Freedom!
Big day. I finally got my drains removed this morning. I'm so glad to have them gone that I won't even complain that it hurt when she took them out. I've been wearing those stupid drains in my stupid purse for so long, that when I got in the car to leave the doctors office, I forgot to take my purse off like a normal human. So very, very glad to be free of the drains.
After the drains, I also got my first expansion. I've heard horror stories about what this feels like when the muscle is stretched, but right now I'm pleasantly surprised with the low level of discomfort. My expanders will hold 650 cc, I think, and she put 240 cc in the left one and 180 cc in the right one during surgery. Today I got another 120 cc on each side. That's two syringes full. Today will probably be the only time I can get that much, since it'll get more difficult (read: painful) the more it's stretched, so after today I'll probably only get one syringe-full on each side. She said she'd leave it up to me if I want to expand every week or every other week. Given the way I feel right now, I'm leaning toward every week, at least in the beginning.
What I didn't understand before today is that the expanders are placed much higher on your chest than your actual breasts. I thought they would be expanding in the location where my breasts would be once we get to the implants. Not so much. They're stretching the muscle to hold the implant, and apparently that needs to happen higher up on the chest. Imagine signing up for nose reconstruction, thinking that they were going to "grow" your new nose in the place where the old one had been, only to find out they were actually going to grow it in the middle of your forehead and then shift things around during the final surgery. Now that you have no nose, you're not really in a position to argue.
But the highlight of my day had to be traumatizing two high school students by exposing them to all of this medical drama. Today was "Bring Your Sons & Daughters To Work Day." I saw the two girls in the waiting room. When my doctor came in, she explained that while these two were not her children, she'd been asked to let them trail her for the day since they both want to be doctors and would I mind if they come in. I've been looked at by so many people at this point, that I really don't care. I imagine my chest is pretty shocking to the uninitiated, and there were some fairly large needles involved. The way these two were clinging to the back wall, I think I've cured them of their desire to be a doctor.
After the drains, I also got my first expansion. I've heard horror stories about what this feels like when the muscle is stretched, but right now I'm pleasantly surprised with the low level of discomfort. My expanders will hold 650 cc, I think, and she put 240 cc in the left one and 180 cc in the right one during surgery. Today I got another 120 cc on each side. That's two syringes full. Today will probably be the only time I can get that much, since it'll get more difficult (read: painful) the more it's stretched, so after today I'll probably only get one syringe-full on each side. She said she'd leave it up to me if I want to expand every week or every other week. Given the way I feel right now, I'm leaning toward every week, at least in the beginning.
What I didn't understand before today is that the expanders are placed much higher on your chest than your actual breasts. I thought they would be expanding in the location where my breasts would be once we get to the implants. Not so much. They're stretching the muscle to hold the implant, and apparently that needs to happen higher up on the chest. Imagine signing up for nose reconstruction, thinking that they were going to "grow" your new nose in the place where the old one had been, only to find out they were actually going to grow it in the middle of your forehead and then shift things around during the final surgery. Now that you have no nose, you're not really in a position to argue.
But the highlight of my day had to be traumatizing two high school students by exposing them to all of this medical drama. Today was "Bring Your Sons & Daughters To Work Day." I saw the two girls in the waiting room. When my doctor came in, she explained that while these two were not her children, she'd been asked to let them trail her for the day since they both want to be doctors and would I mind if they come in. I've been looked at by so many people at this point, that I really don't care. I imagine my chest is pretty shocking to the uninitiated, and there were some fairly large needles involved. The way these two were clinging to the back wall, I think I've cured them of their desire to be a doctor.
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