On December 26, the day after Christmas, Rich, Chase and I went back home. Thus started the post-surgery recuperation time. What made this surgery a little more challenging than the mastectomy is having incisions and work done on both my back and my chest. This first pic shows my back incision - which goes from my spine to the edge of my armpit. No, it's not suppose to be so red and irritated. It seems that my skin had an allergic reaction to the glue they used to close the incision. If it's not one thing, it's another! GEEZ! The rash spread quite a bit more than this, but I didn't get a pic of the rash at its worstest. Besides being tender and sore, my back was so insanely itchy from the rash, I wanted to get out a BBQ fork to scratch my back. Of course I didn't dare! Fantasized about it though. They use dissolving sutures on the inside. I hope those eventually dissolve OK. And notice the cute skin bulge near my armpit. After cutting out a football-shaped piece of flesh & pulling it together to glue it shut, it leaves a bulge my sister Barb told me is referred to as a "dog-ear". Well, I've been calling it my "mini-bonus-boob". I think mini-boob describes it more accurately than dog-ear does.
And then there's the drain tubes! Oh how I hate those stinking drain tubes! With two coming out of the mini-boob on my back, and one coming out under my right armpit, it pretty well eliminated any comfortable sitting or laying position. So sleep has been an interesting problem. Normally, on my left shoulder would be the one sleep position I could do, but, well, I seem to have injured my left shoulder somehow. I don't know how - all I know is the body is falling apart! So, even though I've never been a back sleeper, there I am every night, trying to lay on my back, on top of that tender, itchy incision, with the mini-boob, with 2 drain tubes hanging out! GEEZ II! The left shoulder got bad enough, I finally made an appointment with my Doctor. I have gone a few months with it hurting, thinking it would go away, thinking that I don't have the time or energy to deal with a hurt shoulder right now. But when you wake up each morning after a big surgery, open one eye, and think "OK, what's aching the most today, my breast, my back, or my tender armpit?" - and the answer ends up being: "My left shoulder aches the worst" - time to get it looked at. My Doctor gave me a cortisone shot in the shoulder joint (not quite as bad as I feared) and told me if it was going to work - it would work in about 24 hours. If it doesn't work, she wrote up a prescription for Physical Therapy. I do not want physical therapy. What a pain. So I definitely had high hopes for the shot.
Here's a pic of my "football". You can also see my mini-boob from a different angle. They took that piece of skin, along with a piece of muscle from my back, and burrowed it under the skin under my armpit. (See the lumpiness and puffiness of my armpit. So sore!) Then they cut away the original incision from my mastectomy, and replaced it with my new football of skin. Because of my radiation, the skin on my chest is darker and blotchier, so that football of very white skin from my back definitely stands out. Eventually the contrast will probably diminish, but the football might always be a little lighter in color. Weird, huh? (Who dreams this stuff up?) They attach the strip of muscle across my chest, giving my chest area a new blood supply coming from my back since that strip of muscle is still attached to my back. The strip is also used as a pocket to hold a small implant for some bulk. Of course, in my case, literally small, cause I wasn't too interested in going bigger than the other side. I'm so sick of being cut up & sewed up, I didn't want to look forward to a future surgery to augment the other girl so I could have a matching bigger set! Forgetabboudit! So lots of time spent wandering around, and sitting around. Recuperation can be pretty boring. Had Chase home for about a week though, so that was nice!
On December 26, the day after Christmas, Rich, Chase and I went back home. Thus started the post-surgery recuperation time. What made this surgery a little more challenging than the mastectomy is having incisions and work done on both my back and my chest. This first pic shows my back incision - which goes from my spine to the edge of my armpit. No, it's not suppose to be so red and irritated. It seems that my skin had an allergic reaction to the glue they used to close the incision. If it's not one thing, it's another! GEEZ! The rash spread quite a bit more than this, but I didn't get a pic of the rash at its worstest. Besides being tender and sore, my back was so insanely itchy from the rash, I wanted to get out a BBQ fork to scratch my back. Of course I didn't dare! Fantasized about it though. They use dissolving sutures on the inside. I hope those eventually dissolve OK. And notice the cute skin bulge near my armpit. After cutting out a football-shaped piece of flesh & pulling it together to glue it shut, it leaves a bulge my sister Barb told me is referred to as a "dog-ear". Well, I've been calling it my "mini-bonus-boob". I think mini-boob describes it more accurately than dog-ear does. 
And then there's the drain tubes! Oh how I hate those stinking drain tubes! With two coming out of the mini-boob on my back, and one coming out under my right armpit, it pretty well eliminated any comfortable sitting or laying position. So sleep has been an interesting problem. Normally, on my left shoulder would be the one sleep position I could do, but, well, I seem to have injured my left shoulder somehow. I don't know how - all I know is the body is falling apart! So, even though I've never been a back sleeper, there I am every night, trying to lay on my back, on top of that tender, itchy incision, with the mini-boob, with 2 drain tubes hanging out! GEEZ II! The left shoulder got bad enough, I finally made an appointment with my Doctor. I have gone a few months with it hurting, thinking it would go away, thinking that I don't have the time or energy to deal with a hurt shoulder right now. But when you wake up each morning after a big surgery, open one eye, and think "OK, what's aching the most today, my breast, my back, or my tender armpit?" - and the answer ends up being: "My left shoulder aches the worst" - time to get it looked at. My Doctor gave me a cortisone shot in the shoulder joint (not quite as bad as I feared) and told me if it was going to work - it would work in about 24 hours. If it doesn't work, she wrote up a prescription for Physical Therapy. I do not want physical therapy. What a pain. So I definitely had high hopes for the shot. 
Here's a pic of my "football". You can also see my mini-boob from a different angle. They took that piece of skin, along with a piece of muscle from my back, and burrowed it under the skin under my armpit. (See the lumpiness and puffiness of my armpit. So sore!) Then they cut away the original incision from my mastectomy, and replaced it with my new football of skin. Because of my radiation, the skin on my chest is darker and blotchier, so that football of very white skin from my back definitely stands out. Eventually the contrast will probably diminish, but the football might always be a little lighter in color. Weird, huh? (Who dreams this stuff up?) They attach the strip of muscle across my chest, giving my chest area a new blood supply coming from my back since that strip of muscle is still attached to my back. The strip is also used as a pocket to hold a small implant for some bulk. Of course, in my case, literally small, cause I wasn't too interested in going bigger than the other side. I'm so sick of being cut up & sewed up, I didn't want to look forward to a future surgery to augment the other girl so I could have a matching bigger set! Forgetabboudit! So lots of time spent wandering around, and sitting around. Recuperation can be pretty boring. Had Chase home for about a week though, so that was nice!
Oooh! So much to look forward to. :) Glad you are recuperating. I hate the evil and vile drain tubes, the world would be a better place without them!
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