud of all your scars. And, if you don’t have any, start living! 

Breast cancer lesson number sixteen: If you know what you’re in for, the road ahead seems a lot less daunting

On By Jackie ScullyIn Breast reconstruction surgery2 Comments

As one of life’s planners, I know how important it is to be prepared (by which I don’t just mean making sure you have enough big knickers to see you through your hospital stay). While no one knows how you are going to respond to the treatment, or how well your body will recover after surgery, I think it’s helpful to have an idea of what might happen in hospital and what gismos you might just find strapped to you when you wake up!

So, here’s a quick peek inside my hospital diary. One small caveat before you are immersed in a world of cannulas and heart monitors. Every cancer, surgeon, care team and ward is different. This is my personal experience and you may find you get a few extra goodies (or a few less) depending on what you have, what you need and where you are. This diary is also based on having a full mastectomy, a DIEP (tummy) flap and an axillary clearance.

Day zero (probably so-called because you miss most of it due to the anaesthetic)
Highlight of day: making the recovery team laugh (even though they were probably just humouring me)

1)    Breast reconstruction surgery is big surgery. As such, you get your own theatre list (of one) and a team of about 10 people dedicated to you for the whole day. This means you will be due at the hospital around 7.30am to get prepped. It made me laugh when we arrived at the surgical admissions unit at about 6.50am only to find a queue of about 15 people already ahead of us. It’s certainly not a case of first come first served in the surgery game!

2)    Once you’re marked off the list, you’re given a little room to wait in. I was also given a urine pot (lucky me) for a quick sample. Quick change into a gown, some disposable panties, some white anti embolism stockings, dressing gown and slippers, I was ready to be visited by two nurses, one phlebotomist, a surgeon, a doctor, a researcher and an anaesthetist. One blood pressure check and a quick art lesson on my boobs and stomach later and me and my post-surgery bra were escorted to the anaesthetic room (via a hot blanket machine). It is worth noting that I didn’t see the cancer surgeon (or removal man). Hopefully I will meet him one day to thank him for saving my life.

3)    The anaesthetic room consisted of me, my lovely anaesthetist (who came to visit me in the ward afterwards and promised me some good drugs), a surgical nurse, a bed and cupboard full of drugs. The surgeon popped in to wish me luck (at which point I wished him more luck!) before I was fitted with heart monitors, an arm-holding contraption and the first cannula. The room was really cold, but after two hot blankets and some sleep-inducing drugs, I was off in my happy place and gone!

4)    I believe there was then lots of cutting, cancer removing, fat moving and sewing up. Apparently, they put you in the so-called ‘Jesus’ position for the op, so they have full access to the arms. Thank god for anaesthetic!

5)    Recovery was a row of beds and lots of monitoring. I had three cannulas, one arterial line measuring my blood pressure, a blood pressure cuff on my ankle, four drains, heart monitors, an oxygen mask, a catheter, a moving bed and, the weirdest bit, an inflated hot blanket to keep my temperature up. Interesting to note that all the needle/cannula action was on my left arm. My right arm is now off limits due to the axillary clearance, so was having a nice rest after being attacked earlier.

6)    After four hours, enough morphine to soothe a small nation (they kept turning off my PCA to give me extra shots), two small sips of water (we pretended the first one was a good red wine and the second one beer) and lots of laughter (particularly enjoyed watching one of the recovery nurses trying out a moving mattress to check it was working), I was being prepared for transfer.

7)    Five minutes with mum and dad and I was set up for a night of monitoring. Everything from my heart, blood pressure and temperature to oxygen levels, fluids and pain levels were checked at regular intervals. Sadly for the nurse looking after me, my PCA was playing up. Every time I pressed the button it started beeping. One other machine also kept beeping to tell him I wasn’t breathing. This was a little disconcerting at first, but we were laughing about it within an hour. Then came boobie testing. This consists of someone pressing the boob to check for blood flow and then holding an ultrasound monitor to the flap to wait for a pulse.

For a short day, it was a pretty long journey. Key aim: get through the night.

