Tag: reconstruction

Under Construction

flintnhoney

Okay friends, I had a diep flap procedure done about a week ago.   If you have no idea what that is click the link.  In a nutshell, the surgeon cuts out a chunk of my stomach and uses it to make two breasts, then cinches up my stomach, slaps in some drains, and takes a lunch break. Easy peasy! (It was like a 6 ½ hour surgery)

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I’m sorry I have no videos of hilarious rants while drugged up, apparently, I stay fairly coherent until I’m fully under.  I am not going to lie after fasting the night prior, when I was informed after my surgery that I couldn’t have any real food, I totally cried.

nenehungryfreaking hungry

Once again, my mom spent Mother’s Day caring for her grown child.  Y’all I am so lucky to have her. She swooped in and took care of everything.  Poor Yuri, I won’t be able to lift her for at least 6 weeks, so she is a little peeved with me.  I thankfully got to go home from the hospital on Mother’s Day, and could enjoy sharing the holiday with my family.

miss piggy surgery

With new lady lumps on my chest and a hip to hip suture, moving and walking are… interesting.  I can’t lie completely flat or stand straight up so I look a little like the Hunchback of Notre Dame.  After a few days of walking hunched over my back muscles were screaming for sanctuary.  I’ve got four drains hanging from me, drains are the worst. The. Worst. I am healing fine as far as I can tell.  I am already stir crazy and it is hard to be limited in my movements.

I can’t really get the full picture, since there is still swelling and lots of bandages.  Overall, I am pleased, I didn’t have a serious pooch so they’re probably the smallest they’ve ever been.  It’s strange that even after having breasts for half my life, it seems so odd to have them now.   I will have a follow up on Tuesday to see how everything is going and hopefully be cleared to do a little more.

P.S. Check out the new “Shop” tab.

(There are no before and after pictures, sorry to disappoint. I can’t have all my business out there on the internets.)

May Day

flintnhoney

Disclosure: Links contain pictures

 

Y’all I have been on the struggle bus for about the last month and a half.   Where to begin?  So… I have been worrying, analyzing, debating, and overanalyzing my reconstruction options for several months. I’ve gone back and forth, no reconstruction at all, DIEP flap with implants, DIEP flap without implants, or BRAVA method.

indecisive

Then my sweet dog Zhoe passed right before Easter.  Insert a moment of silence here for my fur baby.  I didn’t handle that as nobly as I’d like to think I would have.  There was snot and wailing, if I would have had access to ashes, I would have poured them on my head and torn my clothes and lamented in the streets.

weeping

Meanwhile, I’ve been dealing with resigning from my job.  It had turned into a situation that just didn’t make sense economically, and I felt like there was a spiritual nudge to let it go. Of course, I drug my feet, because quitting one’s job without a backup is nonsense.  I could not deny however, the many indicators that kept popping up confirming it was time to move on.

Leaving work

Fatigue, I have been battling with this for a while.  I come home from work, with barely enough energy to stand to make dinner for the family.  The tiredness has been the most daunting.  There is so much I want to do, but sometimes physically, it’s just not doable.  Then when my stubbornness kicks in and I push through (like power washing my parents pool deck out of vain refusal to admit I was dying) I pay for it big time.

So, we’ve got the death of my dog, complicated grown up type life decisions needing to be made, medical bills, a very busy time of year in general, my oncologist is moving away, trying to figure out my life, nutritional changes to help fend off the fatigue, oh and my basic maternal and spousal duties.

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Frankly, I’m not excelling at anything right now, life is not like college, where C’s get degrees.  The HOA notices have rolled in because our poor yard looks like it’s from an abandoned district in the Hunger Games.  I tried the whole, “your kids won’t remember the cleanliness of your house but the memories” approach and I literally have lost Micah in her room, haven’t seen the surface of my dining room table in weeks, and Owen has worn a matched pair of socks a whopping three times this year.  All the while I keep hearing, “be still”.

Still is not my thing, there’s always something to be done, time should be used wisely, why put off tomorrow what can be done today etc.  Be still? Have you seen this living room?  If there was a market for weeds, I could harvest our front yard and be set for life.   Somewhere back in the chaos, I chose a reconstruction route, and I am reminded by the doctor’s office, “remember there will be a few weeks of down time, use this time to rest (and because they have me figured out) you know, like be still while you’re healing”.

Hmmph.

 

I will be working on listening while I am confined to my bed over the next couple of weeks, and looking forward to realizing the plans for my family and me.  Surgery is May 11th and prayers for an easy successful surgery and recovery are always appreciated.