Step 1

Hey guys – didn’t mean to go MIA since my last post, which was over a week ago now, but the last week came and went way to fast.  Before we went to sleep last Wednesday I checked my Instagram and the first thing I saw was “God has it all under control; Go to sleep”, so that is exactly what I did… and I had the best night sleep.

We woke up at 4:30 and headed to the hospital at 5:00AM.  If any of you have checked in for surgery at Parkridge you will know what I am talking about but I felt like Stephen and I were checking in at a “Couples Retreat”.  The building was lit up like a beacon at night and the open atrium of the lobby and grand piano in the waiting room reminded me of a vacation destination.  Upon check in, we and three other couples were escorted to the second floor surgery waiting room.  I was giddy to say the least.  Not sure what Stephen was thinking.  Sara Ross was called and back we went. I had my pregnancy test done (it was negative), changed into my sexy gown and socks and crawled into a hospital bed.  I was injected with something equivalent to valium and I honestly don’t remember much after that.  Stephen and my mom told me I kept talking and for what I have learned I made a fool out of myself.  I was in surgery for 4 hours and then in recovery for about 2 hours as they were trying to get my pain under control (thank goodness they did).  I was wheeled into my room around 2 and Stephen and my Mom were then able to come see me.  Once of the first things they noticed was I apparently busted my lip open at some point during recovery.  Either I smacked myself in the face while waking up, or I involuntarily bit the inside of my lip.  To anyone considering a surgery, I would not recommend doing either during recovery.  I slept a lot the day of my surgery but I was already up and walking to the bathroom by the evening :) Thursday was more of the same, slept, took a lap or two around my floor, ate a little, and got medicine; the one refreshing break to the sleep cycle was when the hospital spa staff came in to give me my complementary facial, and hand/foot massage.  Still not sure how complementary it was, but I thank my insurance company for it later.  My plastic surgeon stopped by Thursday afternoon and opened up my zip up bra and gauze and showed Stephen and my mom my chest.  I was laying there and I remember everyone made the comment that they looked the exact same!  I came out of surgery with 120 cc of saline in each expander so I’m roughly the size I was before I went into surgery. I’m not sure that I believe them but I appreciate their caring support :).  Friday was more of the same, sleep, meds, and waiting for the hospital staff to let us know when we could go home.  We were located in the post-delivery section of the hospital so there were several new mothers around us.  On one of our walks, one of the new mothers commented on how skinny my ankles looked!  I assured her that I had not just given birth and she breathed a very heavy sigh of relief.  Around noon the doctors/nurses came in and finally told us we were free to go!  So I slid into the back seat of my car (driving miss daisy-style) so that I did not have to buckle my seat belt and Stephen drove me home, doing his very best to miss every pothole in Columbia (you know that’s hard).   

My hubby says that I have thanked a lot of people in my blog so far but I want to thank an additional 2 very important people during this whole journey.  Dr. Metropol (my general sugergeon who did the mastectomy) and Dr. Carlin (who started the expanders and will do the reconstruction).  Through their guidance and expertise, I am one step closer to completing the journey!

 

Lets do this!