6 Days Post Mastectomy

So I went in at 7:00am on Friday July 29th for the mastectomy.  I was terrified to say the least.  There was a lot of anxiety, a lot of anger, a lot of tears and everything else in between.  I didn't balk on it, so my journey is continuing.

I was finally taken back to surgery after have a radioactive dye shot into my right nipple and massaged in to take pictures of where lymph nodes were.  This was rather interesting and educational so I knew what nodes Dr. Jacobs would be taking out.  After that I was wheeled back to my pre-op room to wait on Dr. Mess to arrive and have me sign all of the day of surgery consent forms.

My anesthesiologist came out to get me and gave me a kick ass cocktail that had me pretty out of it before they could truly knock me out in the OR.  I only slightly remember pieces of words that everyone was saying before I was completely under.

I came out of surgery screaming bloody murder and begging for them to drug me as much as possible because the pain was too much to handle.  Whatever they happened to give me worked pretty well as I slept and didn't feel much of anything.

My day was filled with nurses coming in and out to check my vitals, dose me with more Morphine, ask me how I was feeling and to empty my drain tubes.  Sleep wasn't too good that night, and it was okay for the most part.

The next day Dr. Mess came in and said that with as good as I looked and how chipper I appeared, I could go home after lunch.  GOOD DEAL!!  Dr. Jacobs came in a bit later and said about the same as Dr. Mess.  Not long after that I found myself headed home.

I set up camp for a couple of days on the couch so that I could sleep and not hurt any part of myself.  That worked, but I wasn't able to sleep next to Andy which made me a bit restless.  Finally on Tuesday night I was able to be propped up and sleep in my own bed while holding my husband's hand.  Sleep was peaceful.

Today I went to see Dr. Mess.  I had the bandages removed and cried.  I guess seeing them bandaged up versus without the bandages is two entirely different things.  It was highly emotional.  I also had the pleasure of having the drain tubes removed.  It was not nearly as horrific as I have read all over the internet.

Now all I have to do is go back on Monday for Dr. Mess to check me again, and if all is well, I may, just may get my first saline injection.  Then on Tuesday I get to see Miss Vickie and Dr. Jacobs so they can see how I am and hopefully give me the results of the pathology report of the lymph nodes that were taken out.

For now though, I am going to take my meds and try to get some sleep.  Thank you all for the continued prayers, thoughts and blessings.  They mean more to me than most of you know.  Much love to all of you while you are loving me through this.