Post-Surgery Update

I think I’m recovering pretty nicely. The worst part about surgery is the damn ITCHING.

Itching around the drain area. Itching from the corset/binder I have to wear. Itching from the dry skin you get during Minnesota winters made worse from chemo. Taking oxycodone probably doesn’t help but I’m taking it less often than I thought. The lidocaine injections they gave me in my chest have helped dull the pain significantly.

The weird part is now those lidocaine injections are becoming less numb and more tingly and that makes for more itching, of course. Still, not a ton of pain. Mostly discomfort from being bound and limited arm range of movement.

Part of mastectomy recovery is caring for the drains. I had one tube on each side. At least twice a day, you empty the bulbs into a measuring cup and record the fluid levels. The tubes themselves are rubbery; you have to squeeze them from the body into the bulb, making sure it doesn’t get clogged. Because of blood being present, the fluid looks mostly red but that’s normal.

Before being removed, each side should drain less than 30mls per day for at least two days. The right side drained less from the beginning, so that got removed first. Neither Lindsay nor I were prepared for just how much tubing was inside my body. The nurse explained that there was going to be about an inch of tubing inside that would get pulled but NOPE, A FOOT. A fucking foot. And let me tell you, I could feel it as it was being pulled out. In my armpit. So this has been my least favorite thing of all treatment.

The left side was well on its way to being removed, but I just kept thinking about how it felt inside so I asked Lindsay remove the other side a little early. The risk is fluid build-up but I can’t feel nauseous for the next few hours about how much tubing I’m going to feel.

We knew what to expect this time so it was a little easier. I could feel it but not as distinctly. It was probably as long as the right side, maybe even longer. It didn’t make almost pass out that time.

And now it’s done!

Surgery Story Correction

So Lindsay read my surgery blog post and was like, yeah that’s not quite what happened. ???? This is the beauty of anesthesia. I don’t remember waking up in the “downstairs” recovery room, but Linds said that I hopped off the surgical cart into the hospital room bed, joking with the nurses. I remember none of this. Then Lindsay was the one who got to tell me they got all the cancer but I really only remember the surgeon telling me later. ????

Follow-Up Appointments

Next up are a bunch of follow-up appointments! We’ll head down Thursday evening for three Friday appointments – a survivor’s clinic (I’m a survivor!), the post-op, and then the radiation oncologist to set my radiation schedule. I’m already researching restaurants like I haven’t done this before. ????