Week 4 - Day 7

Okay, so I still need Tylenol and Advil. Today I tried to go with only a couple of Advil before church, but by 2:30 pm I was reaching for the Tylenol. Not sure if I am weak, or if it's pretty normal to still need some pain meds 4 weeks after surgery. Other than the numbness and tightness in my core I feel pretty normal. Today I even wore a sports bra. Yippee!! Not sure when I will move beyond a sports bra, but it certainly is a milestone. Again, feeling more like myself. For the past few days I have been getting away from all the elastic waist pants and moving into stretchy jeans. It works as longs as the waistline isn't on my scar.

All the scabbing seems to be flaking off now. Yeah, gross, but I want to detail some of the milestones for others who someday may be reading this as they face their own surgery. For me, as I was anticipating the surgery, hearing from others who walked this path before me was the most helpful of all. Knowing what the recovery was like was a key piece in having confidence that I could do this. Of course, I expected more pain and discomfort than I have had, but I think I paid the price in the hospital those first 2-3 days.

There are a few things I will have to get used to. The first is the numbness of my breasts. Actually my whole core is numb now, but most of that should return in time. With my breasts I am not expecting to be able to actually feel them again. Well, I can feel them but in a different way. Maybe in another post I will try to really describe the feeling. One other thing I need to get used to is my new "designer" bellybutton. It's not the same one I was born with. It's different. I am sure that in time I will become accustomed to it. Same with my breasts.

Tomorrow will mark the four week anniversary of my surgery. Wow, time has really flown. It really does seem like yesterday that we were heading out to Boston and I was wrapping my mind around the fact that I was having a bilateral mastectomy. Now four weeks later I have breasts and even wore a tank top today. Also, really loving the flat belly. I do need to ask my plastic surgeon if it will stay flat even if I eat alot!!! I got some of the Feed-the-Flap recipes from friends and have been making them myself and feeling the 'stretch'.

Tomorrow I plan to start working out with Mike at 5:30am - and hopefully will get back into my pre-surgery routine. I also need to do my arm stretches - I have neglected these and find it hard to reach for things up high.

Well, Week 4 is a wrap!! Tomorrow Week 5 begins. I don't have a plan on posts, but will come up with something.

Week 4 - Day 6

With school vacation this week, things have been a bit hectic. Today JieJie is off to Augusta for dress rehearsal for her baton recital next month. Thankfully one of the other moms was happy to take JieJie along with her own daughter. Recovery is good, but not good enough to drive an hour+, hang out for 4 hours and drive an hour+ home. So, instead I am watching MeiMei while Mike and two of his friends build the Sky Fort for the girls. Here are some photos from today.

Week 4 - Day 5

Today I woke up exhausted!! Not sure if it's because JieJie was in bed with us and was so excited about getting up and making Blueberry Buckle (see Feed-the-Flap recipes) for her Daddy's Birthday Breakfast. So for a couple of hours I just kept telling her it would be a few minutes, so finally, around 6am we were up and cooking in the kitchen. Then while the Blueberry Buckle was cooking, we headed upstairs with breakfast in bed for Daddy. After all that I really was exhausted. Hmmmm, seems some days I can do alot and others I can barely get out of bed. Not sure if that's just me or part of the recovery process.

Now it's 10am and I feeling a bit more normal and energetic. It's Mike's birthday and in all the pre-planning that I did before surgery I neglected to pre-buy birthday gifts. So, now we are all headed out to do some birthday shopping with the guest of honor. I do plan to make him an apple pie and Taco Soup (also under Feed-the-Flap recipes) for dinner. That's probably all I will be up for, but on my list is making chocolates for my Aunt, cleaning the house, the basement, preparing for a yard sale, paying bills, organizing finances, tinkering with my work website, cleaning out the garage, redoing the girls' rooms, dejunking, making Shutterfly books, doing MeiMei's lifebook and video.....well you get the picture.

Week 4 - Day 4

I feel great!! This morning I did most of my old workout routine with Mike. Stopped after about 2.5 miles to work on my arm stretches. It is beautiful outside so I plan to grab my camera and watch Mike work on the Sky Fort with the girls. Pictures will follow......

