a long, long time ago, when my husband and i were younger, we went back pack camping. i had an old back pack, that was so uncomfortable. it hit the small of my back with every step that i took, and after a while i began to ask- like a little child on a long road trip would ask - how far is it to our camping site? jeff would reply," oh, it is just a farsee away. see those trees up ahead? just a little past that." as you might imagine, this " farsee" kept moving forward a little- every time that i asked.
today, i went back to my plastic surgeon. i wore one of the button up blouses that i usually wear to work, just to see how things look now. i asked my husband's opinion, and ever the diplomat, he said you look just great, sweetheart. the nurse thought that i looked fine,too. the blouse fit well, without that little gap about the third or fourth button down. most of the women reading this blog will know exactly what i am talking about. i really hate trying on a blouse and it fits everywhere except that one button that has a gap large enough to give someone a peek at your bra. the surgeon said, well, we could add some saline to give more " forward projection", but if you are o.k. with things, we will just stop. HOORAY!!! no more saline filled needles in my chest. my chest is still tight, and i feel phantom breast pain( this is so weird) on occasion, but just knowing the " saline stops here" makes me happy.
i thought that i would be having my last surgery, to remove the temporary saline inserts, and insert the permanent silicone implants, in october. the surgeon sort of hinted at that time frame. turns out, it will not be in october, but will be in november. the surgeon said that i needed more time for my blood work to come back up to " normal" as well as more recovery time from other side effects of the chemotherapy. the oncologist filled out my paperwork on my medical leave of absence. part of it was a paid leave, which i really appreciated, but i am now on unpaid leave. when i looked at the paperwork, and this was before i started the chemo, i almost laughed at his end date. i told jeff, " look, sweetie, he put down that i needed to be out until the end of december! how funny. i know i can go back before then!". famous last words, as they say. now i know that i will indeed need this much time off. the receptionist told me that it generally takes about 2 weeks to schedule the last surgery . after my visit on october 26th. if all goes well, it will probably be the second week of november before i will be able to have the permanent implants inserted. also, the surgeon said that it takes about one or two weeks to recover from this surgery. i will spare you the details of this surgery. it is same day surgery, though, so unless something happens, i will be going home the day of the surgery.
i did get some good news about the surgery, though. the plastic surgeon said, " your double mastectomies were a 10 on a scale of 1-10 as far as pain goes. this last surgery will be about a 3 or 4." yippee, i guess? i do handle pain way better than nausea, though. i know that i will have a little nausea from the anesthesia/pain medicine in the hospital, but it will be short lived , unlike the nausea with chemo. yes, i am still having nausea from the chemo. i thought that there was something wrong with me, but i have read that other women have this problem,too. at least it is not an all day event, like before. and some days of course, are better than others. so i am getting there. slowly making progress. my last surgery, as well as my recovery from chemo, is a "farsee". and i can almost see it now.
No comments:
Post a Comment