Days 1 & 2

Surgery Day

After all the waiting, surgery day has finally came and gone! On the morning of surgery, I had to be there at 8am, and I was the first surgery of the day. My fiance drove me to the plastic surgeon's office, and we came in a side entrance to the surgery center. One thing I really like about my surgeon is that he has two surgical suites in his actual office so I wasn't in the hospital at all during my surgery.I love that because I was never in the hospital operating room with all the extra germs and risk of infection that can come with that. Since he uses his own operating rooms, my surgeon has never had anyone with a breast infection since he's been doing surgeries, which was a great statistic to have! I was excited, and nervous the morning of, but the nurses assured me that there was nothing to be worried about and they would be taking great care of me. Right at 8am, the nurse came and got my fiance and I from the waiting room. We went back to a patient room where I was asked again for safety about any allergies, etc. After all the questions, they ask you to get fully undressed and change into a gown, hair cap, and some nice itchy warm socks with grippers on the bottom. They had me get fully undressed because since the surgery was over three hours they used a catheter inserted after I was under anesthesia to make sure you don't have any accidents in the OR..which I appreciated! :) They also insert a breathing tube which they also did after I was asleep. After I was dressed in my gown, they sent my fiance off to the waiting room, and I went right to the OR to be marked for surgery. My doctor came in after the anesthesiologist had my IV in my hand, and just drew on my breasts with a green sharpie marker. The whole process was so fast, and after I was marked he asked if I had any final questions before they got started. I didn't, so the anesthesiologist and nurse got me situated on the operating table, and I saw the anesthesiologist inject something into my IV that he said would make me feel a little wacky. That was the last thing I remember anyone saying, and the last thing I remember was staring at the handle on the lights that hang on the ceiling above the operating table. Next thing I knew I was waking up laying in a bed in recovery! I wasn't in any pain, just uncomfortable, and I felt like I needed to hold my breasts. They weren't hurting, just sore. I remember stretching and pulling on the little thing they stick on your finger to keep track of your pulse. I realized I was doing this in my semi-conscious state and kept apologizing to the nurse haha. My parents came back to see me, and I remember seeing both of them, and the nurse telling them that I did great and they got everything proportionate, etc. and giving them care instructions for the drains they put in for swelling. My fiance, then grandmother, and other grandmother took turns coming back to see me. As I woke up even more, I asked if I could get up and go to the bathroom. I really felt like I'd be just fine to get up and go, and I was. I was nervous about peeing after the catheter, but it didn't hurt any worse than peeing with a UTI, and it only hurt a little that very first time, so that wasn't bad at all. I put my normal clothes back on with the nurse's help after I used the bathroom, and she got me into a wheelchair. It seemed like just a few minutes later they were wheeling me out to the car to head home about 2:50 that afternoon. I don't remember much at all of the car ride home, I was still pretty loopy from the anesthesia at that point. I slept some when I first got home, and took a pain pill so that I wouldn't be in any pain once the anesthesia wore off. I was really worried about being nauseous after surgery from the anesthesia too, but the anesthesiologist assured me that he was going to give me three different types of anti nausea medication, so I was never once sick and I am so thankful for that!! I was awake and talking at home, visiting with my family, and was really hungry. The first day my instructions were to just have clear liquids, and maybe some soup, etc. if I felt up to it.. Well, I started out with a pudding cup, then had a grilled cheese quesadilla, then had another a little while later, then ate two hot dogs for dinner! I really couldn't get over how normal I felt! I was up and walking around, not really sore at all since I was taking my pain medicines. My finance works third shift, so my mom spent the night to take care of me, and my dad came over after he got off from his second shift job. I didn't need really much help even though I was so glad she was able to stay with me. My mom, dad, and I watched a few movies and just hung out really, I was feeling good! I mean I seriously remember being more drowsy/ feeling worse after having a filling at the dentist than after this major surgery! I was going to the bathroom and getting up/ down out of the recliner by myself except when I had been sleeping and was really scooted back into the recliner, I needed their help then.

Day 2
Day two I could tell I was beginning to swell and have a lot more soreness than the first day. Still not in any pain, It just felt like it does when you work out really hard and your muscles are sore. My actual breasts weren't really sore either, just my sides where they did liposuction to remove additional breast tissue. I was up and walking around, even stepped out into the yard to get some fresh air and see my animals. I went from taking a pain pill every four hours to taking one every 8 hours because I just didn't feel like I really needed it that often. I slept off an on, and had a sub from subway for lunch. My dad and brother came to visit, as well as my future MIL. It stormed really bad in the afternoon, so I used that time to nap and watch some TV. That evening, my grandma brought over a pizza, and we had that for dinner. My sides were starting to show some bruising, and I'm really nervous about having my drains taken out and seeing myself without bandages for the first time. I bruise fairly easily, so I'm sure that's going to be a scary sight!