Day one
Highlight: Morphine, morphine and, oh yes, more morphine

1)    Day one was a dark day. While it was wonderful to lose the heart monitor, the hot blanket, the drips and the constant checks, it was a day defined by pain.

2)    I was visited by a surgeon and I was, at last, allowed some food. But, there was only one thing I wanted: drugs. I couldn’t even get out of bed.

3)    Rest of day was a bit of a blur. I felt like my tummy was ripping apart so got into a routine of: pain, tears, drugs, pain, tears, drugs (and tea), pain, tears, drugs! You get the picture!

4)    One piece of advice: don’t worry if your limbs swell up. My right arm trebled in size and a nurse suggested it could be permanent. I looked alarmed, but was later reassured it’s just post-surgery swelling. It eventually goes down – and it did!

Day two
Highlight: A shower

1)    What a difference a day makes! Following a ward round that it sound like I’d be going home tomorrow, I got up, got showered, had more morphine, got out of a gown and into a nightshirt, had mashed potato, had more morphine, saw family and friends, watched as 15 people crammed into the bay opposite and started praying, had more mash and more morphine (now morphine mash would be a novel idea).

2)    There was a lot of peeing. With the catheter out, I got up six times (with a nurse). By the sixth, I was pleading with my body to stop. The nurses laughed along, but did have morphine on tap!

3)    I went into hospital with a grannie leg (full of metal, hates the cold) and I now have a grannie stoop (bent double due to tummy tuck). Nurses said I had aged about 30 years.

4)    One thing that hasn’t featured yet? Sleep. Yep, there wasn’t a lot of that, but when you’re looking at the London Eye all lit up at night, it could be worse.

Day three
Highlight: Less peeing, more mash

1)    Hospitals come alive on a Monday. I had seen my surgeon, my breast care nurse, a physio and a pharmacist before I’d even had a cup of tea! The surgeon was very kind, even though he insisted on shaking the hand on my bad arm twice (this was a very swollen arm with limited movement)

2)    When drains produce less than 30ml of liquid in a day, they’re out! As a result, two came out today. I obviously look friendly (or a bit gullible) as they requested a student take them out. She was brilliant though and will make a fantastic nurse.

3)    Glad to report, had lost a few years with less stooping.

Day four
Highlight: Taking the stairs

1)    When you’re helped to the toilet through the night, it is quite disconcerting to be told that on day four, you’re flying solo. Today was my equivalent of independence day, and I am delighted to say, I passed with flying colours. A wash, a walk, a flight of stairs and many toilet trips later and I started to doze off in my chair at 2pm. Yep, I am still 32 not 102!

2)    Slight blip came from the mirror moment I wasn’t expecting. Have suggested to the hospital that this is planned for others next time. The body has been savaged and, if you’re not ready to look, it can be quite scary. I am, however, delighted to think I might have had a slight augmentation factored in (although that could be the swelling).

3)    Drain number three came out. They don’t really hurt, but this one felt like it stretched the length of my abdomen, so was a like a worm inside my abdomen.

4)    I slept for four hours (did a little stooped dance round the bed).

Day five (to seven depending on speed at which you recover)
Highlight: A poo and home time!

1)    After many doses of Laxido (don’t be fooled by the orange smell, it tastes of gritty nothing), I have conquered the constipation. Was threatened with suppositories, so that may have done the trick!

2)    I passed the final drain test, so no need to carry it home. The doctor on the ward round said: “you’ve done really well”. Yay, big tick on my medical notes!

3)    Having cleaned out the chemist (bye bye morphine, but hello truck load of painkillers), said nice things on feedback forms, and signed my discharge papers, I am given permission to leave the building!

4)    One word of advice: use a wheelchair to get to the car park. I foolishly thought I would demonstrate my straighter posture to my mum and Duncan’s dad. The walk was fine. The lift was hell (felt like every jolt would rip my stomach apart).

5)    Back home and trying to get into a routine – but that’s another blog story!

Phew! That was a long six days. Am tired just thinking about it – and I’ll bet you’ll have sore eyes if you manage to get to the end of this post.