Saturday, July 27, 2013

You Know You Want to See Them

Okay people. Obviously I am having trouble getting my updates finished. Part 2 and Part 3 are still in the plan, but I thought I'd just sign on to say hello and let you know I'm alive, though bodily rearranged.

I was in surgery for 12.5 hours on July 3rd. I came home from the hospital on July 8th with three fluid drains protruding from my body. People: appreciate the fact that you live drain-free. I sure do. Three weeks with those babies was all it took for me to thank my lucky stars each day that tubes are no longer stitched into me. I am, however, still required to wear an abdominal binder 24/7 (except to shower). I have four (4!) more days of that and then I can start taking it off at night to sleep. I'll still have to wear it during the day for one more month. WO THE ITCH!!

Something about the way I was positioned during surgery made me lose feeling in my left hand. Feeling has now returned to three fingers and most of my palm, but my thumb and forefinger feel like cat tongue. And you'll recall I'm familiar with the feeling of cat tongue because my cat is my hairdresser.

She's got her work cut out for her because my hair is about 3/4 of an inch long now. It resembles salt-and-pepper peach fuzz, as do my eyebrows. Happily, my eyelashes are coming back in, too. But that concludes the list of desirable regrowth. Leg hair, chin whiskers and pubuscusness are also bravely fighting their way back. What about underarm hair, you ask? That's an odd case. My mastectomy incisions end right in the center of my underarms and there's still a lot of recovery going on up in there. I do NOT look forward to the need for shaving over my scars. At the moment, it wouldn't matter if the time was ripe for a pit shave anyway, because I can't lift my arm high enough to pull it off.

My recovery has been bumpy, but I'm currently in a fairly good state. Bowel trouble plagues me, but there's nothing new about that. I also have a large area of my right breast and two small areas of my left breast that have died. It's called necrosis. The blood supply has not been sufficient to keep all the tissue alive. The skin is gray there and the areas are very hard. It is uncomfortable, but not painful. I'm told it is not an emergency. It will be dealt with during the revision process. My next appointment with the plastic surgeon is in mid August.

Another difficulty was that suction was left on during one of my drain extractions (my own fault) and it made my hip and waist and ab muscles on the left side excruciatingly sore for about four days. I actually had trouble walking, often felt faint, and even had a day of shock and chills because of it. Fortunately, that too has resolved, and I am moderately up-and-at-em.

This is in no small part due to the fact that I have had MUCH opportunity for rest and relaxation. Major kudos are in order for those who have cared for--and are still caring for--my children. At no point this month have I had all three of my children home at once. Lori, Stacy, Jill, Jamie, Marissa, Kacie & Jeff, Jon & Shellie, Tracy . . . THANK YOU!

And for a final ta-dah, I'll announce the good news. I am without detectable cancer in my body. I have many thoughts and feelings about this to hash out in a different post, but for now suffice it to say I am grateful. Only five and a half months have passed since the day I was diagnosed with breast cancer. To go from such grave news to such great news in so little a time is a blessing for which I cannot account. My journey is far from over; multiple revision procedures and nine more months of Herceptin infusions are ahead, but I'm very pleased to have weathered the "hard part" as well as I have.

My other posts will be rife with photos, but here let me just share Sophie's version of what my new, much-smaller-than-before breasts look like (I know you're dying to see them).

We call them my FRANKENBOOBS.

Ta-ta!

2 comments:

  1. Glad to hear the recovery is thus far a success. The road ahead may not be easy but at least you are now Cancer free. YEAH. Keep up the positive fun attitude. YOU R great. Take care :)
    Amy Green Holtsberry

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  2. I am so glad to hear everything is going well. We sure miss you guys and all our chico family! You are in our prayers and thoughts!

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