One drain out, one to go...

After having the drains in for five days, the first one was pulled out today! Over the last 48 hours , I have had two consecutive days where one of my drains had measured below 30mL (in fact it was 25mL and 14mL). These drains are a big pain in the butt so I was over the moon thinking of having at least one drain removed. The second drain is getting closer but it's not there yet. The only hitch is that I have heard from a number of people how painful it can be to have them removed. Six inches of tubing has to be pulled out from inside me. With five days having gone by since my mastectomy, there is a chance that my body has had a chance of growing around the tube. I decided to take a painkiller (or two) 40 minutes prior to the removal. I was not leaving the pain to chance. No sirree Bob! As it turns out, I could feel it but there was no pain. I'm looking forward to the second drain coming out. Hopefully it will be sooner than later...

More home care...

My home care nurse came to visit me 24 hours after I left the hospital. She would continue to visit me over the next couple weeks every day. I received 24 staples over almost an eight inch incision spanning across what was my right breast, all the way under my right arm where my lymph nodes were. Each day the nurse would change the dressing over the staples, cleaning it as well. I also had two drains inserted into me. I can best describe them as something that looks like a hand grenade (it literally fills the full palm of my hand. About two feet of tubing is attached to this football-shaped ball and another six inches of tubing is inside me. The tubing inside me is flatter and has tiny holes all over it so fluids can get into the tube and travel down to the grenade-like object that gathers all the fluid.  Initially, it's mainly thicker blood but it slowly becomes thinner and lighter, pulling in some fatty tissue (I know - yuck!). The drains cannot completely fill and they need to be drained on a regular basis at the beginning. The first day, a crazy amount of fluid was drained - half a litre from one drain! The other drain was more of a typical amount - about 180mL. A drain will be taken out once it reaches a total of 30mL for two consecutive days. Now I wait...

Mastectomy completed...check...

Step two of this journey has been completed. I was at the hospital for eight in the morning. The whole process before the actual operation dragged on. I finally went into the operating room at just past ten in the morning - and they told me I was the priority that day. Yikes - when you are nervous, waiting around is not the best thing for you. Regardless, I had kept myself so busy right up until the night before surgery and then the morning of, that I really hadn't had too much time to even think about the mastectomy.  When the nurse came to get me and I said good-bye to my husband, I finally got a little nervous. The nurse was great. Actually, all the nurses in the O.R. were awesome.  They all told me that if they were getting a mastectomy, this was the surgeon they would want. Now normally I would think that they were just saying that to make me feel good but when you have heard that as often as I had to this point, I really believed that I was in great hands. The nurse that was mainly talking with me was so kind and compassionate. She kept rubbing my forehead or cheek - but not in an annoying way. It was very motherly - just who everyone wants at a time like that.  When I was laying on the table and just before they put the mask on me, I finally let a couple tears trickle down my cheeks. The nurse was so sweet. She would wipe the tears away for me with the corner of a very soft and warm blanket. Then I went to sleep. I woke up in some discomfort in a strange room where I continued to nod in and out. I was there for about two hours. They finally wheeled me to the recovery room where I continued to nod off. My husband and mother were able to come in and see me there though. All was right in the world. I was there for another couple hours and then I finally got to go home. Home sweet home. As I write this blog entry, I realize that it has been just over 24 hours since my surgery. I was very groggy when I got home yesterday and went to bed just after seven in the evening. My sweet husband emptied my drains for me. For those that don't know what that is,  I have two tubes running out of my body where I had my mastectomy. Attached to the end of these tubes are plastic/rubber bulbs that look like hand grenades. They are a good size in that they fill your whole hand. As they begin to fill up, they need to be emptied and the fluid needs to be measured.  My husband was doing this almost every three hours until about five in the morning. We were finally able to go about five hours before we needed to empty them and I am now at seven hours later and just about set to empty the drains again. I am feeling quite well today (my Mom and Dad even said that I was chipper). I have some pain and discomfort but I it isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I am able to move my arm quite freely except for lifting it up. Don't get me wrong, I am moving it slowly but I already have good range. My rib cage is very tender but I am up and trying to move around. The more movement I can get, the better off I will be in recovering.  I should be in quite a bit of discomfort for three days and not bad by a week. By the end of two weeks I should feel pretty good and by the end of three weeks, I should be healed. In the end, I think chemo is worse than the mastectomy...

