I DID IT!

Yesterday --- Big Day!

Woke up yesterday worked up and nervous as it was time for my second follow up appointment since surgery.  Time for the next drain to get pulled, hopefully.  After last week's drain yanking experience I  was less than thrilled thinking about it happening again today, but at the same time, I was so ready to get rid of it.  After having the first one removed, I had come to realize what a giant pain in my ass (not literally, thank goodness...  hehehe) the drains really were!  Each drain was attached with plastic tubing to the area right on each breast bone and hung down about 2 feet each.   At the bottom of the long tubing is a bulb like container which collected fluid, and the occasional piece of flesh from inside my chest.... Yep, if you've read the rest of my blog, you probably know this makes me gag every single time I see it! I've come to realize I really am such a weenie!  Sleeping with this lovely contraption is also a giant pain in the ass.  Each bulb has to be emptied a few times a day into a cup, measured, and recorded.  The goal is less than 30 ml per day for more than 2 days.  My wonderful murse drew the short straw in the drain emptying game and took care of this like the trooper that he is! Lord knows I couldn't do it without throwing up.

So up and at 'em.  Sponge bath time first. This folks, I will NOT miss at all! Once I can full on shower, it's going to be amazing.  Again, things we take for granted!  With the game plan that had already been put into place after drain removal one last week, time to pop the Xanax and pain pills as we are heading out the door.

Check in and head back to the room.  Doc comes in and we chat a little bit.  Then time for the drain fun.  Lay down on the table and take the deep breath and blow out....  oh... oh... yay.  It barely hurt, hardly at all.  Yay me!  Kristy loves drugs!  hahaha!

I then sit back up and my bandages are off.  As you remember from the prior posts, I still had not been able to look underneath the bandages.  But as I sat there, fully exposed, I decided it was time.  I told my doc I wanted to look before she bandaged me back up.  So here we go, slowly I tilt my head down and squint my eyes and look.  Okay, so through squinted eyes it didn't mortify me.  So okay this time full on wide eyes open, let's do this.  Get it over with.  Slowly again, tilt my head down and look.  Well, yep, the girls are gone.  Instead there are two almost identical approximately 6 inch cuts where the girls used to be.  It's not terrible.  It didn't look like the God awful nightmare I thought it might.  It is definitely going to take A LOT of getting used to, but at least it didn't make me vomit or cry, so that's a start right??  

Bandages back on... tight... again.  Still feel like my whole chest might rip open if I breathe too heavy or sit up too straight.  This is normal.  Will take time.  Doc says no moving arms for 1 more week and then I can begin to start with some normal activity and exercises to get my arms working again.  Yay!  AND I can take off the massive compression and can put on a sports bra in a week also!  So excited for this!  One week, I can do this.  Something to look forward to!