Post-Op Update

In honor of the upcoming surgery and my birthday, we decided to throw a last-minute celebration at my house after Delia's shower.  We took advantage of the clean house and had no idea that she would actually be in labor during the party!  

I had such an awesome time...I think it was one of the best birthdays I've ever had.  I invited my closest friends on a weeks notice and everyone showed up.  It was a great time to fill in on the latest developments and I had one night to explain just how crazy the last couple of months have been (and will be).  I couldn't think of a better pre-surgery send off.  I could live off the love I felt in that room and feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family.  The whole evening reaffirmed how much people are willing to help us and support us over the next few months.  I am not an eloquent speaker and have a hard time not sounding crass (especially with sad or depressing topics).  So I will say this:

I thank each and every one of you for loving me and my family so much.  I am honored and humbled; I am not a demonstrative person by nature but please know that the feeling is mutual.  

And that's about all the sappiness I can handle!  I admit that I was enjoying myself immensely so I didn't take too many photos.  

Any pictures taken after this one were all blurry and fuzzy.  I obviously should not have been in charge of photographs given my level of sobriety!

The morning after the party all the kids woke up and were super happy to hear about Baby Nico!  This was the picture they took to say Good Morning to him.

Surgery Day!

Other than having actual surgery, Monday was a long and rather boring day.  

This is us as we waited for the radiologist to inject some bio-nuclear medicine in my veins.  The medicine actually travels through my whole lymphatic system and that's how the general surgeon knows which nodes to remove during surgery.  

This is just one photo after the 3rd doctor came and wrote all over my boobs.  You can't see all the markings, but anything below the dotted line counted as breast tissue and would be removed during surgery.  That's a lot of tissue!

Here I am, post-surgery!  Definitely a bit doped up but feeling rather good.

I was discharged on Tuesday and went straight home to a spot on the couch and SLEPT all afternoon.

I went home with six drains, three on each side.  The drains are about 4" long with 10-12" tubing connected inside my body.  They look like little hand grenades.  We have to drain the bulbs 4 times each day and keep track of how much goo comes out.  Hopefully after a few days it starts looking a little more clear, but for now it's mainly red.

My skin started reacting funny to either the rubber tubing, medical tape or narcotics and I got an itchy rash.  I put this handy apron on underneath the drains to keep them away from the skin.  Now I just keep them tucked inside the apron and stopped pinning them to my bra.  

Doesn't it look like I'm selling magic potions?

Yesterday was my birthday and it was the first day I felt halfway normal.  I also had a visit with my doctor in the afternoon so I had a reason to get out of my pjs!  I know it's hard to tell from the photo, but all my tubes and drains are hidden in my blouse!  Only after a closer inspection does it look like I'm smuggling something ;)

I go for another post-op on Monday and the plastic surgeon will remove the bandages.  That will be the first day I get to see the new girls in all their scarred and nipple-less form.  It should be a fun day!