TaTa... I mean TaDa!

I've been a bit hesitant to write the post, and if you know me, you know I'm not hesitant to say much. Honestly, now that I am feeling better, I am feeling a little more protective over my boobs.  They aren't trying to kill any more.  Yes, they are still a work in progress, but they are feeling more a part of me every day.  I am a little hesitant to share, but I am so grateful for the women who have mentored me on this path and if I'm able to mentor or help make someone else's journey a bit easier by offering some information, some humor and understanding then that would make my over sharing worth it.

Here's a bit of background: After my prophylactic mastectomy, performed by a breast surgeon, my plastic surgeon put in expanders.  These are basically empty shells (think like a small deflated ball) inserted in pocket he made in my chest muscle.  Every few weeks, I would visit with my plastic surgeon and he would use a syringe to gradually fill my expanders with a saline solution.  While I had a skin sparing mastectomy, my muscle still had to be stretched to create a large enough pocket to hold my permanent implant.  The expanders were quite uncomfortable and rock hard; I'd often compare it to having two cereal bowls in my chest.

On Wednesday, I went in for my exchange surgery. During this surgery, the plastic surgeon takes out the expanders and puts in permanent implants.  The doctor used the same scars he made during my initial mastectomy surgery.  I chose to go for silicone implants, as they look and feel the most natural and my doctor thought that would give me the best result.  My surgeon also took the opportunity to to shave an additional part off of my left chest muscle, as one of the margins to my tumor was very narrow.  The surgery took less than an hour and a half.  I checked in early in the morning and by noon was released and having lunch with Richard and my mom.  While any surgery is scary, this was one that I looked forward to... hopefully it marks the end of my reconstruction.

The pain with this surgery was much less than my mastectomy.  I took pain pills for about two days and ibuprofen one day after that.  While I must be cautious about my activity, I am able to do pretty much anything that doesn't involve heavy lifting.

I was instructed to wear this super tight sports bra for the next 3 weeks (quite a change for me since I haven't had to wear a bra for the last 7 months).  I cannot wait to take this beast bra off and try on some clothes.  Overall, I am happy with my results so far, although it can take some time for things to settle.  My right breast looks phenomenal, nicely shaped and perky.  My left breast still has some significant bruising and swelling, but that is to be expected because of the additional trauma.  I'm anxiously awaiting to see how things fall into place within the next few months.

I will draw the line at posting my pictures on my blog, however, if you are someone who is going through a breast cancer diagnosis and would like to see the progression, feel free to email me and I would be willing to share my pictures with you.  Seeing others' pictures was a big comfort to me and helped me know what to expect along the way.

No matter what my breasts look like, the key thing to remember is that they aren't trying to kill me any more and that is absolutely worth celebrating!  Admittedly, I'm also celebrating having perky boobs, too.