Week 4 - Day 3

Who would have thought that just barely three weeks out of surgery I would be doing some hiking in Acadia? Certainly not me!!! Granted it was light hiking - like walking around Eagle Lake and picnicing by the water, but it still counts as hiking in my book!  I've been wearing a binder around my middle which seems to make me more comfortable when walking. The binder is like a giant velcro band that covers my entire middle section. Not sure what it is for, but it feels good. I am down to taking just Tylenol and Advil now, with an occasional Percocet at night. It seems to be working.

Last night I did find that there was something I couldn't do. I just couldn't wash the girls' hair in the tub. I can't bend over very easily. Trying to get them to move from their tub to my shower so that I could help was torturous. In the end they did it, but it wasn't pretty. Mike realized when he came in from building the new swingset that maybe I am not 'totally' back to normal. I've fooled him into thinking I can do everything I could do before the surgery, but my secret escaped me last night.

My energy isn't really what it was before, but it's not bad. I am starting to think about spring projects. In time I might even feel like cooking again. Although that might be a ways away. We still have a couple of Feed-the-Flap leftovers, which I hope to stretch. I am so glad that we had that pre-surgery party. I had planned to cook up a bunch of food before surgery, but never had the time or the inclination. So, now, because our friends so generously provided potluck meals at our Feed-the-Flap party we still have food around. It is wonderful.

Here are so photos from our day at Acadia National Park. You've gotta love living an hour from Acadia. We ended our day with ice cream cones from Bill & Bob's in Bar Harbor.

Week 4 - Day 2

More monumental improvements today!! I mowed the lawn this morning and drove this afternoon. My brother, Tommy, and his son, Joe, stopped by for a nice visit today! He was funny. He remembers me telling him last summer about the surgery I was planning to have (PBM + DIEP) and didn't give it any further thought. I think his words were, "That's so far out there that no one would do it." So when he heard that I was in the middle of my surgery 3 weeks ago, he was quite surprised, to say the least. I liked the gasp when he saw my abdominal scar!! Now I can sit back and say, "Yah, I did that and I lived through it!" My recovery is going very smoothly. Mike says it's because he had me working out every morning for a few months before the surgery. You know, I might just be able to start doing that same workout again - maybe tomorrow!! Here I am mowing the lawn this morning.

Week 4 - Day 1

Update - Just added photos to Week 3, Day 4 (Drain Pull Day):

It was three weeks ago today that I had my surgery and I am proud to say that I am now taking real showers - no more sitting down and no more Marsupial Pouch. Getting the fourth and final drain out made that all possible. I would highly recommend the Marsupial Pouch to anyone and everyone who has hip and armpit drains.

I am still quite sore and tender. The little bit of pain that I have seems to be moving up from my abdomen to my chest. Still not really hitting the 1-10 pain scale - just discomfort. But, I have been able to do so many more things. For example, today I wore jeans for the first time in 3 weeks. I also rode my Green Machine very slowly around the driveway. And I have lost almost 10 lbs from my pre-surgery (feed-the-flap) weight. Oh, and my stomach is flat. Sure there is a scar across it that is 38 centimeters long and I have new designer belly button, but my belly is flat. My breasts seem to be loosening up each day and becoming more like breasts. For a while they were getting quite hard, but seem to be adjusting to their new placement. It is hard to imagine that my belly fat is now sitting in my breasts. It's also hard to imagine just how uncomfortable I was just 3 weeks ago -- the phlegm ball in my throat that seemed to be suffocating me, the hallucinations from the morphine and the steady stream of medical professionals checking on me.

I am pleased with the results - even if I have only done Stage I. Stages II and III are to come. I can do Stage II this summer, but think I will wait until Fall. Although, I would love to have my new body ready for summer. But I am a bit worried about undergoing surgery again. I can remember everything and there is nothing pleasant about the recovery area. Waking up from 14+ hours of surgery was tough. Waking up from 14+ hours of surgery with a phlegm ball was even tougher. Waking up from 14+ hours of surgery with a sensitivity to morphine was toughest of all.

So, other than a little bit of nerve pain down my left arm I feel pretty good. I still get tired mid-day. I get as much walking in as I can and feel much better after exercising. My armpits have been uncomfortable, but with the arm exercises they are feeling a little bit better.

On the homefront, we are still benefitting from the generosity of friends. Yesterday we finished up Brenda's lasagne and chicken/broccoli casserole. We still have some leftovers from the Feed-the-Flap party that will carry us for a few more meals. We are truly blessed to have so many kind and generous friends.