Big Progress

Post-Op Day 4
Two big events for today! I went back to Dr. Doezie's office so his assistant could remove the pain pump that was still attached to me when I left the hospital, and I managed a walk around the block. Also, I've been able to cut back a little bit on the other pain medication I've been taking - instead of taking 2 Percocet per dose, I find I'm OK with just 1. I'm also on muscle relaxers, because it's the incisions in the chest wall muscles and the process of stretching out those muscles to eventually accommodate an implant which causes the most discomfort (if I understand correctly what the doctors were telling me before surgery).

When I left the hospital I had 4 tubes coming out of my chest. The ones which were removed today were two very small ones, which were attached to some mysterious automatic pain relief delivery system. The tubes fed into a bulb-like object, which was in a bag that I had to carry about with me (usually draped around my neck when I moved about) and it was administering a local anesthetic to where my breasts used to be, keeping that area feeling numb.

I still have 2 tubes in my chest, for what are called Jackson Pratt drains. These are connected to bulbs which work with gentle suction to draw out body fluids such as blood and lymph from the surgery site, and they have to stay in place until the drainage falls below a certain level - I'm told usually 7-10 days. When I was in the hospital the nurses were emptying the drains every 4 hours or so - now Pete has the job of doing it twice a day.

After surgery, a huge Ace bandage had been wrapped around my chest, applying compression to the wounds, and it had become very uncomfortable: itching, and digging into the underside of my arm where the velcro ends overlapped. I was very happy to be able to leave the doctor's office without that on! Of course, that also means that I had my first look at what my chest looks like - it's a bit Frankenstein-ish, but that's to be expected. The important thing is that the incisions look like they are healing well.

What I am wearing is a special post-mastectomy camisole. I first heard about these from another breast cancer patient I had been corresponding with. Everything you wear after this type of surgery needs to be either button-up or step-into, because you can't raise your arms to pull even a loose-fitting t-shirt over your head. So I have one camisole which is a step-into, and the other zips-up. They have little pockets on the inside to hold the Jackson-Pratt drains, which is a convenient and comfortable way to deal with them. The drain bulbs can also be safety-pinned to whatever you are wearing. In the hospital, for example, they were pinned to the elegant, breezy hospital gown I wore, but in spite of the "safety" aspect, I managed to stab myself with the pin. It turns out that a good friend of a good friend is a rep for one of the companies which makes these camisoles, Amoena - so thank you VERY much, Daria, for going out of your way to get these to me - they feel great.

My second milestone for the day was taking a walk around the block with Martha and her exceptional labrador retriever, Chester. Chester is getting on in years, and is easily distracted from the w-a-l-k-i-n-g aspect of the outing, so I could just about keep up with him.