Pre-op completed...

Yuck! More darn blood work! And the nurse had to check my weight, again. In actuality, the pre-op appointment is nothing (once you get past the blood work and the weight measurement!). It's a double check on the information they have. The nurse had to double check the consent for surgery and for the consent to be put under. We went over any medications I may be on to see if they would interfere with the surgery (no worries there). The nurse reminded me no alcohol 24 hours before surgery (really? - I want a glass of wine the night before), no eating or drinking anything after midnight, no chewing gum for 24 hours before, nothing (even water) the day of surgery. I need to make sure I go to the hospital in loose, comfortable fitting clothing and my sweatshirt needs to be a zip-up as I won't be able to lift my arm. I need to be sure to have someone available at the hospital waiting so they can drive me home (duh!). I also have to leave all jewelry and personal possessions at home, except for my health card. Next up, mastectomy...

The date is set...

I met with my surgeon on Friday. The date for my mastectomy has been set for Wednesday, April 22nd, 2015.  10 days away.  Yikes! The surgery itself is about one and a half to two hours in length. From there I go to the recovery room for another two hours and then a final room where I will be for approximately another two hours. It is there that I will be picked up to go home. That's right! A mastectomy is day surgery! In and out! Who knew? Take a whole body part from me and I go in at 8:30am and leave that afternoon. I couldn't believe it. I also know that I will feel sore for about three days and be not too bad by the end of a week. After two weeks I will feel pretty good and after three weeks I should be fully recovered. Wow! I have a pre-op appointment in four days where they will go over all the do's and dont's and review the procedure and times with me one more time. With my mastectomy, the doctor is taking all of my lymph nodes on the right side. This probably scares me more than anything because I have a chance then of developing lymphedema as a result of removing all the lymph nodes. As it was explained to me lymph nodes help your blood flow through your body kind of like a filter system. When all the lymph nodes are removed from one area, that area may not work properly. Lymphedema happens when the blood flow is not working properly. I have a 25% chance of this occurring. If I do end up having lymphedema, my right arm - including my hands and fingers (it is the lymph nodes on the right side that are being removed) will swell regularly (oh no, I love all of my rings and bracelets), it is suggested that I avoid lifting anything more than fifteen pounds with my right arm, I will have to go for and learn to do my own physiotherapy on my right arm, and if I fly anywhere, I will have to wear a compression bandage on my arm (probably something I should do anyway even if I don't develop lymphedema). Something I have going for me is that I am younger and in fairly good shape. That will hopefully help my odds of NOT developing lymphedema. The date is set. Only time will tell...

Just like a Georgia peach...

I'm getting some peach fuzz back on my bald melon! I am so excited! I noticed it two days ago when I looked in the mirror. I saw one side of my head glisten slightly. I had a closer look and I mean a close look at my head. You can't see it from more than a foot away and you really have to look closely even when you are actually looking for it. The hair is so super fine and so golden that you really have to look closely and at the right angle if you are attempting to find it. I'm almost obsessed with it. I run my hand over my head just so I can feel the tiny fine hairs. It doesn't quite feel the same like if you were to run your hand over a head that has been shaved down. It's so much softer and so much finer. I look in the mirror to see where it is starting to grow (or where I can find it growing). I can now see it everywhere - the sides, top, and my hairline around my forehead. Don't get me wrong, it will be a long time before I go around in public without a hat of some sort or without my wig but it feels so awesome to have a little bit of hair growing back. I was told that I would actually start to notice real hair (not peach fuzz) growing back about a month after my last chemo treatment (March 24th, 2015). Speaking of hair, I still have most of my eyelashes and most, well maybe half as much of my eyebrows. They are definitely thinner but they are still there. I am really hoping the most of the rest of my eyelashes and eyebrows hang in there. I consider myself lucky to have any remaining as I was told I would more than likely lose them completely. If I do happen to lose my eyelashes or eyebrows, I should have them back within seven to eight weeks.  Here's to hoping they last and not much more falls out, and to my hair starting to grow back. I'm all smiles...