One week post surgery

It’s been a week and a few days since my surgery. I came home on Monday afternoon. I am in a lot less pain than I was last time, but I have felt a lot weaker. I have 6 drains this go around and the two on my hips are the most bothersome. We are hoping the 4 on top will get to come out on Wednesday when we see my plastic surgeon - all 6 would be fantastic! But hoping for 4. Right now I’m focusing on getting as much rest as possible and spending lots of time with my family during this break. 

Surgery

Thursday morning we checked into the hospital at 5:30 and surgery started right at 7:30. They told Michael it would be 10-12 hours. When my plastic surgeon got in there my right breast was very badly damaged from radiation. He said he basically did a second mastectomy on the right side just cleaning everything up. It took him 2 hours just to clean everything up. All in all my surgery lasted 16 1/2 hours. It then took me another 30-45 minutes to wake up from surgery. That night/morning was rough. They were checking on me every 15 minutes so Michael and I got zero rest. Sometime on Friday late morning they did switch to every 30 minutes and then last night to every hour. 

My pain has been very minimal! My muscles along my sternum and in my belly are sore when I cough but other than that I’ve been pretty great. They kept this thing called a bear hugger on me until 7 PM last - the bear hugger basically pumps very hot air on my to keep my arteries and veins open and flowing. Along with the bear hugger they kept my room at a toasty 91°. So I’ve been a little miserable due to that. Today I got everything taken off except my IV and I will be moving to the normal room around 5 tonight. Everything is going great and we are hoping to head home tomorrow night. Thank you all so much for praying for us. 

Surgery week

I can not believe it is finally here. I’m heading into this week with mixed emotions.

 Excited that we’ve made it. This is the finish line we’ve been waiting for and it’s finally here! 

Stressed with the amount of things still on my to-do list. Clean my house, sub plans, pack myself, pack the kids, laundry...But if they don’t get done then it’s fine we will still make it to Thursday. 

Overwhelmed with gratitude. So thankful that I have so many people in my corner praying for me, loving on my family,  and sending encouragement in various shapes and forms. 

Nervous - how much pain will I be in, will I have complications like last time, have I put everything in place for my kids, and how hard will this really be. 

Thank you for all your love and support!